The Predictable Aftermath of Tragedy

Another tragedy took place yesterday. The recent shooting in an element Connecticut, where over 20 children were killed by a gunman, has once again brought America sorrow - at least, for a short time.

For the aftermaths of tragedy follow a depressingly predictable pattern. Our chattering classes will talk about the need for gun control and mental health and the need to come together and other tragedy-related policies for a few days. After a period of about 3 days to one week, the same chattering classes will go back to ranting about important things such as the doings of celebrities and the gaffes of politicians. Nothing will change.

I don’t mean to be cynical – but the painful, honest truth is often brutal to hear. And the truth is that the world is awash in death which very few care about or do anything to stop. 4,000 unborn children a day are killed by abortion; there is little to no mourning for them. Children starve in Africa every day; nothing tangible is done. In a culture of death, a few more deaths should not surprise us.

Mass shootings are awful. They are, unfortunately, largely unavoidable in a society where guns are readily available to deranged people who can enter “gun-free zones” at will and fire away. And they are predictable in a society which glorifies violence in fiction and encourages it against our most vulnerable populations.