Why do we always prefer "easy" solutions to difficult problems?

[Akrazotile]

The shooting at Oregon, like all mass-shootings, and all homicide in general really, is severely tragic. It genuinely hurts my heart to think about the lives that were lost, and the lives that will be forever affected by those losses. And it causes me to meditate a bit on what's going on and how it can be truly addressed.

But the problem is that whenever something like this occurs, the most knee-jerk, and vocally supported solution is always the simplest, and most short-sighted one: "Take away their guns!"

Which is very similar to most peoples 'solution' to poverty: "Just give them more money!"

Unfortunately, these solutions don't address the causes of the problems. If they did, we'd have eradicated both by now. Gun laws are stronger than 50 years ago, yet mass shootings are more frequent. Welfare spending is way up, yet poverty is still just as prominent.

[Akrazotile]

Welfare spending has skyrockted in the last 50 years. It's up 16-fold from 1964. Yet we seem to hear in perpetuity about Americans "struggling to get by." How much is enough? We spend 16 times more on welfare than we did 50 years ago. But people are still poor. Do we need to provide every unemployed person with 100k a year? Will that solve the problems of unqualified, poorly developed Americans? Imagine what many of these struggling welfare recipients would do with 100k a year. Probably the same thing as most lottery winners. Meth and debt. "Give them more money!" isn't the answer. Democrats, I am sorry.


The root of poverty in America is a lack of education (not 'formal' education, but simply how to maneuver successfully through life, which is something ideally learned from responsible parents). And also, initiative. Most poor folks don't communicate ideas with each other, think about how to improve their lots together, use the leverage of their numbers, etc. Many of them are simply culturally very, very different from what we know to be 'normal' in our predominantly middle-class ISH community. This lack of know-how is not resolved by simply "giving em more money!" Most lottery winners go broke, most athletes go broke, and there are clear psychological reasons for this... but welfare handouts are the miracle cure?

[Akrazotile]

In regards to mass violence; The isolation of young people, the insecurity, the disillusionment... Violent outbursts that manifest as a result of these factors will not be quelled simply by "take guns away!!!" These same folks, without access to guns, could simply build bombs; use knives; crash their cars into crowds; go to parties and put cyanide in the punch bowl etc. The rise of commercialism and the visibility and emphasis of 'status' and corresponding decline in religion has negatively affected many young people's self worth. If only the people who spend hours on the internet showing off how they figured out the earth wasn't literally created in 7 days and how they cant believe you havent listened to immortal technique, would actually go out and spend some of that time engaging people who could use some guidance, we might be able to prevent some of these tragedies.

But that brings us to the problem.

The real causes of these ills are social and cultural, and the solutions the left proposes are simply about passing the buck. "Yeah, make the rich pay more to welfare, I got video games to play here."

"Yeah, just have the government take away guns, I'm gonna go watch the VMA's for three hours. "

These are lazily conceived and applied band-aids to much deeper issues. If WE want to solve problems, if WE want to stop violence, and poverty, then WE need to look at the problems. WE have to stare them in the eye. Not simply call on Big Babysitter Government to regulate them away. Becuase that won't happen.

We have a melting pot of cultures in America. And it's not simply divided along racial lines, it's divided along regional lines, and ideological lines and even ancestral lines. The successful people in America typically have the kind of social values of work, community, education etc. that many of these small, prosperous nations in Europe liberals envy so badly have throughout their population. But MANY people in America are simply on a different plane. And we need to figure out how to reconcile cultural differences, and the right to be culturally different, with our desire to see everyone move in a better social and economic direction. Becuase the answer isnt simply "give out more money and take away guns!" It'd be great if that could fix everything.... but yeah. It can't.

[lil jahlil]

The shooting at Oregon, like all mass-shootings, and all homicide in general really, is severely tragic. It genuinely hurts my heart to think about the lives that were lost, and the lives that will be forever affected by those losses. And it causes me to meditate a bit on what's going on and how it can be truly addressed.

But the problem is that whenever something like this occurs, the most knee-jerk, and vocally supported solution is always the simplest, and most short-sighted one: "Take away their guns!"

Which is very similar to most peoples 'solution' to poverty: "Just give them more money!"

Unfortunately, these solutions don't address the causes of the problems. If they did, we'd have eradicated both by now. Gun laws are stronger than 50 years ago, yet mass shootings are more frequent. Welfare spending is way up, yet poverty is still just as prominent.

Actually, taking away guns is not an "easy" solution. Doing nothing is easier.

[Akrazotile]

Actually, taking away guns is not an "easy" solution. Doing nothing is easier.

