Reality Check : Not All Criminals Are Mentally Disturbed/Insane

[rpgamerd00d]

In various numerous threads today I have seen people refer to the mental state of hard-core criminals, ones that end up in these so-called SuperMax prisons.

Reality Check : Just because someone does something heinous and unimaginable to you, that does not mean they are insane or mentally unstable. Most criminals are not mentally disturbed - they are just cold-hearted, callous, self-serving mother f***ers. In a way, they are a lot like Republicans in that regard. ( :D )

I am not saying that this makes it ok to inflict inhumane cruelty to them. This thread isn't about that.

All I'm saying is that we "normal people" loathe to admit that there is a dark side to being Human. We don't want to admit that the capacity to inflict great harm and suffering to others does not require a mental breakdown, but merely the will to do it. We refuse to admit that WE are capable of such acts unless we "go mentally insane". Because that makes us feel better about ourselves and more secure in our society. But the truth is that committing horrible, violent crime does not require a mental imbalance. It just requires the will of a self-centered, uncaring, unforgiving mind.

And I think that makes "us normal folk" even more special, because we don't succumb to that dark side within us.