Reflecting On The Virginia Tech Tragedy
Author: Ian Fisher

As a counselor and parent of a college graduate and college
student I need to offer my most sincere condolences to the
parents, students and staff members of Virginia Tech, who were
so horrendously affected by the tragedy on your campus. There
are really no words that can convey to you the extreme sadness
that I feel, and I know the feelings you are experiencing,
especially those who lost loved ones, can't even begin to be
understood by most of us. The outpouring of grief by so many
people who don't even know you must help somewhat, but in the
end, the utter senselessness of this entire experience must be
completely overwhelming. I only hope you can find some hope and
healing in the days to come.

As the media continues to churn out multiple stories about this
horrific event, one of the themes that constantly emerges is why
wasn't more done to stop this from happening. This is the one
thing you can always count on from the pundits in our media
establishment. It seems they always want to find closure by
placing the blame on one or more of the institutions involved
in the tragedy. Unfortunately, our medical, psychiatric,
education and law enforcement communities are ill equipped to
determine in advance whether an individual has the capacity for
this level of violence. Since many politicians and corporate
CEO's exhibit some of the personality traits of psychopaths,
and there is truly a fine line between genius and insanity, as
evidenced by the endless parade of celebrities involved with
self destructive behaviors, the impulse to say this young man
should have been stopped long ago, due to the "signs he
exhibited" is foolhearty. Most psychopaths are very intelligent
and adept at acertaining the intent of psychological tests, and
if we tried to isolate people from society, due to "signs they
exhibited", it would probably be the least sophisticated and
least violent of our psychiatric population, not the cold
hearted killers. It usually takes a triggering event to cause a
psychopathic personality to resort to violence of this scale,
and this triggering event may be something that is eventually
uncovered.

So, as you watch the various specials on television and read
the multitude of solutions offered by journalists, try to
remember the innocent victims of this tragedy and feelings of
their families, who are suffering beyond belief. Don't be quick
to rush to conclusions about who failed to do what in the heat
of the moment, because it is easy to do that in hindsight.
There is just one person to blame for this terrible act, and
that is Cho Seung-Hui. We are all ultimately accountable for
our actions, and while it is truly unsettling to attempt to
understand why such a random, violent act occurs, the
perpetrator of this massacre has met his fate and will surely
face a wrath worse than any we could devise in this world.

About The Author: John Kaighn is a Registered Investment
Advisor with Jersey Benefits Advisors, a counselor in the
Middle Twp. School District and writes articles on various
business and investment information, ideas and opportunities.
For more information about this and other topics you can visit
http://www.johnkaighn.com and http://www.jerseybenefits.com