PrintJanuary 12, 2011
Lost in Modern America
Old America -- pre-World War II -- had its Jared Loughners, George Hennards, James Oliver Hubertys, and Charles Whitmans. But no one ever heard of them. They never went to parking lots or restaurants or schools to kill. Old America was a much different place from modern America. It was a rooted place, a connected place. The crazies weren't permitted to act out their craziness -- not in ways that harmed others. The Angry Loner was a rarity. The inescapable truth is that public mass murders are periodic features of modern America, whether at fast food joints, post offices, malls, factories, business offices -- you name it. Modern America -- whatever its virtues -- lacks many of the restraints that made public mass murders practically unknown in old America. There's no turning back the clock to old America -- no more than we can turn back the clock on our lives. But we can learn what was right about old America that kept...(Read Full Article)
