WTF is wrong with this world?

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Every day, another 'familicide', as they're calling them. There was one in my city yesterday, then one in Orange, CA. The day before, there was one in Ohio.

Yesterday in the news was a woman who underwent a successful face transplant. She's in this position because in 2004 her husband SHOT HER IN THE FACE WITH A SHOTGUN! And the SOB got only 7 years in prison for f*cking up her entire world. WTF!?

Serial killers, spree killers, familicides, the list goes on and on... and I do not buy the excuse of the economy. This country has endured worse economic times in recent years. And even during the Great Depression, disgraced family men committed suicide, often away from home to distance their families from the tragedy. But now, disgraced men kill their entire families along with themselves, or go on a rampage and slaughter every person who has wronged them in their past. WTF!?

I was a Senior in high school when Columbine happened 10 years ago. I remember some of my friends laughing about it and saying "What if we did that, too? We'd be heroes!" I cried inside, I wanted to distance myself from that mentality. I hung with a crowd of outsiders because it was the only place where I felt I belonged. But when they started talking like that, I realized I didn't even fit in with that group.

Am I the only grown man who wants to just cry at all that's going on in the world? I have no religious beliefs whatsoever ... when did that happen? I wasn't raised in a church but I was raised to believe in God. But I am far too analytical of a person to believe anymore, and I wonder when this occurred. I hate to say that I feel like I'm too "smart" to believe in God, though I know it's not my intelligence but rather my overly analytical mind. People say "God will keep his followers safe" yet I don't even believe that's possible. I see tragedies occurring in churches, DEVOUT Christians getting killed in random acts of violence, children being raped and killed by disgusting people. My overly analytical mind makes me question, what God would allow these acts to take place? I understand the concept of free will, but damn...

This is really a rant and not an attack on religion, so I didn't want to get too far into that topic. I didn't want to get too far into ANY topic, to be honest, I just wanted to ask: what is wrong with this world? When did we switch to a nation of people who will just kill for no reason? I fear the kids more than the adults, because while I know adults will kill you, I know kids can be ruthless as they are trying so hard to fit in and be "cool". Last year an old friend of mine who I grew up with in the ghetto was killed at 26 years of age by a 16 year old. He was sitting in a car at a convenience store waiting for a friend when the 16 year old walked up and shot him dead on the spot, then fled into the projects.

I have played violent video games and watched horror movies all my life and I don't have any thoughts about killing people. And I know crime and murder have been around forever, but tell me ... when did it become such a common thing? I know on this forum I am NOT the only young adult with such old-fashioned views on the world. I believe in peace, and while I understand the need to defend one's self and property, I do not see the need to just go out and kill people.

It's not even limited to killing, though. Say a man is in a tragic car accident and is lying there bleeding to death. While some people will call 911 or try to help the man, others will PICK HIS POCKETS and run off with his money and belongings! WTF!?!?

I am not a very empathetic person, but I still have compassion for human life. I don't cry at funerals, but I still would not kill a person or steal from a dying man. I sometimes laugh during prayers (unintentionally) and am not a religious or spiritual person, but I will not rush into a church and kill people, nor will I steal from a church. It may not be sacred to ME, but it is to a lot of other people and they have just as much a right to their freedoms as I do.

So many thoughts rushing through my head all the time, but it's always worse after I've spent some time reading the news. I have hit my breaking point with it all and want to just cry for this world. My wife thinks I'm being selfish for not getting her pregnant, but I counter that with my own belief: I honestly feel that it's more selfish to bring new life into this world as it is. I fear for the safety of my child if I had one. People aren't safe anywhere. We have home invasions, school massacres, pedophiles in schools and driving ice cream trucks, we have people killing their co-workers, people being robbed and killed on the streets for no reason, people killing babies, and the list truly does go ON AND ON AND ON...

