We've got "problems"

I keep hearing of these tragic shootings occurring when the gunman had a "problem," or "something wasn't quite right" in his mental state. First, the college shooting in West Virginia. Now, some guy claiming to be the emperor of Colorado strolls into the governor's offices and gets himself shot (before he is able to shoot anyone else) by the security staff. Governor Bill Ritter is quoted as saying, "it does seem like he was having some sort of psychotic lapse..." In the aftermath of these attacks, everyone shakes their heads and says, "oh how terrible, how evil, crime doesn't pay, who would be so full of hate that they could commit such an act?"

What is at the root of gun violence and other violence? People think:

-guns are too easy to get
-there aren't enough restrictions on firearm usage and ownership
-people don't have enough/the right education/attention from parents
-bad influences from video games, movies and books
-not enough police and law enforcement
-not enough security tags/officers/screenings/doors/metal detectors

and so on and so forth. Americans, the classic individualists (E Pluribus Unum/Out of Many, ONE) point their fingers in blame everywhere but towards themselves. We should hang our heads in shame because every single one of us American citizens has the power to stop violence and we ignore or refuse that right time after time.

I maintain that the real and truthful cause of violence in America is the utterly dilapidated state of our health care system and specifically, our mental health care system. I acknowledge that thse other factors play a role in violence; poor parenting, violent imagery, violent environments, or poor security and regulation of weapons. But these factors would never have the kind of impact they have on our society if we provided our fellow citizens with adequate mental health care using our own taxable resources.

I believe that, with the rare exception here and there, no human being is purely evil. While people may commit evil acts, these acts do not make people evil, nor do they imply a kind of inherent evil. Rather, evil acts reveal an underlying illness, condition, or coping mechanism brought on by a variety of catalysts. Yet when violent crimes are committed, the knee-jerk reaction is to conjure up satanic images and damn the perpetrators, without giving the slightest thought to motive or medical history.

Amazingly these impulsive generalizations drift into the minds of our policymakers and politicians, who make hasty decisions in their attempt to please the groaning masses. So we are saddled with a swarm of half-baked gun-control laws and ordinances and speedily constructed metal detectors while mental hospitals and wards are closing their doors left and right, and state budget cuts force mental health clinics to lay off trained psychological professionals and prevent patients from receiving much-needed care.

This trend is not remarkable when one considers the current state of the health care and insurance industry. If people can't even afford decent health care for their most basic human needs, how can we expect the mental health industry to be any better? When we do establish a universal health care system and eliminate the health care problems that plague us once and for all, we absolutely must make room for mental health. Indeed we must give it the same precedence we give to our broken limbs, our liposuction, and our heart attacks, because if a heart attack is considered a dire situation, a relapse of psychosis is just as much a life-or-death scenario, even if its violent face does not immediately reveal itself.

We Americans need to start seeing mental health as equally important as physical health. Physical health and mental health are inextricably entwined; when one is failing, inevitably the other begins its decline. Thus the "problems" that these gunmen have need to be addressed before they ever buy the gun, load the bullets, and pull the trigger. Americans are too trigger-happy as it is, eager to point blaming fingers at every obvious culprit, but we need to step back and examine the clear evidence that is laid before us. Of course these violent people have "problems." They become violent because they lack the resources to solve their problems, and those of us who do have resources or have the power to create resources need to do so before any more needless blood is shed. Right now, the blood of both the victims and the killers whose lives are forever ruined is on our hands.