RE: RAT COLUMBINE

[josh@whirl-i-gig.com]

I'm with David.

More than those of us who are old enough to have figured out how to get by,
to toughen our skins, and little by little, to compromise our ideals in
return for a less bone dry subsistance, children--especially adolescents,
who have just realized that though they thought their family lives were
bad, social life is even worse--having the knack for seeing the ills of
society.  They may not know where those ills came from, or how to fix them,
but they definately know what they are--they haven't yet lost their
capacity to feel the pain these ills cause.  So, I wonder, are the events
of this week in Colorado the ill, or a placebo-antidote to the inherent
spiritual ills of our society?

Even their fellow students (being over-interviewed now on every TV channel
in the country) are piously saying that, sure the boys were teased, but so
what.  Why do I suspect that the kids saying these things were the ones
doing the teasing, the "popular kids"  We've all known and hated in our
time.   There's an old saying that "sticks and stones can break your bones,
but words can never hurt you," and in America this way of thinking has more
adherents than "the pen is mightier than the sword," though look what's
happening: the news media is writing a shrill, unpitying story about the
Trenchcoat Gang--the boys are still being teased, even after they took up
arms and tried to show everyone in America  how much it hurts.  This was
their art, and whether I approve of their actions or not, whether I am
horrified by their aesthetics or not, I feel like what they're saying needs
to be heard.

Salon has published a few reports from the front lines of disenfranchised
American youth--here's the link:

http://www.salonmag.com/news/feature/1999/04/22/misfits/index.html

Joshua Furst