this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2023
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I completely agree. However, if we're talking about solutions, blaming someone like this doesn't get us anywhere, and it certainly won't prevent another similar tragedy.
The people interested in actually solving this problem aren't wasting their time on the motives of the shooters. They are all aberrations, but when the number of aberrations starts rising, that tells you there's a problem in the system, and treating the symptoms won't make it go away.
You're missing the point when people say it won't solve future issues. Yes, lock the perpetrator up (ignoring the issues with the penal system in the first place), that's a no brainier. But locking up that person and placing all the blame at their feet doesn't do anything for the other people in very similar situations.
The person you were talking to was making a broader societal point. Placing the blame for this whole situation, which is the fruit of many of the failings of society, just enacted through a single man, and saying we're good 'cause that boogeyman is dead or in prison does NOTHING to address the root causes, the actual problems. That's the point you're missing.
You're painting a false dichotomy, though. Both of these things can be true at the same time, and in fact are. It does everyone more good to accept that yes, Cruz did a bad thing and should be held accountable, and to accept that, yes, society at large has a hand to play in this.
What, exactly, prevents both from being true? Cruz is to blame for his actions. Society is to blame for the conditions that led to the actions. They're both true. We can punish, imprison, whatever, the person who did the crime, while still also acknowledging that there may be other things that led to the thing from happening.