I'd challenge the person who submitted this to think about this rule:
"Essentially there are two rules here: don't post or upvote crap links, and don't be rude or dumb in comment threads.
A crap link is one that's only superficially interesting.
What does "deeply interesting" mean? It means stuff that teaches you about the world. A story about a robbery, for example, would probably not be deeply interesting. But if this robbery was a sign of some bigger, underlying trend, perhaps it could be."
Is there a deeper, underlying trend here? Is there something that society is missing here? Are pitbulls a greater existential threat than school shootings? I'd say -- no. Dogs are animals, they typically aren't considered to have an ethical compass. Dog attacks are unfortunate, deaths from dog attacks are usually avoidable and very sad. Many deadly attacks by dogs are the result of poor dog ownership by humans, and a lack of proper regulation by local government.
School shootings are a different problem. Unfettered access to high powered, fast-firing guns, poor mental health, and unfortunately a response from at least half of government that is unsufficient and insulting to those threatened by gun violence, where those people in government value difficult to quantify values like "freedom" over easy to quantify values like the life of a child.
And I think the parallel between school shootings and dogs is actually pretty close. In both cases, the problem is government caving to people who demand the right to own dangerous objects/animals, regardless of the risk to others. Culture plays a role in both, and mental health, doubtless plays a role in both.
I'd challenge the person who submitted this to think about this rule:
"Essentially there are two rules here: don't post or upvote crap links, and don't be rude or dumb in comment threads.
A crap link is one that's only superficially interesting.
What does "deeply interesting" mean? It means stuff that teaches you about the world. A story about a robbery, for example, would probably not be deeply interesting. But if this robbery was a sign of some bigger, underlying trend, perhaps it could be."
Is there a deeper, underlying trend here? Is there something that society is missing here? Are pitbulls a greater existential threat than school shootings? I'd say -- no. Dogs are animals, they typically aren't considered to have an ethical compass. Dog attacks are unfortunate, deaths from dog attacks are usually avoidable and very sad. Many deadly attacks by dogs are the result of poor dog ownership by humans, and a lack of proper regulation by local government.
School shootings are a different problem. Unfettered access to high powered, fast-firing guns, poor mental health, and unfortunately a response from at least half of government that is unsufficient and insulting to those threatened by gun violence, where those people in government value difficult to quantify values like "freedom" over easy to quantify values like the life of a child.
I think it’s pretty interesting.
And I think the parallel between school shootings and dogs is actually pretty close. In both cases, the problem is government caving to people who demand the right to own dangerous objects/animals, regardless of the risk to others. Culture plays a role in both, and mental health, doubtless plays a role in both.