18 people were stabbed and 2 have died in Kawasaki after man in his 50s went on a rampage with a knife. A 11 year old was one of the victims that died. Terrible, Japan is one of the places you least suspect violent attacks like these.
We’ve had things happen here that were one time unthinkable.
Something is changing.
Strangers always helped each other here in Taiwan. Children were looked after by the community. The schools are public spaces for the community to relax or exercise in. When that monster beheaded that girl on the bike it was a shock. Mother thought the person was just going to help the girl get over the curb bump on her cycle. There was the horrific life attack on a school rest room. You complained about the openness and ease of access to the schools. That was never a problem.
Kid here always carry box cutters and exacto knives. That used to freak me out coming from a place that used metal detectors. Only recently have the kids started using them as weapons.
Something has changed. Something from the West. Less strict parenting, lack of job security or place in the community, the introduction of psychiatric medicine?
I don’t know. They need to do a study and fix it. Many things have gotten better but the Taiwan and Japan’s something special is going away.
Violent crime is down in Japan and taiwan in the last 20 years, I think in Taiwan it’s down with roughly 50%
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Isolated psychos committing a crime don’t represent all of Taiwan or Japan.
Ah yes, of course it’s the West’s fault. /facepalm
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Steady on. One knife attack in Japan does not a changed society make.
This should be a video game!
I recommend you guys watch The World between Us. It is a Taiwanese perspective on this issue.
Japanese people are also concerned. Thsi kind of thing is happening like once wevery two years… and for them that is already too much.
things that were unthinkable one time.
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At exactly what time were these things unthinkable?
KMT goons have been murdering Taiwanese since the day they arrived in 1947.
The murder of Pai Hsiao-yen was just some fucked up gangster shit her mother was involved in; there’s nothing about it that points to societal decline.
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maybe at the time violent crimes were more norm, and didn’t become a big news?
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The news media wasn’t set up to sensationalize such events before that time.
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Or more to the point: the party-state’s lapdog media simply didn’t report the goon-like behavior that kept people in line during the dictatorship era.
When exactly were those good old days?
Guy
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Self-immolation has been around for ever. However, doing it using fuel only took off after a Tibetan monk did it in the 60s. I’m prepared to accept that the subsequent increase in self-immolation incidents were primarily the result of western media showing images of the victim burning himself to death.
However, I don’t think it’s valid to blame mass killings on the West. Perpetrators who may have mental health issues (but not always) are more likely to carry out such attacks after they have seen the media show previous attacks. There is considerable research that backs this.
If anything, mass stabbings are generally more of an East Asian phenomenon. Our psychos tend to use firearms.
I think I rather them use firearms. At least there’s a chance they will miss especially if they are using pistols. Someone with a knife in front of you won’t miss
I know which weapon I’d rather be up against, and it wouldn’t be a gun.
If the perp had had access to a firearm the majority of those children would have been killed. He’d have done a Thomas Hamilton.
Well for guns it depends if it’s a rifle or pistol.
If it’s a rifle you will die. You can’t run out of its range and even a novice can score a center mass hit up to 300 yards. Body armor also won’t stop a rifle.
If it’s a pistol then I would have a better chance than against a knife. Most thugs or mass shooters won’t be good with pistols and it takes a lot of skill to score center mass hits even at 7 yards, and that’s if you are not under duress. You also have a fairly high chance of surviving a single center mass pistol hits if you can get medical attention within 2 hours. If you hear gunshot and you get outside of 10 yards they won’t ever hit you. Even if you took a hit keep running. You won’t know you were hit anyways. If the shooter is a well trained cop or soldier that’s a different story…
Someone can stab you 4 or 5 times up close before you realize what’s going on and they won’t miss since they will be right in front of you. That’s much less survivable.
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Getting attacked by surprise in many methods will be more effective than a knife. A garotte from behind, for instance.
Yea, except with a gun the element of surprise is gone after the first shot. Even silenced a gun is quite loud.
Whereas you can stab several people before the element of surprise is lost.
I would prefer either to a flamethrower. You may be able to overpower the guy before he gets a full stream going, but if he gets you at all it’s going to be really painful, and he can easily finish you off in a horrible fashion.
And flamethrowers are not firearms in the US. In fact they are not regulated at all.