The Society victimizes a man. He pulls out and shoots, and victimizes lives, and becomes a criminal. Who is the Criminal. The man or the Society?
(Avimanyu, April 26, 2007)
The mass murder in Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT) has once again rose the debate, “ Should we or should we not possess weapons?”. I will ask a different question. Does possession of weapons mean that the owner should look for an excuse to shoot. I don’t think so. A weapon (gun, here) is an enabler not a driver to crime. The driver, I am afraid is much more dangerous. And making an enabler look like a driver we are actually deviating ourselves from the key question, which is what really drives crime.
We should actually find out the independent variables that led to Cho to Pull the trigger. And why only Cho, all those who actually pulls the trigger, we must ask that question. I am saying that the roots of the crime is not possessing the weapons, rather the society. In basing our thoughts towards weapon possession we are only escaping from the crux and looking for a band aiding solution to a serious problem with deep roots. It is not about the gun or the finger that pulls the trigger. It’s about the mind that controls the finger and the society that influences the mind.
The reason behind sanctioning individuals with weapons are same as empowering people of Okinawa with martial art lessons. (Please note that a strong punch by an expert martial artist can blow punches that can be equally dangerous as bullets from a pistol). It is self defense. If criminals can possess weapons why not innocent people for self-defense ? An man remains innocent till the point he pulls his trigger. Anyone who pulls trigger does so out of rage towards the society for his experiences or out of self-defense. And pulling put of rage is also a self-defense against the society. If the driver towards pulling the trigger is strong, someone will do the killing anyway, should he or not possess a gun. A kitchen knife should have sufficed. So what would be the debate next time. Should we be legally allowed to posses kitchen knives?
There is a difference in buying a gun and the pulling the trigger. The difference is the society which often compels the possessor to pull the trigger.
It works like this:
Method 1. A man buys a gun for self-defense. Keeps it with himself. The man is victimized by the society and its elements. He loads and shoots.
Method 2. He has no gun. He is victimized by the society and its elements. He goes to buy gun. If he gets then he shoots. If he is denied then
a. He takes some other weapon like a kitchen knife
b. He steals gun.
c. Kills himself
But he will not pacify for the reasons for which he goes to buy a gun is not often too moderate to forget if the weapon is unavailable.
For all we know the victims in a mass murder case could also be owners of guns. But the society did not drive them toward taking those out of drawers and load them and put in the trouser pocket. The criminal (or the victim of the society) found the reason.
15 comments:
Dear Avi,
u have once agn written a well thought out and cogent blog...and that too on a matter that needs urgent attention in today's day and age! gun control/regulation has been the focal point of many debates in USA and political parties have often used this issue to gain political mileage.
nonetheless, i agree with most parts of ur blogs... the whole "society prepares the crime, the criminal commits it" perspective is a valid one. and m sure sm1 must have been REALLY REALLY REALLY driven up the wall to have taken such a drastic measure. but taking innocent lives, whether premeditated or manslaughter, cannot be condoned...even if Cho were alive today and pleaded insanity, i doubt if the jury would have gvn him a sympathetic verdict. i dont think he wudv been even forgiven a prison term and sent to a mental instiution. he would have got capital punishment...in all likelihood.
ur "kitchen-knife" analogy was a good one too. the govt cant keep banning evrythng thats a potential weapon. but u c, with a knife, Cho wud not have been as powerful as he was with a gun. armed with a gun/explosive thr was no way any1 could have over powered Cho. if he wr carrying an ordinary knife or even a dagger, chances are that he would have been overcome by people.
lastly, u and i can have an objective look at the whole issue coz we were not directly/ indirectly involved in it. if u had lost a loved one (god forbid) in the massacre, wud u have tried to look at the issue from Cho's point of view? if NO, ur human. if YES, ur super-human!
social ostracism, racism, humiliation, and conspicuous display of wealth are all odious, but these things CANNOT be reason enuf for any1 to undertake the kind of carnage that happened at VT. my sympathies are with those who lost loved ones in a random, arbitrary act of cruel Fate.
I was listening the song Jeremy the other day.. by Pearl Jam .a similar true story some years back a school student,shot his fellow classmates, this was not the only time, some thing like this has happened earlier as well.. also have you seen or read the play bang Bang we are all dead.. again another true story, written by a guy who wanted to kill his class mates..
and then this.. these are all similar incidences.. where Student in USA out of frustration, or due to neglect.. have taken up guns. Cho fired 170 rounds!!! for crying out loud., but tell me why does things like this are a regular in USA, why not UK, france, Germany..or India for that matter.. are they not frustrated, or feel the same... but the answer is they are but, the easy access to guns is not their.
The US economy runs on selling of guns,its a free flee market out their.. any tom or harry with dick can get a gun.
Even In India.. where with a bit of political string pulling you can get a gun easy, its unlikely for us to get !&) rounds of ammunition, we will be lucky if we get 50, the same stringent laws are applicable in England, to procure fire arms.
Its the US free market to enhance the economy.. which runs on fire arms money has a huge roll to play in these kind of shoot outs
Also the moment a person steals a gun from a gunshop.. he commits a crime, every gunshop, has a CCTV.. and the crime is reported. there is high probability that he is caught, before the next crime happens.
