Fourteen little children killed in Texas school shooting

[perrykneeham]

I do wonder if there isn't something particularly humiliat at the core of The American Dream. The promise of opportunity and prosperity is written so large and brightly in the American psyche and yet is so profoundly false for so many.

And yet they are bombarded with imagery of the value of wealth and material success all the time. It must occur to people particularly young men, that they are utterly f**k*d.

[mids]

He was only 18 so maybe that coupled with something in the school system. Or his grandmother.

[mids]

Anyway, is he brown enough for MHIs?

[ootlg]

It always seems to me that Americans are playing out roles, not actually living.

[perrykneeham]

If only they'd listened to Michael. Too late now, of course.

[mids]

Words of wisdom Michael, words of wisdom.

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways"

[perrykneeham]

St. Michael of Peadopolis:

"I've seen the bright get duller
I'm not going to spend my life being a color."

Amen. Hee-hee!

[Minge är en jävla besserwisser]

May 25, 2022 8:07:51 GMT ootlg said:

It always seems to me that Americans are playing out roles, not actually living.

I often find it hard to talk to them. You ask a question and they answer, but I have no idea what the answer meant or the point of it. I understand every word but I just don't get what they are trying to say. it's very odd.

It's like a rephrased feedback of something you didn't actually say.

[Repat Van]

May 25, 2022 7:12:13 GMT perrykneeham said:

Yeah, the guns make it worse and should be removed from society, but this isn't just about guns.

This could be in the “Men, Again” thread because it is almost always (young) men who do this kind of thing. It would be interesting to determine why.

[Repat Van]

May 25, 2022 7:12:07 GMT mids said:

They always seem to shoot a mother or grandmother first.

Misogyny.

[Repat Van]

May 25, 2022 7:28:43 GMT mids said:

Anyway, is he brown enough for MHIs?

You need help.

[Repat Van]

May 25, 2022 9:46:44 GMT Minge är en jävla besserwisser said:

May 25, 2022 8:07:51 GMT ootlg said:

It always seems to me that Americans are playing out roles, not actually living.

I often find it hard to talk to them. You ask a question and they answer, but I have no idea what the answer meant or the point of it. I understand every word but I just don't get what they are trying to say. it's very odd.

It's like a rephrased feedback of something you didn't actually say.

You are a strange man.

[flatandy]

May 25, 2022 7:18:14 GMT perrykneeham said:

I do wonder if there isn't something particularly humiliat at the core of The American Dream. The promise of opportunity and prosperity is written so large and brightly in the American psyche and yet is so profoundly false for so many.

And yet they are bombarded with imagery of the value of wealth and material success all the time. It must occur to people particularly young men, that they are utterly f**k*d.

I think this is true. The other thing to note is how deep-seated violence and gun violence in particular is in US culture. The country fames itself on its framing in terms of the revolutionary and civil wars. The westward expansion which presented so much of the material for our novels and early hollywood is all guns and cowboys and indians. And US TV and film drama is always way more packed full of guns and fighting and gun chases and good guys with guns and shoot-outs than anyone else's.

The presence of guns and the gun laws make everything worse, of course. But it's so heavily embedded in the culture that it seems like it might be hard to extricate it. Lots of America defines itself in terms of violent acts.

[Repat Van]

May 25, 2022 11:18:07 GMT flatandy said:

May 25, 2022 7:18:14 GMT perrykneeham said:

I do wonder if there isn't something particularly humiliat at the core of The American Dream. The promise of opportunity and prosperity is written so large and brightly in the American psyche and yet is so profoundly false for so many.

And yet they are bombarded with imagery of the value of wealth and material success all the time. It must occur to people particularly young men, that they are utterly f**k*d.

I think this is true. The other thing to note is how deep-seated violence and gun violence in particular is in US culture. The country fames itself on its framing in terms of the revolutionary and civil wars. The westward expansion which presented so much of the material for our novels and early hollywood is all guns and cowboys and indians. And US TV and film drama is always way more packed full of guns and fighting and gun chases and good guys with guns and shoot-outs than anyone else's.

The presence of guns and the gun laws make everything worse, of course. But it's so heavily embedded in the culture that it seems like it might be hard to extricate it. Lots of America defines itself in terms of violent acts.

I have seen a number of Americans online who are questioning why they don’t have armed guards in schools like other buildings. It seems so odd to me that they are ok with the concept of armed primary schools and don’t find it disturbing that they would live in a society where that was the case.