Sorry to get carried away, but this world is so messed up and I felt that if anyone could understand my rant, it would be other people on the spectrum. I don't like getting carried away or embarrassing myself, and writing this out is kind of embarrassing. I hate being exposed for the weak, sensitive guy that I am but I can't help it sometimes. I really fear for this world and those of us who just try to survive without bothering others.

^^ I believe I may certainly relate with what you say, sbcmetroguy. There are many terrible acts taking place upon Earth. I believe that what you are stating is the causing of unnecessary suffering. I too feel this is terrible. However, I feel at least some of this is unavoidable. ^^ In your list, I personally would include the millions of unnecessary deaths (killings) every day. These certainly include human deaths, yet also those individuals that are slaughtered without mercy for their meat. Many in this forum, perhaps yourself, will not consider this incorrect. I do not understand why this is the case, yet I must accept this, yet preach all I can. Although I feel this is a tragedy upon Earth, other humans have their own beliefs, as strong as my own. The same applies for other humans that commits acts against other humans (and non-humans), for instance when an individual may pickpocket a human who is the victim of an accident. While we many not understand why they do what they do, and consider it terrible, it happens nonetheless, and if we feel it incorrect, must do all we can to stop this, without causing unnecessary harm ourselves. (My brother has entered and requires the computer, so I must end quickly, and return later).

Quantity of humans = too high.
Quality of humans = too low.

The rest follows naturally.

PS I don't read the news anymore as it is so depressing. Most of it's hardly 'news' either. Peurile scraping of the bottom of the barrel. And lots of adverts, of course

Your assumption that the world can be wrong is wrong.

The world is the way the world is. What you mean is that the way the world does present its facts to you do not fit with your picture how the world should be. In this case you have three ways to solve this dilemma: Either you change the world, or you change your picture how the world should be or you learn to live with this discrepancy.

BTW: The world as a whole is today much more peaceful than any time in known history. We have whole continents in which war is just impossible. We never been in this situation any time in history before. The murder and crime rate is - at least in the countries with reliable statistics - at a all time low.

well arent you glad you didnt live to see the aztecs butcher thousands of people in festivals...or mass graves being buried during wars...or people throwing off their defected children from cliffs...or the multitudes of people being sold as slaves in the markets.


what a wonderful world we live in. at least the moon smiles at me every night

I didn't live in any of those times, and I am thankful for that. But if I did, I would be more accustomed to those types of occurrences and they wouldn't bother me as much. I live in a time in which people are supposedly civilized, and I am learning that they are not.

I am very easily bothered by the things going on in this world, I can't exactly help that. The world is a very cold, cruel, evil place and I refuse to change my way of thinking to where this cruel world seems good. There is nothing good about people who blast others in the face with guns, murder babies, go on murderous rampages and make people feel completely unsafe, etc.

Take a look at this:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/stev ... lence.html

ruveyn

Or as someone (forgot the name) put it in a Unix Fortune quote:
-"IQ is a constant, the sum of the global population is growing..."

May go more to basic facts - e.g. the Proceeding of the Old Bailey in London, 1674-1913:

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/

Look at the crimerate, the number of murders. In London in 18. century, a city with less than 1 Mio. inhabitants, there were annually 40 dead sentences. Calculate this to the size of New York, London or any country today. This top by capita China easily.

About Aztecs butchering up people, they themselves got butchered by the Spanish y'know <.< And there have been statues found that when they didn't had worthy sacrifices (some elite class of soldier) they would have an artisan create statues that would be "killed" in its stead (more like, thrown from the high of the temple).

(Had archeology of civilizations this session, loved it ~­­.~)

Yeah I can relate sbcmetroguy, I don't know what drives humans to do some of the things they do like murdering innocent people. To me it's almost like looking through a cage at monkeys only worse.

Or this: http://chs.revues.org/index738.html

According to that one, violent crime follows a 'U' trend, declining from the 17th C until the 1960's-ish, when it has been rising. It all depends how you join the dots. Pinker may be absolutely correct that violence has fallen since 200 years ago. But those people who note an increase in violence in their lifetimes, may also be absolutely correct.

