I occasionally post on a topic unrelated to economics; this is one of those occasions. The video is of an interview of Zach Osler, a high school friend of Jared Loughner, conducted by Ashleigh Banfield. Banfield’s interview is top notch. She gives the stage to Zach who gives compelling insight into Loughner’s life and his own soul as he watched his friend descend into insanity.
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What a tragedy. It is unfortunate that his friend feels so responsible. My opinion is that people ultimately make their own choices. The life's road his friend chose to go down basically led to his destruction. Our opportunities to make a difference in someone's life aren't always received by other's. My sympathy goes out to those families that have experienced such losses.
ReplyDeleteI agree. My heart goes out to all those involved in this senseless tragedy. I actually saw another interview with another one of Jared Loughner’s former friends who said that Jared Loughner would purposely deprive himself of sleep, going days without sleep. In the interview, the friend also said he felt some responsibility for not alerting authorities of his seemingly strange behavior prior to this event. It is so tragic and although I’m sure he didn’t, did he ever think of all the people that would be personally affected by this; friends, family, etc.
ReplyDeleteCarly Shull
This really is a huge tragedy, but sadly incidents like these happen way to often. I feel pain for the friends and family that sit and blame themselves, as Zach Osler does in this video. I hate to see young people feel the need to lash out in such a way. I am about the same age as Loughner is and I can't even imagine being in a state that he was, where he felt the need to hurt others. As much as I want to be so angry that a person could do such a thing, I find myself thinking that those around him are a part of why this happened. If people noticed he had problems someone should have tried to help or make sure he got help. But then in some circumstances I feel like there is only so much that can be done by others. At the end of the day he was the one holding the gun and made the choice to fire.
ReplyDeleteI would never presume to point my finger or put the blame of this incident on anyone undeserving. This young man made a choice to do what he did, end of story. However, I can not help but to ask where the adults were in his life. His parents, teachers and the community. Our society is so quick to spread the latest, juicy gossip. But when it comes to sticking their nose into the lives of those that truly need we, we tend to turn our heads. "Each to their own" has become a familiar phrase. Shouldn't we all have a sense of responsibility when a human life, especially that of a child or young adult, is damaged in such a way that they would want to commit such a terrible crime. What if someone had decided to really take this boy under their wing and try to help him by simply loving him? Maybe it would not have changed his outcome at all, but what if it had?
ReplyDeleteKim Huffman