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I’m amazed this is your reaction. I’m not going to ask you to delete your comment though, it’s obviously sincere too.
An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
11–20 of 38 posts
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#12Thanks to the author for writing this. As a young man who has come out the other side, I appreciate the courage of the author to put this message out there and expose themselves like this on the open internet.
I hope we as a society can continue to be more open about ways to communicate frustration, depression, and sadness. This way it won't be pent up released in an explosive event like a shooting.
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#13This reads well-meaning, but ultimately misdirected. There is no solid data corroborating the "school shooters are bullied" narrative - in fact, many of them have a long history of being bullies themselves, which then gets twisted from "kids try to avoid the weird kid who does disturbing things" into "poor little baby had no friends".
Disabled, queer, poor teens are not shooting up schools. The profile of a school shooter is overwhelmingly white, male and middle/upper class. A shooting is an ultimate tantrum for which the perpetrator is never held accountable.
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#14This reads well-meaning, but ultimately misdirected. There is no solid data corroborating the "school shooters are bullied" narrative - in fact, many of them have a long history of being bullies themselves, which then gets twisted from "kids try to avoid the weird kid who does disturbing things" into "poor little baby had no friends". Disabled, queer, poor teens are not shooting up schools. The profile of a school sh…
I often wonder how many of these open letters are read by the person they're directed at, presumably very few. I think some of the points they say make sense, and if they hung around on 4chan or 8chan and posted very abbreviated versions of these points, then that might at least reach some potential shooters. But posting on a substack is a bit like screaming into the void even if it was, as you say, well-meaning.
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#15The writings of Columbine shooters are public information but never reported by the media.
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#16"There Won’t Be Anything Special About Your Shooting" Well yeah, but it would be special, if they came up with other target, something in line with ETA/IRA targets, in which case they could become even heroes for significant part of population. "The “great men” of history — the emperors, the conquerors — aren’t remembered for the death and destruction they wrought." Sure, nobody remembers Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan…
To be fair, nobody remembers the US killing 20% of the Korean population. People remember what's geopolitically advantageous and reemphasized regularly. Most people don't remember all the people killed in the Murrah building. It's usefulness in the public consciousness is long gone. The MOVE bombings, the battle of Blair mountain, or Tulsa until very recently.
You don't need most people to remember you to be remembered and recognition changes over time, someone seen as villain can change in few months/years into hero. It comes down what are your goals, after all people will never agree on everything and will have always different opinions.
The most recent example is certain Eastern European politician best known for corruption, purging opposition, making headlines together with certain Russian president last year, now seen as the saint, because for some simpletons enemy of their enemy becomes their friend.
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#17"There Won’t Be Anything Special About Your Shooting" Well yeah, but it would be special, if they came up with other target, something in line with ETA/IRA targets, in which case they could become even heroes for significant part of population. "The “great men” of history — the emperors, the conquerors — aren’t remembered for the death and destruction they wrought." Sure, nobody remembers Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan…
Why the negativity? > Sure, nobody remembers Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan, Pol Pot, Mao etc. What is this guy smoking? I'm pretty sure the author used the word "remembered" in the sense of "recognized" or "admired". Could they have chosen a more precise word? Yes, but to me it is clear what they mean.
Hitler is recognized and admired by many. If the change in world order happens when his significance is still fresh, he will surface back as a universally admired figure because it is not very difficult to piece together what the Nazi regime actually did vs what the Soviet occupiers accused them of (and what the US went along with).
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#18Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why the negativity? > Sure, nobody remembers Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan, Pol Pot, Mao etc. What is this guy smoking? I'm pretty sure the author used the word "remembered" in the sense of "recognized" or "admired". Could they have chosen a more precise word? Yes, but to me it is clear what they mean.
Hitler is recognized and admired by many. If the change in world order happens when his significance is still fresh, he will surface back as a universally admired figure because it is not very difficult to piece together what the Nazi regime actually did vs what the Soviet occupiers accused them of (and what the US went along with).
> because it is not very difficult to piece together what the Nazi regime actually did vs what the Soviet occupiers accused them of (and what the US went along with).
Could you entertain us with more detail on what you mean here? Germany's atrocities are well documented across Europe ( and North Africa). The Soviets had nothing to do with Drancy or Bergen-Belsen for instance. We know of the Auschwitz horrors through Polish resistance fighters who infiltrated it and managed to escape.
There are some things that the Soviets tried to blame on the Germans, and it was certainly believable ( Katyn massacre), but we knew then and know now that it was indeed the Soviets. So what do you mean? What is it, for you, that Germany and Hitler are getting the blame for that was actually the Soviets' work? I don't see what it could possibly be to wash Hitler's image for anyone, unless your starting position is a bit off.
Re: An Open Letter to the Next School Shooter
#20This reads well-meaning, but ultimately misdirected. There is no solid data corroborating the "school shooters are bullied" narrative - in fact, many of them have a long history of being bullies themselves, which then gets twisted from "kids try to avoid the weird kid who does disturbing things" into "poor little baby had no friends". Disabled, queer, poor teens are not shooting up schools. The profile of a school sh…
I often wonder how many of these open letters are read by the person they're directed at, presumably very few. I think some of the points they say make sense, and if they hung around on 4chan or 8chan and posted very abbreviated versions of these points, then that might at least reach some potential shooters. But posting on a substack is a bit like screaming into the void even if it was, as you say, well-meaning.
I mean, some of the OP's points seem to vacate a lot of responsibility from where it's due, so in that sense they would definitely speak to their target audience.
Unfortunately, the reality is that there are often good reasons why young men who shoot up schools are excluded by their peers. If anything needs to be targeted, it's their ability to self-reflect on that and deal with (often not real but perceived) rejection and confrontation in a healthy way, but I doubt that this will go well.