Do not view Virginia Tech incident in isolation

One obvious question that everyone is asking is how Virginia Tech failed to take note of the distinctly suspect behavioural pattern of Cho and take timely action that could have averted this unnecessary human tragedy. Another equally obvious question that everyone seems to be conveniently avoiding is how we, as a society, are failing to read the writing on the wall and listen to the warnings so loudly broadcast by events like these. This is not the first time when innocent people are done to death by misconceived notions about self-pride and justice. Should we give our grandchildren the opportunity to cry over how their grandparents failed to foresee the disasters that were coming in spite of the numerous warnings?

Can you dare to imagine a 'manic-depressive' like Cho waiting long enough to become the president of a country than to take over the reigns of a college campus temporarily by the terror of his gun? Can you visualise him holding not just a few guns but the controls of much more powerful nuclear arsenal, which could annihilate the civilization on earth? Can you see any semblance between what Cho has left behind as his post mortem notes and the hate messages posted by terror groups on the virtual web?

How long are we going to behave like ostriches turning a blind eye to the growing harsh realities around us? Do we sincerely believe that what happened at Virginia Tech was a stray incident which could be rectified by implementing the recommendations of the investigating team? Do we honestly think that Cho was an odd one who could have been treated in time by expert psychologists and prevented from doing the dastardly act?

It is time we got underneath the process by which innocent people are killed and hapless soldiers sacrifice their lives for no fault of theirs. The number of innocent people killed every day in the name of ill-conceived philosophies about justice is much more than those who are sent to gallows by legally established courts around the world. It is also equally important to probe in to why so many people still end up breaking the laws. How many of them did so on their own volition unaided by the insensitive, irresponsible and indifferent acts of society?

Events like what happened in VirginiaTech can of course, be prevented but there is no way by which people can be protected against such attacks. These are volcanoes waiting to erupt without much warning. Not everyone has the capacity or the training to cope with the unreasonable pressures thrust upon him or her by circumstances. A variety of societal issues are driving people to the edge and making them economically insecure, socially irrelevant and emotionally alienated. One of them is the socially undesirable principle of 'winners take all'. Another is the use of majority vote to decide on what is right. A major dilemma that is eating in to the value system of this society is our inability to convince our children about the values that we teach them. We break, in the name of pragmatism and practicality, the very same rules that we apply to our children and those who are forced to obey us. Nothing illustrates the weakening value system of this society than the acceptance of manipulation, trickery and treachery as "smartness"

The fact is that this society is being driven by principles, practices, and prejudices that are fundamentally wrong and are breeding anguish and hatred among people. We are still insensitive enough to celebrate victories and lose sight of the heartburns of the losers. What we have forgotten is that losers are human beings too. Nobody is a born criminal. Societal discrimination, economic circumstances and inhuman laws produce more criminals than the disconnects inside the brain or twisted DNA patterns. Deliverance will come to this society when we learn to mourn the death of even the worst criminal. Have we as a society done enough to prevent them becoming criminals? Do we sincerely believe that the problems of this society can be solved by wars waged by armies, security arrangements provided by the police, or the doles given by social security schemes?

Trust me, the sources of these problems are inextricably linked to the faulty beliefs and principles on which this this society is built.We are no doubt working harder to save the situation but the conditions are already becoming unmanageable. Structurally deficient buildings really have no chance of surviving for long even if the interiors are extremely beautiful and pleasant. It is time we devoted as much time to inventing the principles and practices that would help the society overcome its problems as we spend on designing super computers and nuclear warheads. This society, if it continues with its autocratic ways, would meet a perilous end not because of the manipulative actions of the street smarts but by the indifference and inaction of the "well intentioned".