There is a lot of gun violence in the United States. It is the middle of October and as of September there were over 500 mass shootings in the United States. If by a miracle there were no more mass shootings in the United States this year there have already been more mass shootings in the United States then there have been days in the year. For one reason or another more people than I have ever imagined commit some pretty awful crimes against life and it is very temnpting to simply “write off” these people and call them monsters but that are not monsters are they?
I think it was Oprah Winfrey who did an interview with the father of Jeffery Dahmer. Jeffery Dahmer was a serial killer who, killed seventeen men and then ate the bodies of the men. There is a Netflix documentary about Jeffery Dahmer called Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, I actually have not watched it yet but plan to. Even in the name of documentary/ miniseries the word monster is used but I remember when Oprah was interviewing Lionel (Jeffs dad) thinking that this is a son who did these monstrous things.
See to “write off” monstrous actions from members of a society does society and all its members an injustice and does not provide a good path forward as a species. In the Oprah interview Lionel mentions how he wishes of course that he had paid more attention to Jefferies development and how he failed to see what are now considered to be red flags when Jeffery was as young as 4 years old.
Jeffery Dahmer died in prison. Prison is a quick answer for the people that a society “writes off” as monsters and usually does not involve research understanding or growth for a society.
Generally speaking, punishment makes men hard and cold; it concentrates; it sharpens the feeling of alienation; it strengthens the power of resistance
Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals / Ecce Homo
Here in the United States we love to lock people up and hurt them especially when we have deemed them monsters. Here in the United States we also love to call people monsters.
I no doubt agree that the actions of Jeffery Dahmer and other criminals are monstrous however I cannot agree that Jeffery Dahmer and other criminals are monsters because they are not they are people. It is far to easy and destructive to call a criminal a monster throw them and jail and go on about our lives like this is ok it is not. Human beings have to work together somehow (especially in the United States) or the species will not survive and we are not working together when one group has no issue with calling another group monsters and locking up or killing them by the thousands.
Election season seems to never stop in the United States something you may wish to look for when participating in that election season is a politician that at least gives some lip service to rehabilitation and reform in the justice system.
The Corrigan Encore 