"Brady and Laffer, an unemployed Army veteran, were described as drug abusers by law enforcement sources. They were charged Wednesday night in the Father's Day robbery that left four people shot dead at a Medford pharmacy.
Mumbling outside police headquarters, she said, 'He was doing it because ... he lost his job'" (Newsday, NY).
'He lost his job'. This was certainly not the only reason why these senseless murders were allegedly committed by this man. Was it because he was ex-military? How much might that have contributed. The need for drugs? His mom didn't love him? Hitler's mom spoiled him; his father bullied him at every opportunity. Nobody has a text book upbringing, everyone carries some baggage. But there is a choice. Either we let (whatever our past may be) continually direct and contaminate our present and future, or we become personally accountable for our actions. Now, this simple philosophy is not too popular with the liberal tendency. According to them it's everything in the universe that's to blame except the one in the leg irons. Inadequate socialisation, parenting and schooling. Just hapless victims born under a bad sign who lucked out too often. Their social worker, psychologist and probation officer didn't really help or understand them. It's an endless list of excuse-i-tis. A small digression. I worked in a homeless hostel for 10 years. The residents might have come straight from prison, kicked out of their home by a partner or arrived at the hostel door for a dozen other reasons. The abuse of drugs and alcohol was usually part of the ongoing. One consistent theme and mantra? 'It's not my fault, I'm really not to blame'. At any one time only about one in fifty residents would ever consider accepting some kind of culpability for the actions that brought them to where their lives were currently located. Too often it transpired, some professional body or individual had absolved them from having any contributing part in their demise. The concept of change alien; their comfortable self owed status as victim of circumstance now legitimised and so much easier for them to wear.
Finding the scapegoat, blaming anyone and anything for one's predicament has always been the classic get out clause for those individuals not accepting being personally accountable. And the dark and logical end of this position has been a major contributor to the well documented acts of genocide in the 20th century. It's not only politicians of whatever persuasion that can take us on that journey. Politicians and the advocates of intolerance can only succeed when enough people toss out the generally accepted moral compass and individuals relinquish personal responsibility for their own thoughts, analysis and actions. For outcomes are not predestined, whether in a Medford pharmacy or Maidanek.
