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But the specific type of mass murder of innocents in theaters and schools was nowhere near as frequent or common until the last few decades. Before that none of us saw a need for high levels of school security. We went to the theater without a thought in our heads that some gunman would come in to start shooting people at random.
Over the past twenty years, claimsmakers have asserted that the mid-1960s marked the beginning of an unprecedented and ever-growing mass murder wave in the United States. Recent research has shown, however, that mass murder was just as common during the 1920s and 30s as it has been since the mid-1960s. Using the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) and newspaper, network television news, and newsweekly magazine coverage as sources of data, this study examines why and how mass murder was constructed as a new crime problem.
On July 14, 1966, Richard Speck committed one of the most notorious mass murders in American history when he killed eight student nurses in Chicago. The mass killing attracted an enormous amount of media attention and was dubbed the “crime of the century” by the coroner working on the case (Time 1966a: 19-21).
A little more than two weeks later on August 1, 1966, the United States witnessed another catastrophic mass murder. This time, the location was the University of Texas at Austin, where 25-year-old student Charles Whitman climbed atop the 307-foot high campus tower and began shooting at passersby below. Whitman killed 16 and wounded 30 before he was fatally shot by police. Recalling that the Speck massacre was labeled the “crime of the century,” Austin Police Chief Robert A. Miles observed, “It isn’t anymore” (Time 1966b: 14-19).
Together, the Speck and Whitman murders were thought to have had a substantial impact on beliefs and perceptions about crime...
During the 1980s, journalists, scholars, and other commentators began to assert that the mid-1960s marked the onset of an unprecedented and ever-growing mass murder wave. And the Speck and Whitman massacres were frequently cited as the bellwether of a sharp upward trend in mass murder activity. Results from a recent study have shown, however, that although the mid-1960s marked the beginning of a mass murder wave, it was not unprecedented. Rather, mass murder was nearly as common during the 1920s and 30s as it has been since the mid-1960s (Duwe 2004)
NOTE: Clean debate zone thread here. . . .
This morning I was listening to a concept put out by a military psychologist who suggests that it is not guns that are the problem in a 'violent America', but rather the changed American culture. Violent concepts are prevalent in our television programs, movies, comic books, music, and most especially in video games that are available in large quantities to very young children.
His theory is that this is desensitizing young people to violence and even exalting and promoting it.
Are video games conditioning kids to accept violence as virtue? As the way to get things accomplished? To win? To reach the pinnacle of success? In many/most of video games out there, it is necessary to be ruthless in order to win the game. Does this change the way people view their world in an unhealthy way?
If you do see this as a problem, how do you get around censorship as being somehow better than gun control? Do you want the government to have power in that area?
Or is there a way for the public/radio/Hollywood to self censor itself as it once did? And should we push for that?
Or maybe you don't see it as a problem at all?
Statistically speaking, violence in the U.S. has decreased to the lowest level since 1978:
United States Crime Rates 1960 - 2011
The sky isn't falling, and Americans are safer than they've been at any point the past 40 years.
I believe that violent video games weren't really widely distributed in the U.S. until the 1990s, and violence has decreased since the 1990s.
Based upon that data, violent video games aren't the problem. In fact, based upon the data, violence isn't as much of a problem as it used to be, either.
In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.[14] wikipediaIt wasn't a new phenomenon in 1764 when 2 men went into an American school and shot a bunch of children, and its still not.
America didn't exist then. Anyway, who did this and where?
But the specific type of mass murder of innocents in theaters and schools was nowhere near as frequent or common until the last few decades. Before that none of us saw a need for high levels of school security. We went to the theater without a thought in our heads that some gunman would come in to start shooting people at random.
Untrue. Your lack of awareness of these kinds of mass killings =/= the lack of existence of them.
Over the past twenty years, claimsmakers have asserted that the mid-1960s marked the beginning of an unprecedented and ever-growing mass murder wave in the United States. Recent research has shown, however, that mass murder was just as common during the 1920s and 30s as it has been since the mid-1960s. Using the FBIs Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) and newspaper, network television news, and newsweekly magazine coverage as sources of data, this study examines why and how mass murder was constructed as a new crime problem.
