No, “we” didn’t make you do it
Those who know me and my views best are probably those people who read my blog. I don't write everything that crosses my mind, not quite, but I do write a good amount of it.
Blogs everywhere, like newspapers and TV reports everywhere, are devoting a lot of time to the VA Tech massacre. I probably won't do any more than this one post and a few comments here and there.
In the package he sent to NBC on the morning of his crazed shooting spree, Cho Seung-hui said (among other things):
"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today. But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.
"Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust funds wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything.
"You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience. You thought it was one pathetic boy's life you were extinguishing. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.
"I didn't have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But no, I will no longer run. [...] When the time came I did it. I had to."
The truth is, though, despite all the shit you think was inflicted upon you, Cho, by some nameless assailant, you were just a dumb fuck who couldn't handle the day-to-day stuff that we all have to deal with at some point.
You think you're the only person who ever got bullied? The only one who ever felt alienated? The only one who ever wanted to kick the shit out of someone? The only who ever felt dejected, rejected, unloved?
You know who else was oppressed? Liviu Librescu. This 76-year-old man who taught at VA Tech lived through the Holocaust. Yeah, I don't think that was much fun. Spending time in a labour camp under the Nazis. Maybe he could teach you a little about oppression, do you think?
But that wasn't enough. After the war, Librescu was for many years disallowed from leaving Romania under that country's Communist regime. Is that oppression enough for you? Does that compare with your inability to fit in with the cool boys?
And then in his twilight years, Librescu it seems was diagnosed with cancer. Reports say that he was over the worst...
Until you came along.
I thought you might like to know this, though, Cho: For me, you will not be the person I remember in all this. For me, yours will not be the face that comes to mind when I think of the damage you wrought.
I will think of Liviu Librescu. A man who lived through the Holocaust, who lived through oppressive Communism, who lived through cancer. A man who spent his retirement years teaching kids in a free country...
... only to be shot down while blocking a doorway so his students could escape from you and your arsenal.
Blogs everywhere, like newspapers and TV reports everywhere, are devoting a lot of time to the VA Tech massacre. I probably won't do any more than this one post and a few comments here and there.
In the package he sent to NBC on the morning of his crazed shooting spree, Cho Seung-hui said (among other things):
"You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today. But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.
"Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust funds wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything.
"You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience. You thought it was one pathetic boy's life you were extinguishing. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.
"I didn't have to do this. I could have left. I could have fled. But no, I will no longer run. [...] When the time came I did it. I had to."
The truth is, though, despite all the shit you think was inflicted upon you, Cho, by some nameless assailant, you were just a dumb fuck who couldn't handle the day-to-day stuff that we all have to deal with at some point.
You think you're the only person who ever got bullied? The only one who ever felt alienated? The only one who ever wanted to kick the shit out of someone? The only who ever felt dejected, rejected, unloved?
You know who else was oppressed? Liviu Librescu. This 76-year-old man who taught at VA Tech lived through the Holocaust. Yeah, I don't think that was much fun. Spending time in a labour camp under the Nazis. Maybe he could teach you a little about oppression, do you think? But that wasn't enough. After the war, Librescu was for many years disallowed from leaving Romania under that country's Communist regime. Is that oppression enough for you? Does that compare with your inability to fit in with the cool boys?
And then in his twilight years, Librescu it seems was diagnosed with cancer. Reports say that he was over the worst...
Until you came along.
I thought you might like to know this, though, Cho: For me, you will not be the person I remember in all this. For me, yours will not be the face that comes to mind when I think of the damage you wrought.
I will think of Liviu Librescu. A man who lived through the Holocaust, who lived through oppressive Communism, who lived through cancer. A man who spent his retirement years teaching kids in a free country...
... only to be shot down while blocking a doorway so his students could escape from you and your arsenal.
Labels: cho seung-hui, holocaust, liviu librescu, va tech
permalink posted by * (asterisk) at 9:51 AM
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