Author claims government sponsored "culture of aggression" to blame

Article posted today blames government sponsored "culture of aggression" for killings at Virginia Tech.

An article posted today by Anthony Gregory on the Lew Rockwell site blames the government for creating the atmosphere of violence that ultimately led to the shootings at Virginia Tech. The article mentions the Columbine shootings, the Oklahoma bombing, the Waco incident as further examples of this culture. Mr. Gregory argues that both the Columbine shootings and the VT shootings occurred on government property where: "the soft, hidden coercion of gun control and government protection failed to protect anyone and only left victims defenseless."

Both of these shooting incidents happened against the backdrop of a foreign war. Clinton's intervention in Serbia in the case of Columbine, and Bush's invasion of Iraq in the case of VT. The article claims that it is not the violence seen in video games that desensitizes us to violence, it is the real-life violence we see on the nightly news. "The state is the embodiment of organized aggression. It is, after all, the legal institution that monopolizes the right to commit theft (taxation), kidnapping (mandatory attendance laws), slavery (conscription), and mass murder (war). It imprisons millions, loots trillions and slaughters civilians as a matter of course. Its powers cannot be expanded and directed to foster peace, since, to the extent it is empowered, it is at war with the principles of civilization and the rule of law – the principles that the rest of us must abide for us to be considered acting legally and peacefully among other humans." Mr. Gregory blames the state for deemphasizing the nature and evil of aggression. He reminds us that it was the "democratic state" that slaughtered 300 Indians at Wounded Knee, and 80 people at Waco. It is the "democratic state" that routinely drops bombs on children. We are constantly told that such "collateral damage" is necessary to win the "war on terror." It is the actions of our own government that become the seed of horrific acts like the VT shootings. We need to look inside of ourselves and begin asking if we are asking the right things of our government. Mr. Gregory explains it much better than I, please take the time to read his article.