Stopping Mass Shootings

Of course, taking guns away is the way to stop mass shootings, but we know that isn't going to be happening anytime soon.

There is a cultural way to greatly reduce mass shootings. I noticed something interesting about mass shootings in my native Britain. There have been four mass shootings in recent decades, far less than in the U.S. but still four too many.

There has been a mass shooting in Britain about every twelve years, on average, beginning in 1987. There was Hungerford in 1987, Dunblaine in 1996, Cumbria in 2010 and, Plymouth in 2021.

One thing that virtually all young mass shooters have in common is that they are what is considered as a loser. That is what the problem is, the overriding pressure to be a winner. When someone finds themselves in the "loser" category there is one quick way out, to really make the world take notice of you, even if it means the loss of one's own life or freedom. Unfortunately that way is to commit a mass shooting. It is really about being a loser even if the shooting is done in the guise of some prejudice, cause or, ideology.

What I notice is that there was an era of "loser" songs in Britain's rock music era, which I have previously written about here. This era was the 1970s and early 1980s. Even the Beatles sang about being losers. What is so interesting is that the era of mass shootings began, in 1987, after the era of "loser" songs had ended.

Maybe that wasn't a coincidence. If we could be a little bit more welcoming to losers, maybe they wouldn't pick up guns.

Three months after I posted "Remembering Britain's Loser Songs", in May 2021, the Plymouth shooting took place. I really think that this would be a good time to review that posting.

REMEMBERING BRITAIN'S LOSER SONGS

During my youth, in the rock music era, British bands produced a number of what could be called "loser" songs. These were songs about generally being a loser, but with life in general and usually not having to do with romance.

Now I see the wisdom of these songs. There are a few examples that come to mind.

"Telephone Line", from 1977 by Electric Light Orchestra, is like the national anthem of loneliness and depression. It does involve romance but I classify it as a "loser" song because the singer is trying to telephone a girl and sinks deep into a gloomy mood. "I'm living in twilight", "I'll just sit tight with the shadows of the night", all because some girl isn't answering the phone.

There was "Superman" by the Kinks. This song involved the times, it was from the time of Britain's notorious strike-inflation spiral of late 1978. The winter of 1978-79 became known as Britain's "Winter of Discontent". The song is about a physically weak guy who wishes that he could be like Superman, "I want to fly but I can't even swim".

Another song was "I Wish I Could Be Like David Watts". It was about a less-than-stellar boy who wants to be like the star boy at school, whose name was David Watts. The Kinks did this song but, visiting Britain in the summer of 1978, I became familiar with the version by The Jam.

There is the song by The Kinks, "State of Confusion". This song seems to be about someone who is generally unable to cope with life. This makes it different from the earlier "Gimme Shelter", by the Rolling Stones, which is not a "loser" song because it is about the disintegration of society.

Gloomiest of all is the New Wave song "Are Friends Electric"? by Gary Numan. It is a futuristic song, supposedly taking place in future London. A guy's girlfriend is an electric robot but now she is broken. So he calls another robot girl to come over. I used to be fascinated by how the instrumentals convey a stark feeling of gloom.

But now I see what might be the point of songs like this. This life will be over before we know it. When the "winners" die they will be just as dead as the "losers".

Shouldn't we be more concerned with what comes after? Would you rather drift through life, but then go to Heaven for eternity, or be a real winner with everything that life has to offer, but then not go to Heaven?

Are we making too big of a deal about being "winners"? What difference will it make a hundred years from now? With very few exceptions you will be completely gone and forgotten a century from now. Of all the people who were alive in the 1920s how many can you name today?

Have you ever went to a job interview and were given a test to take while in the waiting room? Isn't this life really just taking a test in the waiting room? What really counts is what comes next. Maybe there is such a thing as taking this brief life too seriously.

What about the Apocalypse foretold in the Bible? We do not know exactly when it is going to happen and we are not to stop living because it is pending. But remember that this is like living on the Titanic. It would be wonderful to be a winner on the Titanic, but the ship is still going to sink anyway.

The values of the world define who is a winner and who is a loser. But if the world's values are in the right place then why is it heading toward the Apocalypse? Remember that Jesus said "The last will be first and the first will be last". This means that the world's values are upside-down and could be interpreted to mean that winners will be losers, and vice versa. When you face God all of your worldly status, which country you were part of, how popular and attractive you were, and how much money you had, will all mean absolutely nothing.

A part of being a "loser" is certainly willful. Whenever a society puts a lot of pressure on young people there is a rebellion against it. In China today there is the "Sang", or "Slacker" movement. In Japan there has long been the "Hikikomori". In the U.S. during the 1960s the catchphrase was "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out".

Maybe it's healthier not to take life too seriously, and certainly some of society's values don't make sense. Where I live having a lot of friends is highly valued. Being surrounded by people is wonderful while being alone is terrible, which I consider as bizarre. It's more about control and "keeping an eye" on each other than about friendship. 

The "loser" songs are really a compliment to my native Britain. Only in a wealthy country that was confident of it's place in the world would people support music about their own people being losers. 

The "loser" songs, as well as the "state of the world" songs, are a reflection of the traditional Protestant dim view of both the world and human nature. But when we have too much respect for the way things have always been done we are less likely to notice better ways of doing things and when we see the world around us as having room for improvement it helps us to notice better ways of doing things, which is why traditionally Protestant societies have been so progressive.

With so many mass shootings today have you ever thought that if we would make losers feel a little bit more welcome they might be less likely to pick up a gun? There are movies about losers, but which usually have them committing violence. Songs like this make being a loser, at least as defined by the world, seem not so bad.

Besides music why don't we have one day a year to recognize and appreciate losers? Then they might be less likely to look for recognition by picking up a gun.