The Apathy Remedy

This is tragic.

Out of apparent frustration for losing some of his Social Security benefits, a man opened fire at a Las Vegas Courthouse, killing two, and wounding others.

My condolences go out to the family of those affected by the shooting, but also to the community of Las Vegas.  It is moments such as this that I know shake the security of the known and predictable day to day routine.

As I read the drama leading up to this, I could not help but think about the underlying issues that arose:

1) Race – there are times in which injustice truly exists in the country, do to inequities from lack of opportunity or institutionalized norms that are counterproductive to progress on racial harmony and equality.  But this was not it, as the shooter alleged.  I could not help thinking that actual moments when the “race card is played” for true offenses gets demeaned and undervalued when characters like this shout “injustice”.  If you move from one state to another, you will lose the SS benefits afforded to you in the previous state and gain the ones that exist in the latter state – common sense.

2) Hard times – Let’s not validate the killing of another because of “hard times”.  However, this economy has had people acting in ways they have not before.  I mean there are too many stories since 2008 to count – family members killing their families, others robbing stores, and still others committing murder-suicides – all indicators of breaking under pressure.  That $317 reduction in benefits may have been “just enough” for this 66-year old retiree to live off of.  It adds a bit more urgent context to the necessity of government interaction to help along the hurt economy.  Letting the market correct itself would surely make more people hurt longer than I am sure they would desire.  Extending the time to collect unemployment benefits has been a great start, but this is a sad illustration of the  strain these hard times have put on individuals.

There is no justification for this act.  But it is a tragic reminder of the reality of the tough economy for many Americans.  Sadly, the shooter chose to unload his burden onto unwilling and unsuspecting victims.

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