An observation

/ hsoi

I saw somewhere else someone making a worthwhile observation.

Bomb goes off killing and injuring many people, we blame the bomber.

Gun goes off killing and injuring many people, we blame guns.

We haven’t called for a ban on pressure cookers, or background checks, or licensing, or registration, or whatever… because we know that’s silly because the pressure cooker isn’t to blame. We haven’t called Martha Stewart evil or demonized the NRA (you know, the National Restaurant Association).

Why is this horrible event about the person that committed the act, and particular other horrible events about the inanimate object that the person used to commit the act?

I’m not trying to politicize the events, I really don’t want to do that. But it’s a fair observation that bears repeating.

4 thoughts on “An observation”

  1. I follow the flow and also think it’s the individual not the tool. For example, everyone blames Anakin Skywalker for his killing spree, not the light saber.

    I think the push will be closer to the impact of pseudoephedrine; where an over the counter drug was moved behind the counter and limits were placed on volume to fight meth. I’m not saying this worked or didn’t work or had any impact other then bugging me when the cedar is out. But you do need a drivers license to get it now. Tracking who you are and what you do is uncomfortably common.

    • It is…. witness Facebook… mobile phones… tracking is what they want, sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for evil.

      But really, people have used the pseudoephedrine issue as comparison: that it’s crazy we have to go through all that for a decongestant, but not as much for a gun (tho I guess they’ve never filled out a 4473). Well, I say we shouldn’t be going through all that for medicine because it hasn’t done a thing to stop meth production and consumption… but some politician can claim he did “something”… “for the children”… because “if it saves just one life, then it’s worth it”. *sigh*

    • I admit I’m of mixed emotion here.

      On the one hand, I appreciate the ability to be targeted.

      As a consumer, it can allow me to cut through the chaff and find the wheat that I care about. My favorite example is how a few years ago I learned about a Motorhead concert here in Austin… because of a targeted ad on Facebook. Wife never would have seen such an ad, but I did because I “liked” Motorhead and list that I live in Austin. And frankly, I was really happy to have learned about that concert… went, had a great time. Hooray for targeted marketing.

      As a business owner, I need to advertise products and services. To some extent, it’s important to try to hit new folks that may not know they want to be targeted. But it’s also more valuable to be able to advertise to precisely my target market. Again, I’d rather have a high quality message being received by those quite willing to utilize my product/service, than to just spew my message out there and hope someone bites, y’know?

      So there’s something to be said for targeting. It really can work better for all parties involved.

      But then, we don’t like “being tracked”. the main reason tho is because we fear it will be used against us, that people will learn things we don’t want them to learn about. Quite understandable. To have the choice is, IMHO, important. Alas, we’re developing a world where the choice isn’t allowed. I mean, it is harder to be a consumer on a pure-cash basis now. Try to not give X information, and “the computer won’t let me proceed without it” and other such things. And it can go far deeper and more nefarious.

      So… I’m of mixed emotions. Like so many things, we want the good, not the evil. Alas, you get both.

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