The Killer in Me Is the Killer in You

Sunday 16 January 2011

by: John Morlino, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

The Killer in Me Is the Killer in You
(Photo: Kevin Dean)

As much as we'd like to believe otherwise, Jared Loughner's shooting of US District Judge John Roll, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 of Giffords' constituents on January 8, 2011, was not an aberration. Instead, it was merely the latest and most highly publicized of three recent gun-related incidents that have, however fleetingly, captured public attention.

There was the incident involving Clay Duke, whose December 14, 2010 takeover of a Florida school board meeting ended when he fatally shot himself. Samuel Hengel met a similar fate after holding two dozen people hostage at a Wisconsin high school on November 10, 2010. Loughner was, by all accounts, a deeply troubled man whose skewed view of the world led him to do the unthinkable.

When the final reports are written about these cases, authorities will note that Loughner, Duke and Hengel each acted alone - but the truth of the matter is that they had plenty of help from the rest of us.

We would, of course, prefer to absolve ourselves of any responsibility for their actions. but the fact remains that we've created a society in which millions of children and adults suffering from severe emotional pain not only go untreated, but also have access to the most efficient manner ever invented to harm themselves or others. Our roles in tolerating this kind of society indicate that we've moved beyond the realm of collective negligence to the ranks of full-fledged accomplices.

We've reached this point, in part, by genuflecting for decades to the health insurance lobby and to the most outspoken supporters of gun ownership. As a result, it is often easier for someone to get his or her hands on one of the nearly 300 million firearms in this country than to successfully obtain comprehensive psychological or psychiatric support.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, fewer than 20 percent of Americans needing treatment receive even minimally adequate services - a much lower rate than in any other developed country. And, judging from the lack of public outcry, few of us seem willing to challenge the status quo.

The upshot of this arrangement - murder-suicides of entire families, workers shooting colleagues at the office, children killing children in our streets and in schools - plays out across a nation that leads the western world in both civilian gun ownership (according to the 2007 Small Arms Survey) and untreated mental illness.

Reversing this momentum won't be easy, as it will require not only a shift in our priorities, but also a concerted effort to better understand ourselves and our obligation to each other.

A crucial element of this equation involves coming to grips with the fact that, legal definitions notwithstanding, no one of sound mind commits a crime of extreme violence. Rather, it is an act born of profound psychological distress. Reaching such a dark place -where the unimaginable becomes plausible - is not a common occurrence. It is, however, something that can happen to any one of us, at any point in our lives, for any number of reasons.

Adding guns to the mix ups the ante immeasurably, creating a truth few of us wish to acknowledge: that the fragile nature of the human psyche renders background checks, registration and permits an exercise in futility when it comes to saving lives.

Reaching consensus on this reality will get us just so far, as a substantive change in the way we address gun violence will come about only if it is accompanied by a measure of resolve heretofore unseen on this issue.

Galvanizing the will of the masses to halt widespread violence is by no means unheard of. In fact, one need look no further than one's own backyard to witness such an expression of will, albeit one intended to confront a crisis half a world away.

In an uncommon display of solidarity, millions of Americans, young and old, have raised their voices to protest the genocide in Darfur, where more than 200,000 Sudanese have been slaughtered during the past seven years. People of faith have responded to the carnage by leading an unprecedented humanitarian aid effort. Celebrities have come out of the woodwork to lend their names to the cause. And, in a unique show of bipartisanship, politicians on both sides of the aisle have joined the struggle by issuing a joint call to action.

Which raises the question: Why haven't we responded to the 200,000 gun-related deaths that have taken place in the US during the same seven-year stretch with the same level of urgency and commitment? Where are the millions of voices renouncing gun ownership and demanding universal health care? Where are the faith-based leaders? The courageous politicians? The Hollywood stars? Why have the only high-profile demonstrations to link guns with medical insurance involved citizens brandishing firearms in opposition to health care reform? Is the perpetual gun violence taking place in our communities that much more tolerable to us than genocide in western Sudan?

Maybe so. Perhaps the discrepancy lies in our desire to avoid the guilt and shame associated with our complicity in tragedies like the ones involving Loughner, Duke and Hengel.

Or, to put it another way, maybe it is easier for us to pour our energy into ending the violence in Darfur because, in Sudan, we're not the ones doing the killing.

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Comments

This forum is moderated by software. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your comments to go live and avoid posting the same comment multiple times.

