Those behind the laws shouldn’t underestimate those who think they’re above them
Posted on September 6, 2007
Living in such a problem-stricken world, it’s easy to try and patch things up with rules, regulations and precautions. We as humans strive to legislate ourselves in a way that will produce a society that is as close to perfection as possible. While this is a natural and seemingly intelligent action, it will inevitably fail, because fixing humanity with more humanity will never solve a thing.
After any occurrence of crime or tragedy, we immediately look to the rule book to explain and remedy the incident. This was most recently evident after the Va. Tech massacre. The issue of gun control was once again at the forefront of public attention, with legislators and citizens alike calling for more intense background checks and vendor discretion.
While the finger is always pointed in several directions after a tragedy like Va. Tech’s, in the end it is easiest to blame “the system,” and to assume that fixing “the system” will alleviate the problem.
Make gun laws stricter, and people won’t go on shooting sprees. Make mental health privacy less rigid, and tormented individuals will get the help they need. In reality, however, we’re only slapping a Band-Aid on the situation, focusing on the means of the tragedy rather than the cause.
I must admit that I, too, fall into this trap quite often. When my home was broken into a couple of weeks ago, my initial (and predictable) reaction was to brainstorm ways to prevent future break-ins. More locks on the doors, I thought, and maybe even a dog or a security system — those should do the trick. True, these are useful tools in avoiding a repeat of the incident, but these measures don’t address the true problem: the malice of the individual who committed the crime.
Fortunately, the perpetrator in my case didn’t harm anyone or anything in my house, and the bark of a dog probably would have scared the burglar away. But had this person been a serial killer hell-bent on causing some damage, I truly doubt a nagging dog or beeping alarm would have caused his intentions to disappear.
Unfortunately, rewording legislation cannot eliminate occurrences like the Va. Tech massacre, just as getting a pit-bull can’t always prevent creeps from breaking into homes. Why is that? Because such measures don’t address the heart of the problem — quite literally. Solutions like those do not fix the hearts of the people committing these despicable acts. There is something internally wrong with those who commit crimes, something words on a piece of paper won’t fix.
Restrictions of the gun control laws weren’t the reason that Cho went on a shooting spree; they may have empowered him to do so, but they weren’t his inspiration. The lack of a security alarm wasn’t the reason that creep broke into my home; in his twisted mind, such an act was excusable. The problem lies within criminals themselves, and no law or security alarm can cause a long-lasting or meaningful change of heart in an individual who seeks to do harm.
This is not to say that legal and security measures are worthless. On the contrary, they are often extremely beneficial. We will never address the heart and mind of every disturbed individual, so it is only appropriate to have measures in place to minimize crime and prosecute those who commit crimes.
We cannot expect humanity to take a turn for the better simply because we change a few words in our law or install a new deadbolt on the door. Imperfect people finding imperfect solutions will not somehow perfect our society or our citizens. Bad legislation is not the cause of society’s maladies, nor is good legislation the remedy for them.
The legal system and security measures are simply earthly ways of dealing with the sheer evil that we encounter in this world.
Truth be told, humanity suffers from a sickness that causes us to hurt ourselves and each other. It may not always be manifested in massacres or break-ins, but there is an undeniable plague of imperfection in humans that cannot be eliminated by laws and locks.
Instead of propelling us to simply change laws, crime and tragedies should compel us to truly evaluate our human condition — not from a legal standpoint, but from an intimate, personal standpoint, perhaps even searching for the solution outside of ourselves. What can we do about the condition of humanity? The answer, I truly believe, is out there. It’s just not found in a law book.
Kathryn Manning is a senior political science and history major.
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