metonymy4u

With each shooting and bombing we ask ourselves, “how could this happen?” And yet it is clear that this is the wrong question. The appropriate question is, “given the conditions under which we live, in which real needs are neglected and in which the system only responds with vigorous and visible actions when something this horrendous happens, why isn’t this sort of thing happening more often?” Our so-called social justice system is so far divorced from the realities of behavior and learning that it is analogous to a bunch of scientists trying to get a rocket into orbit through the use of their collective psychokinetic levitation powers. What we don’t seem to understand is that “outrage” tends draw attention to whatever it is directed at. If outrage follows physical violence, then violence will tend to be reinforced. But what would things be like if we were just as outraged by the daily violence of economic rape, the neglect of education, the poverty of social injustice? What would the world be like if every time a child was found to be suffering from malnutrition and bank fraud, the FBI were called in to investigate, and the mayor of every major city put their staff on high alert to seek out similar crimes in progress in their very own communities? A people are defined by what they find outrageous. What do we find most outrageous?