Okay. Some people objected to my post concerning Andrew Sullivan's nonsense of it being time for vigils and prayers in the wake of the shootings at V Tech.
My response: Give me a fucking break.
First: I loathe the whole weak 21st century culture of shared "grief" and "empathy." Every time something bad happens, to random strangers on the other side of the country, we have to go through these paroxisms and rituals of showing just how affected we are, and those who don't show it are clearly screwed up. So then we have to have a "vigil" or a prayer meeting or a moment of silence to "remember" those people.
Such goddamn nonsense. These stupid rituals are far more about the individuals participating in them than they are about the people for whom the ritual is intended. It's about showing just how sensitive, how caring, how I'm-so-in-touch-with-my-emotions-and-those-people-and-isn't-it-just-tragic we are. I bet you this: stick any one of the people now intoning "oh it's just so awful we need time to reflect rather than discuss the issues which led to the shootings" on a desert island, with no one watching them, and I bet you they wouldn't be passionately stating the shibboleths of grief. Who in this country bats a single tear-laden eyelash when, oh, say, over 100 people are killed in Baghdad?
So to all those who say no, we shouldn't be talking about guns and why on earth it is that the US lets people have them because it's just not the time and we should be sensitive: nonsense. This is exactly the time. It's right when it makes headlines that we should talk about why on earth it is we allow people to have guns and why on earth we're hostage to the fucking NRA and Texas.
And to all those people who are "grieving" and feeling sad and rending their clothes about the tragedy, even though they don't know a single freakin' person involved: grow the fuck up. Get a spine. People like you have made us a generation of pussies. Our grandparents got through the damn WAR without collapsing into a generation of bloody housewives from Nebraska who are personally affected by every tragedy in the country.
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There is considerable evidence that grief counsellors do more harm than good. They remind me of vultures who collect wherever tragedy has occurred.
The best "grief counsellors" turn out to be family and friends.
And I must say, I get tired of people competing to see who can appear the most grief stricken.
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