5 ms·

It absolutely did not start in the 90s, and only ratcheted up significantly after 2008. People often underestimate the damage that the economic crisis did to Am

It absolutely did not start in the 90s, and only ratcheted up significantly after 2008. People often underestimate the damage that the economic crisis did to American social cohesion. There are other variables that are obviously at play here: the continuing rise in childhood poverty, the influence of social media, increasingly long and arbitrary hours worked by parents and caregivers, access to powerful firearms, etc. Chalking it up to "now the boomers are having kids" is weak social analysis. Not only is the rise in school violence probably a confluence of all those factors, the moral fiber of their parents or whatever specious argument you're making here is likely a small or even negligible factor.

rayiner 4y ago
Whether you peg it at 1995 or 2008, you’re talking about a phenomenon that’s just a couple of decades old. That dramatically limits what the explanation could be. Blaming the 2008 recession is odd, because other indicators of crime continued to decrease during that time. Homicides also decreased from 1929-1939 as the Great Depression wore on, so there is no basis for the theory that recessions cause violence. It’s also probably not guns. Since 1975, the share of households with a gun has fallen from half to about a third. Childhood poverty has fallen dramatically over that time as well when you account for social safety net transfers. America was a less violent place in the 1950s, before the social safety net and when many more households had a gun. People really don’t want to believe that culture matters. But blaming poverty instead is just inconsistent with the facts. Many poor countries don’t have the social dysfunction America has. And it’s not the combination of guns and poverty either. Countries like Pakistan and Yemen have many guns and homicide rates lower than the US, despite being very poor.
- kieselguhr_kid 4y ago
  > Whether you peg it at 1995 or 2008, you’re talking about a phenomenon that’s just a couple of decades old. That dramatically limits what the explanation could be. School shootings started in earnest in the 70s and really got going the 80s. Look it up. > Blaming the 2008 recession is odd, because other indicators of crime continued to decrease during that time. I didn't blame it, I named it as a factor. There are other factors at play. I also didn't just blame poverty - there's clearly something happening in the United States that isn't occurring in other societies and its likely a confluence of many factors. But to just say "oh, it's a cultural thing" is extraordinarily reductionist and shallow.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
I would trace the fashion for school shootings to Columbine in 1999.
- kieselguhr_kid 4y ago
  And you would be wrong. This massacre was seminal in the US consciousness, but the majority of school shootings, before and since, remain targeted attacks.
  - FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
    That's good news, because it means that if you just don't piss anyone off then you probably won't get shot.

rayiner 4y ago

Whether you peg it at 1995 or 2008, you’re talking about a phenomenon that’s just a couple of decades old. That dramatically limits what the explanation could be. Blaming the 2008 recession is odd, because other indicators of crime continued to decrease during that time. Homicides also decreased from 1929-1939 as the Great Depression wore on, so there is no basis for the theory that recessions cause violence. It’s also probably not guns. Since 1975, the share of households with a gun has fallen from half to about a third. Childhood poverty has fallen dramatically over that time as well when you account for social safety net transfers. America was a less violent place in the 1950s, before the social safety net and when many more households had a gun. People really don’t want to believe that culture matters. But blaming poverty instead is just inconsistent with the facts. Many poor countries don’t have the social dysfunction America has. And it’s not the combination of guns and poverty either. Countries like Pakistan and Yemen have many guns and homicide rates lower than the US, despite being very poor.

kieselguhr_kid 4y ago
> Whether you peg it at 1995 or 2008, you’re talking about a phenomenon that’s just a couple of decades old. That dramatically limits what the explanation could be. School shootings started in earnest in the 70s and really got going the 80s. Look it up. > Blaming the 2008 recession is odd, because other indicators of crime continued to decrease during that time. I didn't blame it, I named it as a factor. There are other factors at play. I also didn't just blame poverty - there's clearly something happening in the United States that isn't occurring in other societies and its likely a confluence of many factors. But to just say "oh, it's a cultural thing" is extraordinarily reductionist and shallow.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

FooBarBizBazz 4y ago

I would trace the fashion for school shootings to Columbine in 1999.

kieselguhr_kid 4y ago
And you would be wrong. This massacre was seminal in the US consciousness, but the majority of school shootings, before and since, remain targeted attacks.
- FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
  That's good news, because it means that if you just don't piss anyone off then you probably won't get shot.