Disturbing...
Yesterday, almost everyone in my office including another Doctor and I were sitting up front awaiting the next patient, and I casually looked down at my phone and saw an alert which stated that there had been a mass shooting in a school in Texas, with at least two children dead. My instant reaction was to say aloud, “Oh my God, another school shooting, this time in Texas. They’re saying two are dead but I’m sure it’s more, it’s always more.“
No one else looked up from what they were doing, and so I figured I’d spoken under my breath and I repeated exactly what I had said but a little louder, and one individual said “Oh that’s a shame” and went back to what she was doing. No one else reacted at all whatsoever.
I came to two realizations simultaneously: the first was that these people with whom I work possess very little in the way of altruism and I should always remember that in other contexts, and secondly that for a vast number of people, no matter how they claim to be “other-oriented” in their business or profession, they simply are not. I believe this is important because you need to know with whom you are dealing. There is no point in looking through rose colored glasses and pretending that most individuals truly care about your personal plight. I hate to be the cynical, but in my advancing age I have come to the realization that many if not most people are fundamentally selfish, despite their protest to the contrary.
And I simultaneously thought of something else: a few years before I was born a 28-year-old man named Howard Unruh in Camden, New Jersey, walked down the street and murdered I believe 13 people in a random act of violence. From the earliest age, his name was bandied about in the Philadelphia area as an anomaly, an extreme action which occurred once in a generation perhaps, and his name was synonymous with irrational behavior. As recently as my college and professional school career, his name would be used by lecturers as an example of what virtually never happens, and the worst thing that could possibly occur to an individual on the street.
We have clearly eclipsed this once in a generation Horror and apparently we are going to have “mass murder of the week” competitions. This society is devolving quickly and there are going to be many many casualties in this war upon humanity. I do not believe the facilitators will ever be held accountable , the NRA people, the legislators who refuse to address common sense gun control, or the gun manufacturers who also don’t care. Quite frankly, I think that for many people as long as it didn’t happen to them or their family it Just. Doesn’t. Matter. As long as they have their online gaming, free pornography, sports, and music, their lives are “complete and satisfactory”.
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There is a complete and total lack of compassion in the populace. I have no words.
In the 80’s, I was a PA county chair for the National Coalition To Ban Hand Guns, and after two years the Org. Folded operations in the state. They said… “This is a hunting state. we’ll NEVER get anywhere in PA.”
The gun control movement began to give up then.
40 years ago.. state by state we gave up and gave in to intimidation. Now, here we are.
But this is different. Americans have closed their minds and walled off their hearts.
convention in the basement of a Taco Joint in Florida! Is this true? $10,000 sign-up fee online?
Like tucker, I'm just asking the question.
Thank you. It is much appreciated. 
