klonk wrote:Ian C. Kuzushi wrote:While it is to be applauded when conservatives recognize how terrible it was for Reagan and the Republicans to throw the severely mentally ill out on the streets, I'm not sure what that has to do with mass shootings. Mental illness is certainly not the primary or constant factor (as has been pointed out).
Clearly, other countries have problems with mental illness, yet no other country has anything resembling our mass shooting problem. There is only one constant.
Actually, the heave-ho onto the streets predates Reagan. Nice try.
If you are looking for a constant, it is insanity of a particular, homicidal kind. Google Anders Brevik Norway
for a foreign example.
For a while, I kept tabs on events of the kind and noticed a similarity. It goes beyond nationality and race.
http://shootery.blogspot.com/2014/05/ma ... -eyes.html
Yes, there was a shift away from the extremely inhumane treatment of the mentally ill but there were stop gaps which were actually quite effective. Then some of the most helpful (and local--thought you conservatives liked that?) were slashed by Reagan.
Pretty basic:
The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 (MHSA) was United States legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter which provided grants to community mental health centers. During the following Ronald Reagan administration, the United States Congress repealed most of the law.[1] The MHSA was considered landmark legislation in mental health care policy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_He ... ct_of_1980
Anyway, of course there is some nuance to the causes of mass shootings, but that should not prevent anyone from recognizing the one factor that stands out in the US above all others, especially in comparison to other neo-imperial countries.