Author: Sérgio Mascarenhas (---.161.230)
Date: 08-12-2001 06:52
I'm sorry to say Steve, but I think you miss the one point you are trying to raise.
For instance, you say "this is the world that we live in" about American school shootings. You're wrong. This is not the world that we live in. Not in my country (Portugal, Europe). Not in the country where I live (India). Based on your column, not in your country (Australia).
That's the world where Americans live in. They may think that's the world where we live in - a world that's shared by everybody around the globe, this "globalized" world - but they're wrong. And that's sad for them. Otherwise they would realize that kids don't shoot each other in schools outside of America. No, not even in Canada or Mexico. And they might ask themseves why, and try to solve their problem by looking at their neighbors.
Why am I speaking about this? Because when we understand the problem in America - why kids shoot their fellows in schools -, Australia - why kids kill themselves -, India - why kids kill themselves -, or Europe - kids in Europe have lots of different problems, none so marked as the ones you point -, we realize that they all steem from geek culture. We just don't call it geek culture.
Say, kids shooting their fellows in America. Why do they do this? Because they have problems, granted. But kids all over the world have problems, yet they don't shoot their fellows. What's different in America? The mindset. Shooting is the ultimate power. It's in the American mindset.
Where do kids learn this mindset? In books. In games. Did you ever notice that these kids act like in a LARP? No, that's not the exact thing, they act like in a LACAG. Yes, a Live Action Computer Action Game. Think Doom and its likings. Geeks.
Well, I'm opening a can of worms. Someone may come and start saying "it's all the fault of the damn' CAGs, they are the cause for shootings in schools". It would be interesting to study if there's a correlation between the increase in shootings and the spreading of CAGs. But is wrong. CAGs don't allow a kid to kill. After all, kids in Europe play CAGs but don't go to school and kill their collegues.
The reason why kids shoot in the US is because they can. And they can because they have weapons that allow them to.
Why do they have weapons? Because someone - usually their parents - buyed them. Why does an adult buy a weapon? Umm, the market allows for it, but that's not the personal reason, they can spend the money in other things. So, why? For defence? Who are we trying to fool? There are plenty of better ways to protect oneself than with a weapon. They buy it because... it's in their minds. They can't avoid to imagine it when they read the news or see the TV. How it would be when the assaulter came and *they* would pick the gun and shoot the bastard on the spot.
You see, adults buy weapons because they roleplay. The game is in their heads, granted. But it's their imagination, their desire to be heroes, that drives their desire to have weapons. When they touch their weapons they trigger their imaginations. When they practice shooting they're LARPing.
Adults just can't admit that it's all a game. The kid in themselves.
It's not hard to imagine the father in front of TV saying "no that would not happen to me. I would pick my gun and kill the fukin' bastard". His game. But the son is there. It becomes his game also. Geeks.
Pick your description of suicide in Australia. The way you describe adults discussing a suicide. They're playing a game. They're roleplaying. They're streaching their imaginations. Geeks.
In India they dream of richnesses and status through exceptional marks at school. So kids are subject to the ditactorship of high marks. Many of those that fail comit suicide. Many more think about it. It's not a kid's dream. It's the dreams of their parents and family. Once more, adults' roleplays are killing kids. Geeks.
(Of course, this only concerns the higher echelons of society. For the lower casts there's no question of dreaming. So, kids don't kill.)
In Europe we are usually more relaxed, but there are all of these problems to a certain extend. Fortunately, to a lesser extent than in other parts of the world.
Adolescense is a problematic age. I'm sure all adolescents think about death. A lot. Death as a tool to solve problems. This is just part of growing up. We need this for two reasons: to learn that death is not a solution; to deal with death in a more balanced way when we're grown up.
In all societies there will be some kids that will be willing to move past thinking and take action. That is also part of life. What varies is the proportion of those that do this. That proportion is socialy conditioned. In other words, it's conditioned by the adults. By their geekness.
The bottom line, Steve, is that the games kids play are a projection of the games adults play. So, games are not a solution. They are part of the problem.
Sérgio
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