Thoughts on Tucson

The tragedy in Tucson, Arizona this past weekend, like so many other similarly horrific events in life, engender a certain predictable mix of emotion. People are seized with a combination of grief and confusion.

The former serves to bring people together in common cause - to reaffirm life, and a process where our differences are resolved free of violence. The latter, unfortunately - and with equal potency - seeks to undermine that unifying affirmation.

It is human nature that we try to make sense of things that defy logic, or at least our understanding of it. We consider ourselves to be rational men and women, and would never dare to contemplate the actions of one Jared Lee Loughner, or those in our midst who have deemed it acceptable to perpetrate such violence.

Of course, the good thing about sanity is also its deficiency in dealing with resolution in such cases. That is, we are too much in control of our senses to appreciate what it is to take leave of them.

Continually, we commit the error of attempting to rationalize what defies such definitions.

Consider the discussion of what brand of political stooge Loughner was based on his reading habits. He read both the Communist Manifesto and Ayn Rand. This, of course, allows one faction to argue that he was a Marxist 'Fellow Traveller" weaned on Hegelian didactics, while others could suggest that he was a paid up charter member of the Wasilla, Alaska Hunt Club.

In this political environment, crazy means rationality directed in favour of the other side.

Left and Right both have their own particular means of doing this. After all, even in the midst of this radically outrageous event, the political discourse still needs to find a way of making the other side seem out to lunch without actually saying it.

Those to the right of Fox News will always resort to the tried and true method of lowering Old Glory from the flagpole, and wrapping themselves in the colourful banner as if it were Roman toga, or some magical talisman that has powers comparable to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Evil spirits and socialism begone!

Not to be outdone, those to the left of MSNBC have their own equally potent, albeit less overt, means of saying the same thing. It is the old bait and switch that Marx and Hegel introduced to the world - 'class consciousness', or essentially, 'knowing what's best for you.' It's a magical essence that only manifests itself in those who, coincidentally, agree with you unconditionally. What?! A difference of opinion?! Well, young man / lady, you lack 'class consciousness'. You must be ____________ (Your choice of crazy, uneducated, uninformed, racist, religious, or some other moniker du jour).

So, what is the answer?

Frankly, I know as much as any other person who has commented on this - and that's very little.

I have read more than one book listed among Mr. Loughner's faves. I have also read "Catcher in the Rye", which seemed to have served as the lit fuse for the shootings of a former Beatle and a sitting US President. Beyond the annoyance I have for the rather gauche act of spinning murder for political profit, I cannot say that I am moved to any great act of barbarity. Perhaps my trigger is different, and that I should avoid any tome of the "Twilight" saga or current selection of Oprah Winfrey's Book Club.

Sigmund Freud, the father of Psychoanalysis, who seemed to write off a lot of human behaviour to repressed sexual feelings, himself famously admitted that "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." In this case, political pundits and social commentators are keen to read the tea leaves, or in this case, stand in front of a painting comprising three horizontal lines and explain how it means everything from a statement about "man's inhumanity toward man" to it being some "allegory about Christ and the Resurrection." Then again, folks, maybe it's just three horizontal lines.

For me, it all comes down to what I know, and what I don't know.

I don't know what makes Jared Lee Loughner tick. I don't know what combination of life experiences, induction, influences and brain chemistry created this debased mind who killed without emotion or mercy. It's likely that I'll never know.

What I do know is that people died, people are fighting for their lives, and those closest to them are in a great deal of emotional pain.

Anyone who tells you they know more than that either has the ability to look fully into a killer's soul, or they are lying.

You decide.