How does hate thrive?
After further mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio I seriously thought how such monstrous things can continue to happen in one country and not anywhere else. I understand this is coming from the position of a British person who has only seen one mass shooting happen in their country in their lifetime (that was Dunblane) so I’ll write that just to inform you. Also know that these traits aren’t in a vacuum, sometimes they exist together and stack up.
Isolation
Even in an Internet age, all it takes is less day to day contact with other human beings to isolate yourself. It can leave you in a very vulnerable state to suggestions from anybody with limited forms of communication or even peer pressure. I speak from experience because I remember coming under the influence of who I thought at the time was ‘my girlfriend’. While my home life was fractured and difficult, she was my world until I realised I was being manipulated for attention. Fortunately, I got out but others aren’t so fortunate.
Abuse/Trauma
This is where it can get tricky to nail down. Abuse and trauma can have lasting effects into any person’s life (as someone who has PTSD) but it can be highly situational. It can occur in childhood, adolescence and in adulthood and can drastically change how a person reacts to stimuli and may form triggers in the process. I managed to deal with my triggers, but it took time to recognise them and work through them. I also got therapy to find them also.
External factors
Lastly, things that are outside of a person’s internal narrative. Whether its socially acceptable to do certain things to certain people. Like unspoken rules such as manners, overt or covert racism and attitudes to different cultures.
Most of anything, thinking about all the mass shootings there is a combination of what I’ve noted along with access to guns. I’m not an American, but I know this must change along with some awful narratives or the mass shootings will continue. However, I’m not naive enough to see the size of the situation. As someone who’s briefly travelled through the US, I can see how easy it is to become cut off from the rest of the world when you have states, cities or whole metropolitan areas larger than the UK.
As always the best way to grow in my opinion is while you learn about yourself, learn about others. Its scary and I understand in some circumstances its very risky, but ‘no person is an island’ and connecting is part of the human experience.
If hate thrives in isolation, love thrives through self awareness and connection.
Until next time, #embraceinfinity and connect.
