From the editor

What is causing the madness?

Tue, 08/13/2019 - 9:00am

    Is life not worth living anymore? Why are people killing people and what good does it do if you kill someone, or many innocent people? You either get killed shortly afterwards, you chicken out and kill yourself, or you spend the rest of your life in a jail cell. Nothing really gained by killing.

    I don't know about you, but I value my life. It is getting to the point that the reports on TV of killings around the world are contributing to the devaluation of life. Unless you are a relative or friend of the stricken, the nightly scenes of death and carnage by guns, bombs, stabbings, etc. probably don't mean a lot because it is happening elsewhere – and the sheer amount of those reports have seemingly increased since Columbine or maybe before. But these killings should mean something and we need to help stop them from happening.

    Is it because we aren't raising our children correctly? Has the government let us down with its laws, or lack of laws? Have we become so desensitized that it is just expected to happen day after day? Are violent video games part of the puzzle? Have our morals sunk so low there is no way to build them up again?

    I think the madness could be caused by a combination of all of the above – and there are other factors.

    When my granddaughter saw the report about the recent Walmart shooting in El Paso, she didn't say much but I could see she was thinking about it – and probably wondering if something like that could happen at our closest Walmart. That really bothers me – that a preteen would have to worry about such things. Not a world I grew up in. I hope she doesn't have to be exposed to any such violence the rest of her life, or her younger sister's, or any other grandchild.

    I guess the best we can do is to live our lives to the fullest, work to better the world by doing good things for people, and keep asking our leaders to do the same.