Yes, I’ve been gone for a while, but I have not been idle. I won’t bore you with most of the details, since they don’t really matter at this time. But one thing I have been doing is reading a series of blogs by Libertarian writer Robert Ringer called “The Cho Factor.” These are in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech by Seung-Hui Cho in April 2007 (thus the name of his series). He talks about certain “underlying causes” of the assault, and gives his suggestions as to how we should go about preventing further Cho-type events. He wants to have a discussion, however all of the comments that seem to have come in have been pretty much supportive of his opinions. Now this could be because of the general readership of his blog, or it could be a case of pick-and-choose – I don’t know. But since I have a blog and I don’t agree with all of his opinions, I thought it would only be right to take his posts one-by-one and respond to them.
Now, I will set up my background by admitting to being a liberal Republican (no, that is not an oxymoron – it just means that I am basically moderate with some more “liberal” ideas). I am also a former teacher of English and history, and this colors my opinions as well. So, with those disclaimers out of the way, on to the discussion.
The first point that Ringer makes is that the Cho event, like many other violent events, had an underlying cause. No argument there, nor will I argue with his assertion that the so-called “experts” and other talking heads have pretty much ignored the underlying cause(s) for Cho’s rampage. And these underlying causes need long-term solutions rather than quick fixes. Unfortunately, we are a nation in love with the “quick and easy,” as can be seen by the spread of fast-food and other “quickie” establishments (no, not that kind of “quickie” – sheesh). I also completely agree with his suggestion that we each need to take deeper looks at the things that frustrate us in life and find the underlying causes.
He also suggests that the Cho incident is part of a much deeper problem in society, one that needs immediate and long-lasting attention. Again, I have no argument with this opinion, but it is the problem that he raises later in his blogs that I have a serious problem with. But I will leave that to later when I reach that installment.
His final point in this first of the series is that people tend to see “every discussion as an argument, and every argument as a battle that must be won at all costs.” We only need to tune in to the presidential debates to see this in action – and these are all people on the same “team” right now. But I do plan to point out where he seems to take this very attitude on certain of his opinions.
This covers my thoughts on his first installment of “The Cho Factor.” If you want to read them for yourself, you can always check his blog out at: RobertRinger.com
Comments