If Virgina Tech students knew.. Cho had stolen a gun.. it would be easier for them to save them selves.. but no Cho bought the guns even after having medically proven history mental problem.
USA.. who sells guns to afghans who are fighting them, to boost their economy.. i wont be amused, if anything will be done at all to stop the free market access to guns
I remember today yet another movie.. the run away jury.. i hope.. it become a true story
Priya,
Your thoughts are well layed out. Elegant, but let me tell you, if my loved ones had been a victim my reaction would still be the same. Nithari did not need a gun. Neither do Hannibal Lecter.
Do we have enough evidences to call victims, innocent? Well the most powerful guy in the world kills millions and spends billions to kill. Walks free and controls 20% of UN contributions and 50% of World defense budget. Now thats blatant crime.
I am good with sword, gun, and nanchaku. But I dont use them. But should I ever, God forbid, the victims will be anything but innocent. And I really need to be crushed bewtween two walls, to take such a measure.
I am not delivering an excuse to kill. I am just asking to CONCENTRATE ON THE CRUX. ITS NOT THE GUN, ITS THE SOCIETY AND THE MIND.
In a ideal society everyone should posses weapons but there should be no need to use it.
Even if gun control laws were enacted, lunatics would still kill. remember the nithari serial killer in delhi ?
The right to bear weapons is essential for freedom and liberty.
@ A big yawn.
Its all about weapon selling that boosts the economy, as you rightly commented.
USA empowered the afgans to fight the USSR. USSR was broken...now the Afgans became enemies. So again who created the criminals?
The Money...this is what increased the criminal.. USA sold Guns for money.. they created a young jeremy and Cho.. and the mujhaheedens..
It the economics of GUNs..
well if Jeremy or CHo would not have easy access to guns or 170 bullets.. i am not sure a mass scale murder would have been possible.. jeremy a kid would not kill his class mates.. one criminal less.
cho might have killed.. 2 class mates with a kitchen knife.. but then he was not exactly criminal.. he is menatlly not sound.. and mad men do this.. but the economy who gives mad men guns..to boost economy ..is the biggest culprit of all
And for once i am happy India's economy is not as Good as USA's which runs on guns and Ammo
Avi, u say that in a ideal society everyone should posses weapons but there should be no need to use it. ur bng extremely utopian here! further, tell me how come u hear of these campus shoot-outs in USA most of the times? how come u dont hear it coming outta UK or India or Aus??? r u saying that ppl in these countries have ZERO frustration in thr lives!? isn't USA one of the best places to live and study? well, so how come such violence gets EXECUTED!? coz of the LIBERAL gun policy! thr was even a POSTER advertised by the govt (i cant recall Democrat/Repub), it said "I WANT U TO POSSESS A GUN"!!! why? if thr is no NEED 4a gun, then y possess it? in a day u may think "uuurrgghh..i cud KILL that guy!" but u DONT! if u had a gun, u probably would...! so, i dont think GUNS shud be available as easily as they r in USA! its gr8 that the govt thinks the ppl r mature enuf 2 use a gun only 4 self defence. but its wrong to assume that evry1 is sane or rational.
Priya,
Crimes are reported in USA. That much i can tell.
Avi
Great reading Avi!
If yoiu recall Spielberg's "Minority Report", wherein the great movie maker envisions the concept of a pre-crime fighitng mechanism, which targets to identify prospective criminal. I wish instead of this, we could devise a mechanism of an alternative pre-crime where in we could route out/battle the forces (societal forces) that lead to such crime. But once again, such an initiative might not have commercial value to the big budget crime spenders, as such an approach would threaten the very existance of the defense/crime fighting industry!!! So, I guess, the society/nations spend billions to earn trilions - even if that might mean more blood on the streets. So, we as society want to invest in avenues that rakes up our GDPs, even if at the cost of the lives of the citizens.
I wish we never had this Siachen issue...we spend hundreds of thousands of crores in attempting to secure the glacier, and also hundreds of lives every year. However, the political will on both side of the LOC would want that to continue...after all there'a lot of money, honey...
Also...I would not be surprised if martial arts training for ordinary citizens were to get banned tomorrow...just to ensure that we don't defend ourself against the evil forces of the society.
However, I as a part of the society that created the Chohs & the lecters & the Nitharis, feel ashamed, and feel that I might have in some way contributed to these crimes.
@ Priyanka
We were once taught " Absolute liberty is nobodies freedom" but that does not mean.. liberty is bad.. if I was working in singur for Tata's and getting everyday threats from the TMC worker for my and my child life.. will i not be justified for a licenced weapon??
I agree with uddipan.. that if i could kill a man with bare hands..then martial arts will also be banned..
The pproblem here is non stringent US norms for selling weapons, for an economic boost..
Today i have dream of buying a PPK walter, or Colt Double eagle.. or even a Mauser .9mm.. even if i had the money.. if i could not justified, cause.. the DM kolkata will not issue me the weapon
In USa.. youy dont even need the money as the duties are so low.