Obviously it's all relative.

Comparatively, taking away guns is much easier than taking a genuine and honest look at the factors that contribute to the current rates of depression in this country. Ramping up gun laws is simple and reactionary, it doesn't involve difficult analysis and uncomfortable conversation.

[GimmeThat]

"the way forward" or as some would call it "the progressive route"

to believe that in order to pertain growth, we must rid ourselves the bad

and without defining what is 'good' or 'bad'
but in response to the title as to "why do we always prefer easy solutions to difficult problems"

it comes down to options

if you were to take away something that is guaranteed today, what's left for others to interchange it with.

and if you were to go through all options in which you attempt to offer, yet it returns back to what is guaranteed is best;


and while those in the government, particularly the senate, believes that one of the main function of the government is to lay the path for the future.

it comes down to who offers the least pain to the whole, regardless of individuals

all while keeping the working labor force steady.


I tend to be the guy that others say
"well, yea I really like you, but I think you just put me out of a job"

and this all doesn't matter, if you don't believe that there's always someone out there smarter than you

[GIF REACTION]

I don't know but the hardest way is always the best way with most things in life

Taking shortcuts creates an unstable/underdeveloped base for all things learned

[iamgine]

Yes, rather than actually doing something about it, we prefer writing things up on ISH.

[ace23]

Because easy > hard

[BoutPractice]

Unfortunately, these solutions don't address the causes of the problems. If they did, we'd have eradicated both by now. Gun laws are stronger than 50 years ago, yet mass shootings are more frequent. Welfare spending is way up, yet poverty is still just as prominent.

Relative observations like "stronger" don't mean much in politics. For example, if Saudi Arabia became "more moderate" it would still be a repressive theocracy... and if Sweden became "less tolerant" it would still be a fundamentally tolerant society. An alcoholic won't get better by having one less drink per day, etc. You always have to look at where you're starting from, to get a sense of scale and proportion. You also have to look at what kind of regulation you're talking about, how effective they are etc.

Gun protection laws in the US are still much weaker than in virtually any civilized country... gun violence meanwhile is much more frequent, to the extent that most Europeans can't even process what it would be like to live in a society where mass shootings are so routine.

Is the lack of gun laws the only cause of the demonstrable fact that gun violence is a bigger issue in America than elsewhere in the developed world? No. Some aspects of American society (among many other things, the contrast between the utopian promise of the American dream and the experience of everyday reality, and the obsession with celebrity) make the problem worse. But is it an important enough factor that drastic action on guns would dramatically decrease gun violence, bringing it closer to the level most would expect to find in a civilized country? Certainly.

[west_tip]

There's nothing easy about taking on the powerful gun lobby but making it harder to obtain firearms is a no brainer.

Every country on earth is populated by some people who have mental health problems however in those nations it's not easy for these people to obtain firearms and go on a rampage.

[DonDadda59]

Taking away people's guns is easily the hardest solution while throwing money at problems is often times the easiest. Not really the same.

[NumberSix]

Taking away people's guns is easily the hardest solution while throwing money at problems is often times the easiest. Not really the same.

The easy thing to do is suggesting a "solution" that is illegal and pretending that if it was legal it would work.

The reality is that there is no solution. Some people are just bad people and bad people will always exist. It would be nice if there was no such thing as people who want to hurt other people. That would be fantastic, but that is just not reality.

[longtime lurker]

Yeah more posts from the college dropout. As people have said the easy solution is to shrug shoulders and say shit happens. It's not like you can't address mental health issues and restrict access to guns or make it more difficult to get one.

[Akrazotile]

There's nothing easy about taking on the powerful gun lobby but making it harder to obtain firearms is a no brainer.

Every country on earth is populated by some people who have mental health problems however in those nations it's not easy for these people to obtain firearms and go on a rampage.

But what I mean is, it is easy to just ignore the causes of these problems and simply rely on a law to try and curtail their consequences. It is much more difficult to try and pinpoint what is making so many young people feel compelled to do these things, and working as a soceiety to evaluate our culture to try and make things better.

In fact you can look at the way urban vs suburban violence differs to see that these things happen due to CULTURAL factors, and arent simply inevitable due to the presence of guns. If gun availability just inevitably caused mass shootings, inner city communities would have these "school shooter" problems but they dont. If gun availability inevitably caused macho, "heat of the moment" shootings, you would see the millions of suburban gun owners shooting each other over verbal arguments, but you dont.

It is obvious that there are cultural shortcomings in each scenario that increase the likelyhood of people choosing such severe ways to address their problems.