The woman, Vivian Poreda, was behind on her mortgage. She was described as the sole caretaker for her husband, who has colitis. She herself suffers from diabetes and other ailments. On a guess, I would say she was desperate and that there is something heart-rending about that desperation and the corner she felt herself to be backed into.
In Dallas, in a story not yet concluded, an unknown number of men shot up police headquarters at about 1230 a.m. Saturday (today). One suspect was said to be angry that police had taken his child from him and accused him of being a terrorist. It's a bit up in the air as I write, but the bullet holes and simplistic brazenness of the attack likewise smell like desperation to me ... if not quite so compelling as Poreda's actions.
No doubt there are others who are far more mature and world-savvy than I am, but I find something wrong with the desperation individuals can feel when set side by side with the shot-cuff arrogance of those who tack wars and other depredations on top of simple human difficulties. Isn't there enough so that the burdens can be shared and ameliorated?
I think so, but, as I say, I am not as savvy as others.
As i understand it, progress depends on the growth of benefits that trickle down. Science improves our lives in a few ways, medically for instance, but costs money that can only be arrived at by capitalizing to the extent of feeling that investment in science can be managed. And that seems to depend on either the potential profitability of the science, or the benevolence of the benefactor who takes a cause up as a hobby. As to social programs, social sciences are less influential than ideology. But you have to be a serious insider to understand, that profit must come first... or a true believer. I'm too far outside of either to get it.
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