So what Indian Government does.. is , it provides a tariff barier and then a non tariff barrier.. which is good.. but a complete banon weapons is also killing a lot of people..
it will be easy for goons to mug you.. for robbers to rob your home.. and your enemy to kill you..That is why the Cliche is Extreme of everything is bad... and absolute liberty is know bodies freedom
Looking back at what I just wrote... I feel compelled to add further that..somewhere we justify punishing an individual, and not the society. We choose to punish the agent, and not the cause. This is rather a very reactive way of ours at looking at the whole matter. Perhaps, we just don't want a crime free world, simply because that could imply closure of a multi billion industry. But, being the hypocrits that most of us are (that includes me), we want to glorify the crime fighting process, and thereby justify all the investments worth billioins.
Spielberg (and or the story writer whoever wrote Minority Report), in his vision talks of not only identifying the prospective criminal, but punishing him as well. If technolgy were so advanced, or is getting so advanced , then why do we restrict ourselves to reactive stance. Why can't we be a little more proactive in our stance. Why do bow down to the evil forces that create the "Frankensteins"? Are we that weak? Is that a basic human...animal instinct...herd mentality? Cant human instinct (if we think we are superior to other animals, if we believe that God created mna keeping His own image in mind) be more evolved that mere animal instinct?
India, has always been divided, or else it has never been. If we are to go by boundaries, then we always were...the Indian subcontinent simnce time immemorial has always consisted of small naiton states...Hastinapur, Dwarka, Indraprastha, Panchala, Koshala and so on (in the ancient ages), cut to more recent times such Magadha, Maurya, Kalinga, Gandhara (Middle Kindgdoms), and more recent ones..the likes of Maratha, Awadh, Gaur, Bijapur, Nizam and so on; and lastly the present day Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, SriLanks, Afganishtan, Nepal.. And so we have been fighting amongst us since time immemorial, and hence defense industry is probably as old as the flesh trading industry. Both are devils and yet economic necessities of a few but powerful interest groups. So..let's continue being divided. SO a Musharraf born In Delhi, trained in India, is happy fighting India..after all he is just doing what his predecessors have been doing - patronizing crime (in the name of crime fighting) that's economically & politically justifiabale; however unjustifiable these may be for humanity.
So..we will have politicians getting elected on the basis class divides/parochiality rhetorics..so would be wars declared against the barbarians, and counter strikes against the infidels. Great..all these makes great economic sense. And interestingly, we might be having the elite MBAs/Economists working with the defense/crime fighitng industires making projections, estimates, buisness plans & strategies. Afterall, it does make sense & economic justice to the not so economically deprived ones.
So...war, crime, defense budgets, parochiality. class divides, illeteracy indeed makes sense..a great economic one. After all this is business.
I beg your pardon, if I have been a bit too generalistic..but then, I got to see the big picture only when I chose to take the eagles eye view.
Thanks Uddipan.
This is well written. Instead of hunting the Bin Ladens why dont we just fight the system that made him. The system actually starts in the White House and ends in the pentagon and the Senate.
Hitler was a product of a system, the system was the League of Nations.
So why blame the individuals. On one hand USA condemned the rule of Iraq in Kuwait but kept supporting Israel over Palestine. That creates criminals. To fight those they sell weapons.
They sell weapons for destruction and when it comes to cleanup they too make money in building infrastructures. And product of such horrendous politics are termed as criminals.
dint i tell u this blog of urs was gonna raise a storm!! hehe! well, evry1 has some correct points 2 mention! and as 4 crimes in USA bng reported extensively, well gvn this era of media invasion, any crime that mks news will b reported in the media, irrespective of whether it takes place in Baltimore or Bihar.
Ah! much ado about nothing, i'd say - its all in the weather, lads. blame it on the weatherman. a cold and damp country, with all its snow fog mist and hurricanes, creates the perfect atmosphere for a dull and bored life, with sulking disgusted people looking for a vent for some activity, entertainment and energy. give them some sunshine - they will all get sober and bask in the sun rather that training guns on each other.
as mr. dylan rightly put - "the answer my friend, is blowin in the wind".
its time to start another of those hippie trails.
i wonder if the u.s of a would make more money trading marijuana along the silk route rather than ammo. they would still be killing people - well time has proven we cannot avoid that - but at least the death would be peaceful and life before it a whole lot of colours.
the flowers - picked by young girls - given to their sweethearts - who all turn soldiers and go to war - and die - and get buried in the soil - which becomes a flower bed - from where girls pick flowers...... its the circle of life mate.
the usa will stop trading guns when it is no longer the richest, most powerpul nation with a gigantic economy. but it will be a mere replacement with a country xyz, which will then step into the former's shoes. we will then replace usa from all our blogs with xyz.
if you cant blame it on the individual, you cant even blame it on the society. for the society is just a group of individuals. you cant blame it on the system - for it is us who make them. you have none to blame, lads, none but the weatherman.
Ore Tito re....Society maney ami kono non-animate object bujhay ni. I meant the people who pull the triggers are differen than the one who makes him do so. Bujhli????
aha!!! hmmm ebaar bujhlaam.... hihihihihihi
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