Socialist Action /May 1999
 Editorial: Why do Young People Kill?
One of the major columnists for The New York Times, Thomas Friedman,
has argued that the massacre at Littleton High School in Colombine, Col.,
shocked the American public so deeply that it undermined support for the
U.S. government's war against Yugoslavia.
In the May 4 issue of the United States' most prestigious daily, Friedman
wrote: "Whatever enthusiasm existed for a ground war in Kosovo, or
even the sort of intense air campaign that I have favored, has been diluted
by the murders. ... And people in Washington are missing something if they
don't understand that."
It is only to be hoped that the response of the American people to the
tragedy in Colombine will indeed be to reevaluate the actions of Washington's
war machine-and well as the growth of inhumanity in general in our society.
In our opinion, as the richest country in the world approaches the end
of the 20th century, its society has become increasingly cynical and cruel.
The streets are full of people who have been abandoned, who are dying right
in public view.
Many of these unfortunates, who are among the most abject victims of
the capitalist system, have become victims twice over-suffering sadistic
attacks by brutalized youths and others in recent years.
And that also is a warning sign. Youths who sympathize with the Colombine
killers have been quoted in the media as telling stories of constant and
inhuman harassment of teenagers selected as victims by their peers.
This is hardly any wonder when popular culture, of which young people
are the prime consumers, divides humanity into "winners" and "losers."
Popular culture at the end of the 20th century-as twisted by the capitalist
media, advertising companies, and Hollywood-has nothing but contempt for
the "losers."
People who can remember the Great Depression, despite its hardships,
often express a longing for the culture of solidarity of those days.
But today, the message being given the American people by the bombing
of Yugoslavia is that the U.S. government can cold-bloodedly destroy people
and a society from 15,000 feet up with super machinery. No human values
matter, neither pity on the part of the attackers nor bravery on the part
of the victims.
This message-if permitted to continue-points to a truly terrible future.
The Colombine killings show that it is time for Americans to think about
the decline of human values and how they can be revived. It is time to think
about reorganizing the economic basis of society on the basis of human values.
Socialist Action /May 1999 |