[I Think, Therefore I Am] On the Taipei Metro Killing
The remarks below: moral crusaders, please skip.
On the Taipei Metro killing
I didn’t catch the news right when the Taipei Metro incident happened, but when I got home and saw the news reporting it all over the place… something felt off to me.
The odd part isn’t that it can’t be reported at all, but that basically three-quarters of the time they were talking about the same thing—and the perpetrator himself acted in the name of “doing something big.” Doesn’t that play right into his hands? Not to mention the possible copycat effect afterward.
Then a casualty list started to appear, and the police system came under scrutiny: so many people, so little manpower, nowhere near enough, they need more staff. Maybe more staff is warranted, but personally I don’t think adding staff necessarily fully solves the problem. At the time, I hadn’t yet seen anyone put out information on how to protect yourself, or argue that going out inherently calls for heightened vigilance, or that you could learn self-defense skills or carry tools like pepper spray… and so on.
Next, many people and media outlets went on a frenzy attacking the perpetrator himself, his family, and the environment he grew up in—as if once the attacking was done, everything would get better, as if there really were some miracle cure or method to keep these “demons” away. No one said that these people may not be simply “cured” by such means, and that even if “cured,” a relapse is quite possible. Or that this might actually be a statistical outlier or a non-normal distribution—one face of biodiversity—and that all we can do is prepare thoroughly, understanding it with empathy on one hand while dealing with it firmly on the other.
Likewise, I didn’t see anyone suggest that the perpetrator, in a certain sense, is actually rather capable: he set a short-term goal, then prepared for that goal, and was willing to disown his own kin for its sake…
The only two problems, I’d say, are that the goal was far too short-sighted, and—was the goal even reasonable? There are plenty of other ways to do something big, aren’t there? And who says something big has to mean killing people? Personally, if someone could go on a wild streak of getting shot down and set a Guinness World Record for it within a certain time, that’d be something big too~~ At least a small loser like me would worship him with awe!!
Clearly, the perpetrator never met the one who could recognize his talent, nor had a good life mentor to guide him. A hateful person must also have something pitiable about them; on that count, I feel for him.
Even less did I see anyone discuss how, if you had the (mis)fortune of encountering the perpetrator before he did this “big thing,” you might guide or channel him into truly achieving something great; or how to prevent someone like him (whether for good or ill) from being recruited by a bad organization to commit even more terrible acts.
Yes, some people say I’m just making glib remarks. I admit it—honestly, the thing didn’t happen to me, and the most I can do is hold a moment of silence for the dead and injured.
But I believe that being able to think rationally, hold a genuine discussion, take corresponding action, and learn a lesson from this pain is what truly comforts the dead and injured…
As for whether the perpetrator should be executed, or whether the death penalty should be abolished, or whether he should be thoroughly made to suffer—honestly, I don’t have an answer yet. But I do know one thing: if someone is dead set on dying, or utterly unafraid of death, then perhaps letting him live is the true ultimate punishment, isn’t it?