... This may seen to be a long way from the deaths of those little boys and girls, not to mention the murdered people from the other 36 mass shootings there have been in the US.
Keep thinking, Ellis. Then you say,
I do not think all those killers were insane, but I do think they were disengaged with their society. And one way to feel better is to go and shoot things, with a gun.
Ellis, may I suggest we all need to rethink the meaning of 'insanity'. Take a look at the generally accepted meaning of the term.
in·san·i·ty
[in-san-i-tee] Show IPA
noun, plural in·san·i·ties.
1. the condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind. Synonyms: dementia, lunacy, madness, craziness, mania, aberration.
2. Law. such unsoundness of mind as frees one from legal responsibility, as for committing a crime, or as signals one's lack of legal capacity, as for entering into a contractual agreement.
3. Psychiatry. (formerly) psychosis.
4. a.extreme foolishness; folly; senselessness; foolhardiness: Trying to drive through that traffic would be pure insanity.
b. a foolish or senseless action, policy, statement, etc.: We've heard decades of insanities in our political discourse.
Origin: 1580–90; < Latin insānitās. See in-3 , sanity
Ellis, IMO, I have not met any human being, including myself, who has never been a bit insane, now and then.
In addition, over the years, I have met quite a number who were civilly and/or criminally insane.
The challenge is:1. If I ever get to the stage that I become a nuisance to myself, family, neighbours and to others around me and if I break any of the civil laws, does this not give others the right to sue me? There may be others, who just want to be good Samaritans, who ought to have the right to interfere, and help decide what happens to me, don't you think?
We need to have a dialogue about questions like this.
2. If I break any of the criminal laws, does this not automatically give the servants of the state, ones we call the police, the lawful right, even obligation, to arrest me?
3. What about citizens arrest? Interestingly [
I once actually performed such an arrest. It prevented a fire in the virtual making and benefited the female "criminal" greatly.]
In another case--in the presence of two policemen--a "criminal"--who was obviously insane--at my request, gave me the knife (I still have the knife) with which he said he intended to kill himself and/or
"ANY GD COP WHO TRIES TO STOP ME".]
