Articles

Building Mental Safety Nets to Counter Violence

By Mark Antony Rossi

Firearms are not responsible for the violence all too prevalent in the world. I declare this not because I care about gun rights as much as I care about basic facts. The evils of terrorism often rely on explosives, knives and automobiles to deliver their horrid message. Thus, I am dismayed when benighted big mouths rush to ban guns as if their absence suddenly stops acts of criminality.

Every society of every creed and faith have denounced terrorism and publicly listed the punishments forthcoming for practitioners of these extreme behaviors. But very few of any philosophical stripe have laid out the benefits of good citizenship or good living. There are weekly meetings across the globe for drinkers and drug addicts but nearly none for the unhappy, depressed or emotionally disturbed.

This is the very crowd extreme ideologies drawn from to form the backbone of their suicidal frontline. Victims of inner turmoil often cling to quick and easy solutions to give themselves a sense of direction and hope. If we truly seek to dramatically decrease violence in general and extreme violence we must combat emotional and mental health issues at the ground floor of society.

Troubled people with directional deficits often find their way to prison or death squads eager to exploit their rudderless talents. Any society whom believes firmly in its merits must make its message known through billboards, hotlines, websites and group meetings. The side pushing evil continues to be successful because they use these methods and more to get out their message and the so-called benefits of membership.

It is high time civil societies preach rigorously what they practice. The fundamental basics of communication, respect, friendship and citizenship need to be tenets in the educational system and constantly reinforced with after school and adult classes. The terrorists are clearly practicing what they preach. And the random violent offenders are performing as damaged souls walking the earth until they can no longer walk. Let’s be ready to intercept these lost vessels and steer them to a better path.

About the Author: Mark Antony Rossi is a poet, playwright and author of the bioethics volume “Dark Tech” now available from Amazon. His most recent plays have been produced in Liverpool and New York.

http://ethical-stranger.webnode.com/ 

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