When I heard the news of yesterday's shooting at Northern Illinois University, I first did the sad math of the past few months. This is the fifth school shooting in a week. They follow two mall shootings in December. Then I wondered what could possibly be fueling the combination of aggression and despair that leads people to do this.
Back in the Columbine days, people talked about bullying. After Virginia Tech, untreated mental illness was all everyone talked about. This time around, I'm thinking it's the economy. I have no hard evidence for this; it's just my opinion. I do believe, though, that the current economic climate in the United States is feeding a collective sense of despair. There's a gray cloud over the heads of everyone these days, between the enormous federal deficit, the huge numbers of foreclosures over the past few months, the rising unemployment rates, and the increasing difficulty in qualifying for credit.
It is possible to say, "Well the shooter hadn't lost his house," but none of us operates in a vacuum. With this depressed climate all around and nothing but bad news in the media, those citizens who are predisposed to depression, paranoia, and psychosis are more likely to be triggered into a major episode. I have no doubt that there will be more of these before we pull ourselves back into an era of increasing prosperity. Money, or the lack of it, breeds desperation in society.
People used to develop alcoholism during an economic downturn to drink away their cares. Crack became an epidemic during the last recession. It was a cheap and easy escape. What ever happened to the good old days?
I'm not arguing that widespread addiction is the answer to school shootings. I'm simply musing that economic troubles have always led people to make self-annihilating decisions. I miss the days when people chose to hurt themselves, rather than taking out a roomful of people.
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