UKC

Reading this has left me feeling numb.
I've always tried to see the best our world has to offer, fully aware that horrible things do happen everyday.
My heart goes out to his friends and family.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-24739725

In reply to creag:
Why would this be a reason to give up on society?

It's a horrible thing to happen, but similar events have always occurred. Mindless, random violence is as old as society itself.

In reply to creag:

It's very sad that a man with a bright future was murdered, but I'm not about to "give up on society" as a result of it. There have always been some bad people in society and there always will be, but the majority are just normal people not particularly wanting to hurt anyone.

In reply to Only a hill: Just my feeling after reading that. I'm aware of the frequency of random violence but it just hit a nerve with me.
I can't ever imagine doing such a thing to another person, so what is it that drives someone to do it?
I'll get over it but think about how his friends and family are feeling, don't think they'll be feeling so philosophical about it.

In reply to creag:

Neither can most of us. What drives someone to do that? We aren't all wired the same.

In reply to creag:

Youre a better man than me. I gave up on society when onion rings graduated from a side order to being a main meal.

In reply to ice.solo:
Thanks for your perspective. That cheered me up, well made me chuckle anyway! Maybe there is hope for society after all. The ability to shrug off the terrible and move on...

In reply to creag:

Out of curiosity, just how does one "give up on society"? What does one actually DO?

In reply to Ava Adore: Lock yourself away, trust no one, remove yourself from the problem... I know people who have.

In reply to creag:

Ironically this is what is guaranteed to make society worse. Bad things will always happen, but if good people don't engage in society, what is left?

In reply to creag: It's possibly worth remembering that (like Leeds) Sheffield was one of the cities in England which didn't have riots, while Manchester and London and Birmingham did.

In reply to yorkshireman:

Ditto.

In reply to Timmd:

Could you explain the relevance Tim.

In reply to The New NickB: Only that it could say something positive about society in Sheffield or the sense of pride in one's city, but it's not too relevant in any other sense.

In reply to creag:

But also on the BBC most read list at the moment is http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24653643 (woman saves man with SS tattoo)

Some people do great good, some people do great evil. The rest of us just muddle along and try to be decent human beings

In reply to creag:

that grim event is an anomaly. tragic but not the norm.
i agree that aspects oof society are worth giving up on, but more the chronic, endemic aspects that represnt a greater span tht actually do constitute much of society. i wasnt fuuckking around with the onion ring remark - the shift of ideals towards destruction by ignorance is well worth turning away from.

the question is 'how'?
you have several models: the crazed loon, the gibbering cat person, the angry burnout, the disassociated night dweller, the fantasist feral, the full time adventurer, the run away backpacker, the pharaceutical house wife, the paranoid geek.

history is full of folk who have given up and stepped aside. lao zi to HD theroux and loads of antarctic explorers, junkies, mercenaries and course-addicts. theres that guy in the hebrides thats tattooed like a leopard and eats raw fish.
i personally gave up on several aspects of society that shat me, and adopted a new one that better suits my needs and i can ignore the stuff that irritates me. truely, onion rings were part of that.

In reply to ice.solo:

It was selling us potato peelings that done it for me.

In reply to creag:

This thread puts me in mind of a good Eddie Veder track from the INto the Wild soundtrack:

"Society, have mercy on me
I hope you're not angry if I disagree
Society, crazy indeed
I hope you're not lonely without me"

In reply to creag:

If anything it's a reason for people to not give up on society. Otherwise we would be succumbing to the evil.