Mass murders in the 1960s and before occurred in homes, schools, public locations, and the workplace.
I've already accepted that some of you are perfectly fine with the situation as it exists and don't think any further study is necessary. That's cool. I just don't happen to share the same confidence that some of the rest of you do.
However, please back up your claim. Please take out all the organized crime activity, gang activity, and other mass murders that were committed with intent to punish or intimidate somebody specific--those we know WHY they happened-- and post all the mass murders of innocents--most the killers didn't know--in all those other years.
In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.[14] wikipediaIt wasn't a new phenomenon in 1764 when 2 men went into an American school and shot a bunch of children, and its still not.
America didn't exist then. Anyway, who did this and where?
ha, I was nit-picking his nit-picking.In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.[14] wikipediaAmerica didn't exist then. Anyway, who did this and where?
Pretty obvious that Swagger meant the United States of America didn't exist then.
That's the kind of nit picking that leads to conversations getting nothing done. Not that we're accomplishing anything here anyway, but you know what I mean.
Well for sure some don't seem to want anything to be accomplished here. I do believe we have USMB members with the intellect and ability to really explore and dissect a topic and I would like to do that with this topic. But oh well. Whatever floats anybody's boat.
Well for sure some don't seem to want anything to be accomplished here. I do believe we have USMB members with the intellect and ability to really explore and dissect a topic and I would like to do that with this topic. But oh well. Whatever floats anybody's boat.
I've accomplished a debunking of an argument based upon faulty premises. What do I win?
Actually I believe that the "violent video games" weren't introduced until around 2006 when Sony created the so called next generation console market and game makers could suddenly create worlds that looked as real as any movie. Video games are no longer the cartoons bashing each other over the head , or characters who look like men firing what looks like guns at other guys. Now you can, if you wish, literally blow another character's brains out, and watch the bits of brain fly everywhere.
I mean it's not just violent games that are more graphic, I remember my first video sports game, it was Soccer for the Atari2600. It was literally 9 X's against 9 O's kicking a dot around now. look at the graphics today, the players look absolutely real.
As an example of this, want to use a dead cat as a silencer? No problem in this game.
Postal 2 - Share the Pain - Tuesday [1/2] - YouTube
Just like there is no argument that guns can be used for evil, there is no argument that video games today are far more violent and graphic than in the past.
Now I counter that with the argument that video games can also have good effects, but as with ALL things moderation and parental supervision are musts.
Games like the one I showed above simply are NOT created for or geared toward children, they are ADULT games. No different than an R rated movie, or alcohol, or smokes. And shame on parents who don't remember that.
Accomplishment is in the results, not in the doing.
To "discuss the topic" we would have to accept the premise that mass murder is
1) a new phenomenon
2) on the rise
However, this thread is filled with links that prove both of those conclusions false.
Well for sure some don't seem to want anything to be accomplished here. I do believe we have USMB members with the intellect and ability to really explore and dissect a topic and I would like to do that with this topic. But oh well. Whatever floats anybody's boat.
Accomplishment is in the doing. It's entertainment. You do know that; yeah?
Zip else is accomplished. No shit. Millions of posts, probably. Number of opinions altered, still zero.
Try not to overthink it.
Well for sure some don't seem to want anything to be accomplished here. I do believe we have USMB members with the intellect and ability to really explore and dissect a topic and I would like to do that with this topic. But oh well. Whatever floats anybody's boat.
Accomplishment is in the doing. It's entertainment. You do know that; yeah?
Zip else is accomplished. No shit. Millions of posts, probably. Number of opinions altered, still zero.
Try not to overthink it.
Good advice. However I am already spoiled having encountered on line friends who actually do have a clue, who can articulate an intelligent opinion, and who enjoy actually exploring a subject and testing to see whether their point of view can hold up against those who argue against it. And I really appreciate them. And sometimes get impatient with those who don't share my enthusiasm for reasoned conversation, discussion, and debate. Which is my bad, I know.