It's difficult, maybe impossible to know what is and has really happened. For example, Google searches produce pages with the headline "Violent Crime Decreasing", right next to one headlined "Violent Crime On The Increase". There is much room for statistical manipulation: It is in Governments self interest to present stats that show crime has fallen during their tenure. In one sense, the Police want to show crime falling to prove what a good job they're doing, in another sense the want to show a rising crime rate to increase their own power, resources, funding. Everybody has their angle. Business leaders will want to show that crime is falling and that their private wealth is not being accumulated at the expense of a deteriorating society for those at the bottom of the pile.

Also, I have little faith in any currently held opinion on what life was *really* like 2 or 3 hundred years ago, let alone 2,000 years ago. We view the past through the distorting lens of our own and previous times. For example, it's very convenient for the Conquistadors to relate tales of Aztec violence as they can use it as an excuse to justify their own atrocities. Or maybe the conquistadors atrocities were exagerated by their competitors in France, the UK? Maybe the native American were so barbaric, they *deserved* to be eliminated or maybe the settlers who tried to wipe them out were barbaric or maybe those jealous of the US economic success have exagerated the stories of the native american genocide.... and on and on it goes.....

The past has changed radically in my lifetime Thanks to ever changing views of history, it will change even more in the future.

The point is that violence is an emotive issue and is affected by ones own viewpoint more than less emotive areas. Those who are "doing very well, thank you" in the world today, will generally want to promote a view of how *wonderful* the world is now compared to the past. And they will find the evidence to prove their view.

Meanwhile, those who are "struggling in the harsh cruel world" we have today, will want to promote a view of how *dysfunctional* the modern world is and will find evidence (such as the increase in murder, violence and war) to prove this view.

Given the 'behavioural sink' experiment, one would expect violence, not just directly related to competition for resources, but sadistic violence, to increase as population density increases.

This is exactly why I am a conservative. Many of these people deserve the death penalty by public execution. Whether or not you are ready to accept it, fear is a great motivator to keep people in line, as the vast majority of these heinous criminals won't listen to reason.

sbcmetroguy, you are definatly not the only one who feels this way. And you are certainly not weak or for being upset over these things. I stopped believing in any sort fo higher power precisely because I couldn't reconcile the idea of one with the state of the world. As much as I enjoy staying up to date on current events mostky for the intellectual stimulation) I have periods of time where I need a break lest I get completely depressed.

I wrote an essay in high school positing that perhaps the issue isn't increased violence but increased awareness of that violence. For example prior to invention of the printing press it was very difficult to learn about news or events not just abroad but outside of one's village or town. Now with the click of a button you have access to literally hundreds of media sources and thousands of news stories-24/7. With said acess it is admitedly easy to feel as these atrocities simply appeared out of nowhere.

While I understand that certain cultural or historical trends cna lead to an increase in vioence I honestly don't believe that we as a species are any less violent then people of any other historical time frame. We may have different social standards and laws but the impulses are still there. Put enough gasoline around it and virtually any match will transform into a fireball.

The issue is what is called the availability heuristic- you are more likely to hear about these types of things today than before because of global communications networks, but the actual frequency is stable or declining.

Exactly. And I see someone else already linked to the TED talk on the subject- that was a good one.

Fear of a death sentence would not change the rate of murder-suicides at all, and many of the instances the OP lists, like Columbine, are murder-suicides.

I don't entirely disagree with you, but there are serious difficulties with the practical use of capital punishment, even if we accept it as just and/or necessary; the law makes mistakes all the time (at what ratio is the judicial killing of innocents acceptable to society? this isn't necessarily too much of an obstacle; society accepts the death of thousands of people each year on the roads in the interests of transport without much complaint, so presumably there is an "acceptable" level), and also, if the bar is set low, it can actually inspire criminals to more serious crimes - the fear created works against the interests of society, and not for it! For instance, while I would have no moral qualms about the penalty for rape being death, I fear the existence of that penalty would result not in fewer instances of rape, but more instances of rape and murder.