Immunity

Once upon a time (it sounds like a fairy tale, but it is true) I subscribed to a number of magazines.  It was never at the same time, but I was interested.  There was Newsweek, Time and the Bulletin.  Some met their demise, and some were absorbed into other publications.  More than once I would read a magazine from cover to cover while on the train to or from work.
I used to purchase newspapers from time to time also.  An interest in the news must run in the family.  It was a trait of my dad and brothers.  It remains so for my surviving brother.  I do remember someone commenting to me about a particular paper I was reading and telling them I read that one mostly for world news.
That no longer happens.  I keep up to date on the internet and watch the news both local and international on tv.
One thing stuck me in the Courier Mails stories today.  Of the nine stories given a headline five contained violence against either people or property.  These headlines contained words such as “bashes man,” “smashes mosque,” “bashes teen,” “violet assault,” and “brutal headbutt.”
I appreciate that journalists need to use dynamic headlines to get a reader in.  I sold real estate for a while and when houses were advertised, it was important to write something that drew a reader in to want more.
I cannot help but think that while that may have worked initially, people are building up an immunity.
There is a debate happing that asks, “are we seeing more violence because of the immediacy of social media or because it is on the increase?” It seems to me it is both.
It probably seems a little simplistic but the popularity of some violent games on the internet suggests to me we are asking for it.  Some have built up an immunity to violence and killing.  I have had fleeting contact with some games and what sticks in my mind is the violence without consequence.  I can violently kill heaps of people and be killed and the game resets and I start again.
Last nights news featured a person weeping in the dock as he had to answer for why he had shot two people.  His defence is self-defence.  Yet I say to myself if they had not been there with a gun in the first place it would not have happened. I cannot help but think an immunity had developed.
To me it is the immunity that is contributing to what is being seen.  It is human nature to get used to something and need more to satisfy.  While I may express shock and horror at what I see, I often think of Nazi Germany.  Many did not think they were capable of doing what they did.  Yet it seems to me they developed an immunity to human suffering.  They justified doing what they did.
I think also of the Croats and the Serbs in Sarajevo.  Neighbours who had been at peace needed to choose who they were going to serve.  Warmongers or peacemakers.   To me it is easy to choose a side when peace reigns.  War though often means self interest rules and builds immunity.