America is not as free as it has been. Many circumstances have caused the decline in freedom in the oldest democracy in the world. Many internal and external factors haunt us daily. Balancing freedom and security has become one of the most significant issues facing the American people and their leadership today.
The recent horrendous killing spree in the Columbia Mall in Howard County is yet another terrible reminder that our freedom to pursue happiness has become less free and often dangerous. In today’s world, even a Saturday morning of shopping at the mall or seeing a movie has its challenges and risks.
In view of the terror in Columbia, there will undoubtedly be calls for more gun control and other legal measures to be implemented at all levels of government, especially local and state governments. Perhaps more legislation against firearms is not the answer to a problem that increasingly affects American citizens. Many of the mass shootings that have occurred in this country and abroad have been committed by young people or by terrorist organizations. The Columbia Mall shooter was 19 years old. The random killing sprees, such as the one in Columbia, demonstrate that mental illness remains a real factor in these occurrences. However, it is hard to interview the instigator of these acts when he or she is dead. More preventive, pervasive, and accessible mental health services are essential in helping to avoid such devastating events in the United States. The press makes a sensational splash of such events to fill up the 24-hour news cycle. Then the event disappears in the ether, leaving grieving and lost parents, relatives, and friends behind, wondering “Why?”
While investigation is underway, facilities evacuated, victims identified, and next of kin are still being informed, the use of talking heads and so-called experts to discuss such heinous events does not cast greatness on the media and, in many cases, leads to erroneous conclusions, confusing the public and alarming victims and survivors.
The lack of mental health facilities and the availability of such services is a national problem with both state and local ramifications. One needs to go no further than Kent County to see examples of inadequate mental health services. The closing of the facility serving the Upper Shore, by the O’Malley administration is but one example. This is, in reality, only one small example of inadequate help, assistance, and treatment for our younger population. Then there is Washington College, with some 1400 students experiencing the stresses of higher education and the challenges of entering the adult world. Having adequate mental health services in a college town is always comforting and reassuring to students and parents.
Our world is becoming a more dangerous one in many parts of the globe, at warp speed. Today’s technological advances help manage criminal investigations, terrorist attacks, and military conflicts; however, they also isolate human beings, who never have to talk with other humans while learning from screens and videos, sometimes resulting in ill-defined, underdeveloped social skills. In many cases, it is our younger citizens who become isolated, less communicative and can easily manifest mental health issues that may go unnoticed and undetected.
Also, at home and across the globe, the use of technology has emboldened terrorist organizations and has enhanced their capabilities to strike. Al-Qaeda is not dead. They still threaten our freedoms and our lives.
Freedoms that we enjoy, such as Saturday morning shopping at the mall, are threatened. Existing gun laws are not adequately enforced, and mental health services, especially for the young, remain underfunded, inadequate, and disparate. Both freedom and terror are components of the American way of life, domestically and globally. They are the challenges of our day that really threaten the state of our union.
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