Is it just me or are things getting worse out there?
I mean, we have a huge natural disaster about every three months or so. The weather patterns are bizarre (and it is more than my family's influence on that). Politics no longer make sense to me; there is absolutely zero common sense in government any more. Then there are the human attacks like we've never seen before between the shootings and bombing. It feels like they are increasing in frequency. I don't know if its just my exposure and awareness to those events are coloring my perspective or if its that phenomena where time seems to accelerate when you get older so it just seems like things are happening quicker or if there is hard fact to back up these feelings.
If things are getting worse out there... well that's terrifying because I'm supposed to be out there. I'm supposed to live out in the big wide world and I don't appreciate always having to watch my back in crowds or having the check the weather to see if my house and possessions will be destroyed. I know we can't do anything to prevent the natural disasters or other weather phenomenon but that human component we can change. And we can't just be reactive to those types of threats but how can we be proactive about them as well. And no, I don't think gun laws are the answer.
It's a deeper flaw in our society that causes these individuals to break from society and civilization to cause mass harm and fear. What makes them attack? What makes them think that their course of action is the one they should follow through? Is it something in their genetic makeup, in their brain chemistry, in their psychology, in their childhood, in their formative years, in their family history, in their living conditions, in their moral fiber, in their environments, in their governments? What makes that final decision for them? And how do we change that factor so it doesn't reappear in future cases?
Again I feel like we do a lot to mitigate the chances of things happening by focusing on the events, on the final effects but we don't focus enough on the cause. Is it because we can't figure out the cause or because we try to refuse to think that the cause could also be rooted in our neighbor? I mean, that's a terrifying thought. You'd be paralyzed from every day living if you believed that your next door neighbor was capable of the same senseless violence that you see on TV or read in the news. It is human nature to ignore those risks, to believe that it won't happen to me. Because chances are it won't. So you can put your mind at ease and carry on with your day just fine without worrying that the guy passing you in the aisle of the grocery store is about to pull a gun on you.
But just because the majority population can ignore this threat doesn't mean its not out there.
So what can we do to combat the causes? We first have to realize that the causes are most likely multifaceted. There isn't just one trigger usually but a sum of events and conditions until that last one tips the scales. I think some easy causes to tackle or at least start against. Stuff like removing the stigma of mental disorders so that people and families who experience these problems are more likely to get help. No one likes to admit that they are or their child is a mentally unwell because it is treated poorly in society so instead of getting help, they hide. Sometimes that works, sometimes they get worse. As a society we can encourage those who need help to get it and to provide safe places in which to get help. I definitely think there are some low hanging fruit that we can solve that would help all around.
Crisis prevention and preparedness is only one was to go after this problem but we can do better. We can work on other angles at the same time. If only we can convince people to work on these multiple solutions instead of just focusing on one facet that won't do much (such as gun laws).
I don't know what to do about the natural disasters except pray that nature will fix herself and God will steer the storms, tidal waves, earthquakes, wildfires, away from human habitation. Also I hope that government can sort itself and help its people instead of using each incident as political leverage. This is actually one of the roles that I want government to participate in, the protection of its people. It should offer aid with no strings attached to get people back on their feet and functional.
But still, does anyone else feel like it's getting worse?
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