John, you are a guilt

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 11:05 — DungeonMaster (not verified)

John, you are a guilt peddler. You are obviously unaware that this crime would've been avoided if the Sheriff Dupnik would have investigated the threats given by Loughner. You fail to mention Loughner's drug abuse as well. The man acted alone and no one else is guilty for it but him. It is ludicrous to suggest I give up my rights so we can "stop the western genocide". You only presented made up figures in your article. Show me real data. The whole article is poppycock without raw data.

D/Mast= you forget the

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 11:51 — Anonarcmous (not verified)

D/Mast= you forget the premise of not being accused until found guilty. Lots of things look bad and can lead to trouble, but they donot necessarily do so.Including you and yours..Our 1st right.The issue of guns/weapons is as any, we get to a tipping point where common sense must prevail.The romanticism of guns is the raw power. You only need a 30-round clip for spraying a crowd of people usu called enemies attacking. You could not do that much damage in an elk herd. . This is another reason why we need 1-payer healthcare, and the big-box-walmart-type job this young man--as so many others -- had could have easily paid him $5+/hour so he could have been empowered in other ways and maybe not so desperate.

Well said. I moved here last

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 15:11 — delere (not verified)

Well said.

I moved here last summer for the sun due to Seasonal Effective Disorder (SAD) and chronic depression. I was concerned about the apparent lack of compassion Arizonas powers that be have for those less fortunate such as the poor and those with health problems, but I came anyway. It has taken me four months and scores of phone calls to try and find a medical doctor, counselor/therapist and someone to handle psychiatric medications all of whom take Medicare. And there in lies the rub- the few that take Medicare are either not accepting any more patients or do not accept the Medicare billing limit. I'm still not done looking. It has been so frustrating at times I've slipped into bouts of severe depression. I can't even imagine how hard it is for people who don't even know their rights or what's available, or know they or a loved one has a treatable mental illness.

I new this would be challenging but I never expected this mess. Even NAMI AZ has no resources to help one through the mess. I'd like to advocate/educate legislators and the general population about these issues but it seems all organizations really want are monetary donations. "For what?" I wonder.

You may be surprised but Kansas, the state I come from, perhaps because they tend to be far less reactionary actually recognizes the importance of mental health care and care for the poor. I find it interesting that on NAMI's site Kansas is given a lower ranking that Arizona. I beg to differ on that account.

It seems AZ is hell bent on doing the opposite of any Federal law or mandate for the sake of not doing what the federal government says even if it means cutting its nose off to spite its face.

I guess it really is true that any real positive change has to come from the people via grass roots (not Astroturfed) efforts. The first step is that the people need to realize they outnumber those powers that be.

What psychiatric drug

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 15:20 — Your Killer (not verified)

What psychiatric drug problems did this guy have?
SSRIs are a well known adjunct to all kinds of violence, in fact create depression in some people - but because of their connection to drug profits they are rarely implicated.

In addition to my previous

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 15:34 — delere (not verified)

In addition to my previous comment, I must say the old saying "Follow the money" applies here. First, no one has found a way for large corporations to make money on providing proper health care for everyone and limiting access to firearms. Secondly, there is money to be made by large corporations in stopping the terror in Darfur just as there is money to be made in war - cold or not.

Ah, yes. In my recent

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 16:28 — lamebrainedideas (not verified)

Ah, yes. In my recent reading of "The Gulag Archipelago 2" I discovered that the attitude of the state towards the thieves and murderers (whose guild held sway in the camps, over the mere political prisoners} was that since the class struggle was responsible for the existence of these "victims" it was the policy of the state that they should be accomodated insofar as was possible, and should be perceived as allies of the revolution in the destruction of the old order. Hmmmm.

Sorry, I do not accept any

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 16:35 — Anonymous (not verified)

Sorry, I do not accept any of the blame. I stand against those who deny health care and mental health care. I stand against those who put profits above people.

The true Christian teaching is people first.

I was hungry...
I was thirsty...
I was sick...
I was ...
And you didn't...
Or
And you...

Family, we must all take a

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 16:46 — Isaiah (not verified)

Family, we must all take a look at ourselves(me included). We all have to take responsibility our society is infested with violence. We also continually put people down that have mental problems. Change starts with us we have to change the way we treat each other. My heart and love goes out to the families that have been affected by this. On 9/11 we had a choice in how we responded to violence we made the wrong choice lets make the right one this time. Choose Peace,Love and Forgiveness. Stop pointing the finger at other and say how can I change?

