Imagine if…
...we never had to refer to someone who does violence by their name or show a picture of them on the media.
There is a way to make this happen, but a re-branding of sorts would be required. I have heard of such a thing, called the Some Asshole Initiative. The first time I heard of it was in a comic called, “The Non-adventures of Wonderella”, and it has stuck with me since that day. I had even forgotten where the idea had come from until researching a bit for this op-ed.
The point is to do this: in conversation, on the news, and in media of both the social & mass sorts, actively refrain from posting pictures, mentioning by name, or even referring to the race, gender, religion, etc. of the terrorist. In lieu of the name & face exposure, we use the phrase ‘some asshole’ to describe the person or persons, and a suitably disgusting random image to go with it (a rotten avocado? The inside of the pipes in Flint, MI? Ann Coulter’s face?).
Imagine if we heard, “some asshole shot up Charlie Hebdo a bit over a year ago,” or, “some assholes just got sent a bunch of bags of dicks after they invaded that Refuge,” there would be no latching on to a trait in order to generalize folks with that trait. No ability to scapegoat others of their race, creed, gender, culture, etc. No heroes & martyrs to extremist causes when they are all painted with the same broad brush as ‘some assholes’. The effect would hopefully be a blackout on any ‘fame’ a shooter (or other violent actor) might accrue with the public, or with hate groups on either end of the spectrum. It gives no details to use as wedge issues.
Folks who do outlandish acts of violence, especially that which should be called ‘domestic terrorism’, are, in the main part, seekers of attention. Their actions are often caused by a mixture of misguided parenting, piss-poor support structure, and an overwhelming hate of their own situation, for which they blame authority figures. We can see this from the recent Malheur Wildlife Refuge invasion & occupation by a group of self-isolated rebels that preferred ‘patriot’ to ‘disgruntled, petulant non- taxpayer’.
More often occurring is the solo acts of violence: school & other locational shootings by both adults & children, many who have been left on the edges of society, craving a way to make an impact on a system that appears (to them, anyway) as being stacked against the righteous. This is a side effect of humanity, to leave some in the dust while others get or seek the tools needed for success. Acts of violence by individuals & militant small groups seem, in this day & age, to be one of the few ways that the plebeians within the huddled masses can get their 15 minutes of fame. Just a change in wording takes that power away, leaving a space for other (better?) attention-seeking activities.