[mids]

I find Yanks to be very literal and a bit slow on the uptake. Not because they're thick but just a difference, I think, in British outlook and attitudes. Australians are much closer to us in that respect. Pretty much the same, in fact. I'd include Kiwis but they're just a bit too isolated and thus have gone mad. I don't know what any of that's got to do with guns.

[flatandy]

I've seen people suggesting that primary school teachers should be armed. That this is the solution proposed is utterly nuts.

I don't know if any of them ever met a primary school teacher. Even if guns in classrooms was a good idea, I'm pretty sure that 99% primary school teachers wouldn't ever shoot anyone even in a massive shoot-out.

[mids]

May 25, 2022 11:18:07 GMT flatandy said:

May 25, 2022 7:18:14 GMT perrykneeham said:

I do wonder if there isn't something particularly humiliat at the core of The American Dream. The promise of opportunity and prosperity is written so large and brightly in the American psyche and yet is so profoundly false for so many.

And yet they are bombarded with imagery of the value of wealth and material success all the time. It must occur to people particularly young men, that they are utterly f**k*d.

I think this is true. The other thing to note is how deep-seated violence and gun violence in particular is in US culture. The country fames itself on its framing in terms of the revolutionary and civil wars. The westward expansion which presented so much of the material for our novels and early hollywood is all guns and cowboys and indians. And US TV and film drama is always way more packed full of guns and fighting and gun chases and good guys with guns and shoot-outs than anyone else's.

The presence of guns and the gun laws make everything worse, of course. But it's so heavily embedded in the culture that it seems like it might be hard to extricate it. Lots of America defines itself in terms of violent acts.

And yet Americans are some of the warmest, friendliest people you can meet. I think America has a split personality, exemplified in the attitude to alcohol. Some regard it as the devil's brew for either religious or health reasons but a huge number of Yanks like a drink as much as we do.

[happyhammerhead]

May 25, 2022 9:46:44 GMT Minge är en jävla besserwisser said:

May 25, 2022 8:07:51 GMT ootlg said:

It always seems to me that Americans are playing out roles, not actually living.

I often find it hard to talk to them. You ask a question and they answer, but I have no idea what the answer meant or the point of it. I understand every word but I just don't get what they are trying to say. it's very odd.

It's like a rephrased feedback of something you didn't actually say.

Yeah, I know what you mean there Ming. I have found the same, but then almost all Americans I've worked with were either engineers or programmers, so might not be indicative of a cultural norm, or any norm.

[flatandy]

May 25, 2022 11:28:59 GMT mids said:

May 25, 2022 11:18:07 GMT flatandy said:

I think this is true. The other thing to note is how deep-seated violence and gun violence in particular is in US culture. The country fames itself on its framing in terms of the revolutionary and civil wars. The westward expansion which presented so much of the material for our novels and early hollywood is all guns and cowboys and indians. And US TV and film drama is always way more packed full of guns and fighting and gun chases and good guys with guns and shoot-outs than anyone else's.

The presence of guns and the gun laws make everything worse, of course. But it's so heavily embedded in the culture that it seems like it might be hard to extricate it. Lots of America defines itself in terms of violent acts.

And yet Americans are some of the warmest, friendliest people you can meet. I think America has a split personality, exemplified in the attitude to alcohol. Some regard it as the devil's brew for either religious or health reasons but a huge number of Yanks like a drink as much as we do.

US attitudes to booze seem to have become much healthier over the last few years, I think. In the past it was either an absolute evil where one sip led you on a road to ruin (I remember almost every US teen drama in the 80s had an episode where someone had a drink at a party at the age of 15 and it led to some bizarre counselling sessions) or people got absolutely blasted, usually on sh*t beer in crappy bars. Alcoholism was rife because of the shame of drinking so all the alcoholics kept secret stashes of the strong stuff.

It feels much more normal now to have a couple of drinks of something nice and be done with it. Somewhere between total abstinence and secret alcholic.

Although there's still a lot of focus on AA as a way of stopping drinking, which is a very weird cultish thing with lots of appeals to a higher power and an absolute ban on drinking anything ever.

[Repat Van]

May 25, 2022 11:27:03 GMT flatandy said:

I've seen people suggesting that primary school teachers should be armed. That this is the solution proposed is utterly nuts.

I don't know if any of them ever met a primary school teacher. Even if guns in classrooms was a good idea, I'm pretty sure that 99% primary school teachers wouldn't ever shoot anyone even in a massive shoot-out.

Yep that was up there with the wackiness too.