Reply #43: That must have been frightening. [View All]

I can't begin to list all the things my 4 kids did while they were growing up. . . .

I see this thread as an important insight, and I'm glad you started it. The RW is most certainly trying to frame the argument in simple tit-for-tat terms. This way they feel justified for the misery they're feeling. Because IMO, anger and hatred and a desire for revenge are ultimately based on fear and unhappiness, the insecurity of thinking someone may have something you do not, or may want to take away what you think you have. Detachment removes that fear.

The biggest problem with this frame of argument is that it inevitably leads to an escalation of violence and horror--as we are clearly seeing. What is frightening about the human condition, though, is that even while we are feeling that horror, we are also drawn further into it. There is something addictive about fear; perhaps it's the fact that it is based on the same chemical as excitement?

I think our country is about to cross the line between fear and thrills. :(