Culture of Violence

Elliot Rodger, 22, left behind videos and writings that vividly describe his life, his anger and his plan to kill.

There is another 22-year-old who has free access to guns of all sorts. He has been trained to be a good shot. Like Rodger, the people he is prepared to kill are bad and deserve it. His killing has made the name Elliot Rodger no longer anonymous. The 22-year-old soldier is living in a culture of violence and may be rewarded with a medal and a welcome home on Memorial Day.

Beyond access to weapons, beyond proper psychological attention, we need to think about a culture that looks to killing to resolve conflicts, real or imagined.

The 20,000 people who attended the memorial at UC Santa Barbara heard UC President Janet Napolitano say, “We are grieving together today as a family.” It needs to be every day, not just in Santa Barbara, that we must realize we are all one family.