America's Most Wanted

Today I walk into work and run straight into my coworkers talking about America's Most Wanted. Seems like a friend of my coworker's older brother was just on the show last week for killing and robbing an armored car.

What drives a person to such lengths that they shoot somebody five times in the head and take $56,000?? I'm sure that's a question for the psychologists to answer, but I also wonder how common is it? How many people have killed for less? Last year I sat in a class on World War II and we discussed--all too briefly--how desensitized German SS troops became. One classmate related the story of his grandfather--a SS trooper, and how he and his buddies threw up after their first killing. Slowly, the killings were justified by each killer until the horrors of the holocaust happened.

If murders in America rise during the decade after a major war, how does war contribute to this mentality? Are we really doing the Middle East a favor by contributing to a climate of violence? Would this not leave the country--esp. the next generation--more able to commit violent acts against Iraqis and non-Iraqis alike? Perhaps we should take a more propagandist approach. What if we sent money or supported those who improve Iraq peacefully, and saturate the airwaves, posters, etc. with pro-peace ideas? Obviously this is the beginnig of such a thought. Feel free to poke holes.