Everyone's trying to ascribe blame. Maybe that will make us feel better to think that it's Justin Trudeau's fault, or Islam's fault, or guns, or the shitty mental health system ... but even if there is a reason this happened, there is no changing it. And there is no way to prevent it happening again.
What can we learn from it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The smaller the world becomes, and the bigger the city gets, the more crazies, radicals, gangs -- whatever -- will be in our midst. This time it was a Muslim. All summer it's been gangs. In April it was an incel. The weapons differ, but the end results are the same. The only ones to blame are the ones doing the killing.
What's bothering me this time, is the rush to humanize this killer.
The van killer was a radical incel loser... we learned that right away. Needn't even go into the profile of the gang killers if they're caught... they're criminal degenerates. But this guy... CBC quotes someone as recalling his *million dollar smile*, then a slick press release from the family describes a lifetime of mental illness that was so bad it led to this... but not bad enough that they ever thought it might lead to this... reports of a sister, dead in a car accident, a brother in a coma, a father in and out of hospital with health problems, an impoverished neighbourhood... and finally a nice photo released of an ordinary looking guy, so incongruent with the cold-blooded maniac who walked along the Danforth assassinating people.
It almost seems like that's the picture we're supposed to hold in our heads, instead of the one from the video, calculating and evil. All this when one of the dead had yet to be named, and with so many of the victims still in hospital.
When the dust has settled and the city resumes its regular rhythm, the politicians and pundits will still be discussing gun control and maybe terrorism, and probably male violence and the lack of adequate mental health services -- that's all fine -- it won't help, but people need to find ways to process this kind of tragedy. Coming up with lame *solutions* helps with that. Makes people feel like they're doing something and in the aftermath of a tragedy, we grasp at whatever might give us comfort, no matter how specious.
I'm tired of listening to the blame, but I get it. I get the need to find reasons. What I don't get, is some media trying to make us feel for the murderer. When this happens again, I don't want to know his tragic life story. I don't want to see a prettied up photo of the guy next door. Whether it's radical Islam, toxic masculinity, mental illness or gangs -- don't try to make me sympathize or identify with anyone who aims a weapon at another human being and pulls the trigger. He is not the victim. Do not try to lend humanity to someone with no soul.
canadianna
