In the aftermath of the shootings in Colorado the knee jerk reaction of many is to blame the gun. If there wasn’t a gun available the man could not have killed so many so quickly. The logic is simplistic and like all such simple solutions it avoids the hard questions. Going beyond the gun issue, which as an argument has flaws all its own, the real question is why do these ticking time bombs exist within society? What turns average, or at least seemingly harmless, people into killing machines?

Across the globe the vehicles of mass murder are not bombs or guns but people, people that feel driven to avenge or make a statement. For the terrorist the reasoning is pretty clear cut, he or she is usual seeking justice (at least what they see as such), retribution or religious domination. The fired worker or jilted lover that acts out is also understandable in the sense one knows the why even if the activating incident and the response seem grossly out of scale. The reasons behind attacks such as these are not a puzzle. There is a third category though, one that breaks the mold and defies logic or any type of reasoning. Most of the mass killings that have gone on at schools, parks and now a theater are fundamentally different. These perpetrators are almost exclusively loners and their victims usually random and often unknown to them.

The lone wolf that goes on a psychopathic killing spree often has nothing driving his actions but his own twisted thoughts. Nor is the fact they are usually loners fully explain the all too frequent appearance of these freaks of society. We have always had those that sought solitude. The monk that sought an atmosphere where he could be closer to God or the ascetic seeking peace and wisdom could be classified as antisocial but they do not go on killing sprees. Those committing these unspeakable crimes are loners of a different sort. The fact is the societal outcast that commits unspeakable crimes is a product of something much deeper than the media wants to admit.

Perhaps the answer can be found in a couple of old social engineering experiments done by progressive reformers. Near the turn of the twentieth century so called experts in prison reform decided to try a different approach to rehabilitation, the result was the isolation prison. It was a prison where inmates were deprived by design of almost all human contact. The result of this grand experiment was high numbers of prisoners going insane. Today it seems somehow incredulous that someone would think that social deprivation could somehow improve societal integration but the progressives of the period did. Another progressive idea propagated at the same time was that babies shouldn’t be held after birth. Hospitals that embraced this idea saw a spike in crib deaths as the untouched babies just up and died. What the experiments proved is what has always been known, most people need to be interconnected with others in order to survive.

The saying goes that no man is an island; the fact is mankind cannot survive as individual islands. We are social creatures who need to have meaningful contact with others. Family and community are core parts of being human and are as fundamental to health as exercise and diet. It is when the social ties breakdown that the seeds of tragedy are sown.

Gangs of all sorts have long been fond of calling each other family, reflections of the fact the gang is fulfilling a unfulfilled need. The Norway killer created a whole imaginary network in his descent into depravity and even the Columbine killers had created their own insular world. In fact much of the afflictions affecting modern society can be traced back to the breakdown both of the nuclear family and the connections between members within a community. It is something that should be obvious to all but the most philosophically blind among us. Family outings, parents and kids sharing a meal, pancake suppers, sports boosters, clubs, public Christmas displays, festivals and even old fashion caroling are more than quaint relics of a bygone era, their the sparks of family and community that kept humanity human; the very succor of life that keeps people grounded and sane.

No matter how much liberals want to believe that the cold hand of the state is sufficient for the task of holding society together it is not. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child it takes a family. Beyond that it takes a community connected enough to create the atmosphere for people to thrive. You cannot fracture a society through multiculturalism and destroy its heritage by undermining its traditions as well as desecrating its history and expect the people within it to be left unharmed!

The truth is the people of western cultures have all been unwary participants in a great progressive experiment that started around the time of the two mentioned earlier. An experiment that sought out ways to remove traditional morality and reduce patriotism. That sought to move society from a community based culture to a state based one. Taking away independence and individual interdependence and replacing it with the welfare state and a instilled sense of entitlement. Each step of the way breaking the bonds that bind family, community and country together.

The results of their great experiment is a society where few feel free enough to leave the houses unlocked, children are often raised in single parent homes and every so often someone on the outer fringe of mental stability cracks under the load. All mere reflections of a society buckling from decades of unrelenting progressive liberal pressure.

The fact is lax gun laws are not the problem nor have strict gun laws ever proven effective at stopping the crazed mind of a killer. Western Europe with some of the strictest gun control laws on the planet has had more mass killings than the U.S. and much worse ones too. Laws do not fix broken men and women. The truth is the only solution is to prevent mental and moral destabilization to the greatest extent possible before it happens. For that you need a society where people see themselves as their brother’s keeper (people directly, not through the cold steel hand of the state) as well as the tight net families and communities that come as a result. Self-sufficiency, community pride and patriotism are also part of what makes up a healthy society. Most of all children must be seen as the all important treasure they are and not hobbies or rights. In essence society needs is to have back what progressive policies have helped destroy.