Love and Peace!

Nice try, Mr Morlino. If you

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 16:48 — photon's feather (not verified)

Nice try, Mr Morlino.

If you think greater access to mental health care alone is a goal, it proves only your misunderstanding of the state of 'mental health care' in the US.

We have a system that allows - indeed, supports - some of the worst-qualified students go into psychology/ psychiatry. And we have institutions run by people who themselves are a part of the problem, run and staffed by people who ought never have been allowed certification in clinical psychology.

If you want to find a large group of people who are emotionally immature and psychologically unfit, just attend a convention of shrinks.

I've talked to several of the most prestigious members of the 'profession,' and they are utterly unconcerned with any problem anyone may wish to report, regardless of documentation. That includes NIMH.

If you find a good shrink, congratulations. As far as I can determine, you've beaten the odds.

Start your reading with: Mind Game:
Witchdoctors and Psychiatrists - by E. Fuller Torrey.

Mental health care in the US: little better than a sham - and a very expensive one.

we've "tolerated" lacking

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 18:12 — Anonymous (not verified)

we've "tolerated" lacking psychological care? more like ENCOURAGED the malignment of it.

Even among liberal circles in the U.S. the attitude toward psychological disorders is positively paleolithic.

At the height of my mother's cancer, which nearly took her life, I suffered from depression which sapped my energy like the worst virus you've ever had. I sought accommodation from my university regarding this and received official acknowledgement, and still half my professors accused me of "attempting to skate by".

I ended up taking that semester off, but i'll never forget how "open minded" the halls of academia were.

Re your quote: "...we've

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 20:23 — Eli Dumitru (not verified)

Re your quote: "...we've created a society in which millions of children and adults suffering from severe emotional pain not only go untreated..."

Actually most of the well-publicized crazy killers such as the shooters at Columbine and Virginia Tech, Ted Kaczinski,Michael McDermott, John Hinckley, Jr., Mark David Chapman, the Amish school killer and others, had been "treated" before they killed. They were treated with prescribed psychoactive pharmaceuticals that have acknowledged side effects of: psychotic reaction, delusion, depersonalization, hostility, hysteria and paranoid reaction.

-I think that "mental

Sun, 01/16/2011 - 23:41 — Joel (not verified)

-I think that "mental illness" is a medical model concept that promotes medical solutions. But violence is really a social problem, not a medical one; all the evidence that I've seen points to violent tendencies in individuals who have been treated violently. It is unlikely that violent behavior comes out of nowhere because of a mysterious, inexplicable "illness".

Loughner is incorrectly

Mon, 01/17/2011 - 07:52 — Anonymous (not verified)

Loughner is incorrectly assumed to be suffering of some sort of diminished mental capacity. Everyone in the media has spread this lie. Loughner has never been adjudicated incompetent. He's never seen a psychiatrist. The media has pronounced him so based on the opinions and hearsay of non-professionals and some professionals being paid to offer opinions that suit the media's interest.
Loughner is a terrorist…a self described terrorist. He was inspired to violent action based on the rhetoric of right-wing nationalists. He's being given a pass because he's WHITE. If Mohamed Osman Mohamud is terrorist, then so is Loughner.
Just because everybody from Obama to John Morlino refuses to speak the truth doesn't change the truth.
Loughner is a terrorist. He's never been adjudicated or even diagnosed as incompetent in any way. He knew what he was doing. He planned his attack and succeeded in pulling it off. He is a product of right-wing nationalism. The same right-wing nationalism that controls the government and the media.

There have always been nuts.

Mon, 01/17/2011 - 17:23 — steve bernstein (not verified)

There have always been nuts. There always will be. Perhaps, now more than ever.
it's all true; pharmaceuticals, bad food, chemicals, spiritual bankruptcy, terribly misplaced priorities...all of it and everything else too.
All that said, how many guns do we need? Why do we really have this industry? The right to bear arms? please. There's an 8 year old boy in my neck of the woods who accidentally blew his head off with a machine gun at a sanctioned, legal gun show. A machine gun! an 8 year old! does that sound right? the sport of "hunting"?
what sport? A high powered firearm against a defenseless animal. An animal that we don't need for food, clothing or anything. a sentient being who had their own life blown away by one of us. why?
Here's my take. Men like to kill things. Period.
Not all men however. Let's stop making guns.