Dec. 15, 2012

Today I was going to start posting about my recent exhibition history but current high profile news events have left me shaken and troubled.
I’m talking about China and Connecticut.

I can almost understand minor adult on adult violence – we’re old and jaded and, frankly, a lot of us adults can be first-rate a-holes to each other.  But extreme violence directed at groups of children is beyond my comprehension.

Many people seem to believe that more strident gun laws would prevent incidents like this from happening, and in a few cases maybe it will.

I believe there’s more to the solution than stricter firearm regulations.

People who wage war on fellow human beings, be they family members, strangers, adults, or children, are mentally unwell.  For these types of incidents to lessen, mental health has got to be considered a serious and “real” medical issue that requires more than the use of drugs as an ill-fitting band-aid.  I have witnessed my local government eliminate much needed mental health resources over the last two decades.  People who needed support found themselves out on the street, expected to take care of medicating themselves unsupervised.  Governments need to start building up mental health resources and begin to support those who are unstable.

That being said, according to the latest news update the Connecticut shooter was an honours student, was raised in a loving family in a well-off part of town, and had no history – or present indication of  – mental illness.

Which suggests that maybe the world is an inherently irrational place where, on occasion, epically fucked up things are going to randomly happen that completely befuddle us and break our hearts.

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