The Blame Game May 28, 2014

When did we go from blaming people for the things that they do to blaming things for what people do? When a tragedy such as a massacre occurs, some person always comes out and blames the thing they hate most. Certainly, it's not the murderer so it must be violent video games, or movies, or guns, bullies, etc. At what point are we still responsible for our actions?

There are millions of people who played violent video games—myself included. There are millions of people who've seen a violent movie. There are millions of gun owners. There are millions of people who were bullied. But there are few mass murderers.

One thing I find interesting is that if you are a serial killer and you methodically murder 16 people over a span of a few months, society considers you—rightfully—crazy. But if you happen to methodically kill 16 people in one place, it's no longer your fault. It must be something about your upbringing, or it must be the gun or knife you were able to obtain.

Why isn't murder always the fault of the murderer? You killed someone. You're crazy. You're abnormal. Video games didn't make you crazy. Movies didn't make you crazy. Weapons didn't make you crazy. You were crazy to begin with and, unfortunately, no one noticed.

But obviously we should ban everything because someone might hurt someone else. We should all lose our freedoms because some people are crazy and might hurt others. And then, when it happens again, we should ban that other thing. And that other thing, again and again until we have no freedom to do anything. Then we'll all be safe sitting alone and bored in our homes. It's worth it, that pursuit of happiness, don't you think?