R.I.P. Kevin Pravia, UPDATE 4

In previous posts I have stated my conviction that the fault in this crime rests squarely with the murderer alone.

I must amend that slightly now. You see, in a sense, that is still true; the fault for the action is all his. Yet in my passion and anger I did not think dialectically. I did not examine things from different perspectives and I was blind to the larger picture at hand. Having had time to think, I believe I now have a better perspective on the issue.

So how did this happen? Who is to blame?

To quote Cassius by way of Edward R. Murrow: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

It is our fault for allowing ourselves to live in a world where we turn the tables on the victims and blame them for their innocence. Innocence should not be derided, it should be respected and celebrated. We should mourn the loss of it.

It is our fault for allowing ourselves to live in a world where the extent of our alienation is such that we must turn to drugs and alcohol simply to cope with the pressures of daily life.

It is our fault for allowing ourselves to live in a world where the extent of our alienation from one another is such that when a tragedy likes this strikes, the most emotion that some among us can muster is to say "he should have known better."

It is our fault for allowing ourselves to live in a world where the dangerously ill are not properly medicated or confined, and where misplaced hatred and the desire to accumulate meaningless trinkets can lead one young man to murder another.

It is our fault for allowing ourselves to live in a world where the newspapers tell us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes as if that's the way it's supposed to be.

If I'm starting to sound dangerously like Peter Finch's portrayal of Howard Beale from Sidney Lumet's Network it is because I mean to (my review of this most important piece of cinema is forthcoming). I'm about to sound a lot more like him.

So what do we do about this world that we live in?

I have a few ideas of my own, but who cares what I think?

All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You have to get mad, and you have to understand that this is not the way it should be and not the way it must be. To once again paraphrase Edward R. Murrow, we need not live in fear of one another. Once you accept and understand this, then we can begin to change things. We shouldn't have to live like this.

If any good can come from Kevin's death then perhaps it's that some of us have been shocked into realizing this truth.