Rants & Essays

Scapegoats

By The Lighthouse Keeper

Hello True Believers.

It's good to be back online after a pesky little news server problem. It seems that my news server didn't believe me when I entered my password to log on. It said I was lying. Imagine.

Anyway...

Have you ever noticed that scapegoats are an overwhelming symptom of the human disease? It's true. Without scapegoats, I imagine we would, as a society, have no ability to label one another as "Right" or "Wrong.”

The scapegoat de jour is the local "Cat Killer" we've had here in Tampa for about the past month.

Apparently, these two kids went out at night with a .22 caliber rifle and shot several cats--not just once for "fun," but several times. The cats were usually found with at least five gunshot wounds to their bodies. Some lived--most died--and a couple had to be put down because of their misery.

Have I ever mentioned that I would sooner kick the teeth out of a human being than harm a feline? It's true. I love cats. It honestly broke my heart to hear that there were these little assholes out there (I was picturing tobacco spitting rednecks) with guns sniping defenseless animals who were minding their own business doing their catty things.

But the kids weren't rednecks.

They caught them a few days ago--apparently in the act--and they were "Spooky Kids."

Unfortunately to society at large, "Spooky Kid" is just a metaphor for Goth. Needless to say the two were labeled as "Gothic Cult Members." Funny, huh?

What's even more tragic is that the two were minors. When it was time to pay the piper, the judge, who couldn't sentence the two to anything more serious than public service at an old folks' home, forbid the two kids from listening to Marilyn Manson for 90 days.

It took about fifteen minutes for those words (which I had heard on the news from another room while I was writing) to hit me and cause a response.

The anchor said that, "The police believe that the music of the rock band Marilyn Manson was a factor in this crime."

Of course! These aren't bad kids...they're just misguided. It's all his fault (points finger at MM)! He's the antichrist! He's taking our babies and making them evil.

How can we live with ourselves or even begin to talk about the advancement of the human race as a species when we can't even accept blame for malicious acts against nature? We always make excuses. We always blame someone else. It's their fault I'm as fucked up as I am! If I hadn't listened to that tape I wouldn't have shot that cat five times in the belly, I swear!

Bullshit.

Those kids were bad seeds. Pure and simple. The only thing they need, as politically incorrect as this might sound, is to be taken out behind the shed and given a nice, southern-fried ass whipping. That is what the problem is. That is what these assholes need. A little violence begetting violence can usually clear up a societal problem for a time. History has shown us this. It may not be the best way to solve a problem...but isn't it effective? Doesn't it make us feel a little better? Doesn't it make justice ring a little louder in our ears when we hear that the bad guy got what he deserved?

These kids are at home laughing at the system. They mock it. They have no remorse for what they did and the destruction that they caused is, in the big picture, minuscule in comparison to Jean Benet Ramsey or Bosnia.

My point is, I guess, why do we as human beings seek to justify the actions of others by blaming those actions on an outside influence? Why do we make excuses for each other when we all know that the actions of said others were wrong and without explanation other than base cruelty?

If anyone has any insight, please...share.

Excuses only work if society tolerates them. Our parents used to tell us, "Don't give me a stupid excuse as to why you broke curfew 'cause I don't want to hear it." Why can't society do the same thing against sub-human violent offenders?

Sometimes I just don't get it.

Be safe, troops.

Fear & Bullets,
The Lighthouse Keeper