Dark Knight Rises killings in Aurora

[Rosencrantz]

well little rosie, playing devils' advocate, unbearable stress is not really that "american" of a thing. there is far more pressure to getting into a good school and a good education in Japan, to the point where they have summer "cram schools" where they cover so much in so little time so you can pass the standardized testing necessary to get into your college of choice. most people there don't shoot up others to release the stress and tension -- it's much more likely that they'll kill themselves to escape a life of despair, dissapointment, and a minimum wage mcdonald's job now that they've shamed their family.

Spoiler

come to think of it, with that logic, remember learning about the east indian "caste" system, where they'd describe the "untouchables" as the worst possible social class with no possible hope/escape from their position in the caste? it makes me wonder if the untouchables had a extremely high suicide rate like "oh shit, i'm an untouchable, time to come back as a king"

what it boils down to mostly -- and I hate to admit this as an American -- that violence is just a part of our shitty American culture. if you've had that bully beating you up, most parents here in the states to react by also being violent towards the aggressor. we're just a country so used to beating the shit out of each other; whereas a place like England, Japan, or even Brazil has a different set of values that while we have those same "American" problems they're most likely not going to react in those "American" ways.

Okay, yeah, you're right. I wasn't really considering how we're okay with violence and how we act more violently towards others because of our culture.

At the same time, though, I wasn't saying that we're the worst when it comes to stress and stuff; I'm just saying we kind of suck when it comes to owning it. I know that Japan is especially stressful because they refuse every kind of failure, and I never really thought of the caste system like that -- but then again, I would think that suicide would be a pretty unforgivable act in the caste society, and that murdering oneself would probably knock you down even further in the reincarnation cycle.

So really, I should have probably focused more on how we're just a violent nation and that because of this, we'd be more prone to harm against others over harm to ourselves when it comes to a fracture point in our stress levels, right?