Saturday, April 21, 2007
time off from studying
stare at the word "time".
you realise it looks a little weird, isn't it?
ok, that was a spontaneous exercise!
heard about the virginia tech shootout?
it's such a tragic turnout. i have been following this news and even though it's my exam period, i can't help but reflect on the flaws of the american society.
guns are legal in the US. you can easily get ammunition and guns anywhere from supermarkets. yea, it's that common - like buying vegetables.
in the name of self-defence, the US allowed the sale of guns. but in the first place, if they had banned the sale of guns, would so many unnecessary loss and misfortunes have taken place? would you even need arms for protection against others? i guess it boils down to insecurity that modern day individualism has impinged on us.
guns give one the ultimate superiority of control. and with arms, one doesn't have to depend on others to protect oneself.
so you see, the easy access to arms had made violence through guns such a widespread crime in the US.
the gunman was a korean student of the school. he was a lonely guy with unstable and violent tendencies which he displayed in class work.
apparently, many koreans in korea and the US were appalled when they knew that the gunman was of the same ethnicity as them. they rebuked him terribly.
but has anybody thought of what could have happened to this korean guy (he killed himself after shooting everyone) that led him to such an outburst?
could he have been the victim of racial discrimination? perhaps being yellow-skinned, he found it hard to belong among the whites. if the student body of virginia tech had made an initiative to assimilate him (through foreign student support or activities) , the shootout could have been prevented. as you see, the american society, being a multiracial one that seeks to attract migrants, has to make extra efforts to integrate people of different colours.
don't put the blame on the dead killer prematurely. step back and take a look. things could have been better if he had felt welcomed in the society.
another thing.
all those shot dead were known. their names and faces were printed on newpapers in remembrance. and you realise, every week, somalians starve to death, people in iraq bombed but they are merely reported as death statistics, NOT recognised as a person of worth.
see the disparity in the world? as an american, you have a name. as a somalian, you are just another one of the numbers.
What to expect from here
FLASHBACK
CREDITS