1) Get OFF my lawn!

After reading On Killing by Lt. Col Dave Grossman (required reading for the FBI academy mind you), I seem to have begun thinking about Death and its role in the modern United States society and perhaps the societies of most other countries in the world. In a nutshell, On Killing explains about how the military has indoctrinated soldiers and the current generation of young to become desensitized to death and violence.

The presence of violence in general media is not a new concept. However, it seems the few that do object to this gain absolutely no support from the general public. It has begun to become more widespread and common. The recent cases of video game "inspired" crimes seem to be one of the most memorable examples in the past years.

Back fifty years ago, this was not an issue. However, the origins were apparent. To quote Grossman: "In World War 2, only 15 to 20 of combat infantry were willing to fire their rifles...In Vietnam this figure rose to 90 percent". In a span of just a few decades, what transpired?

I'd like to use the career of Clint Eastwood, one of my favorite actors, as an example. In one of his well known movies The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1967), Eastwood plays "Blondie" (The good), who outguns some bandits to turn "Tuco" (The Bad) to a local town for some reward money. It is not until later we find out that Blondie comes up to free Tuco at his execution, and the two split the money. The implied message? You can be outside the law and still be a "good guy".

In Dirty Harry (1971), Eastwood plays Harry Callahan, a SFPD inspector who is willing to go above the law to capture "Scorpio", the deranged murderer of San Francisco. Harry pursues
Scorpio, fueled by a murderous rage and hate that could rival that of his target. After torturing Scorpio and cornering him, Harry does not arrest Scorpio, but shoots him dead in the chest, while throwing away his badge. The implied message? You are above the law as long as the bad guy goes down.

In his more recent film, Gran Turino (2008), Eastwood is grizzled Korean War vet Walt Kowaski, who has to deal with the local Hmong gang that threatens the lives of both him and his neighbors. In one scene, he raises his M1 Garand at the gangsters on his yard, and growls "Get OFF my lawn". The implied message? Superior firepower is a great deterrent.

So some wonder how our society has grown more violent. I simply ask: What are you going to do about it?