Alright, I said I wasn’t going to post every cartoon about the Colorado shooting, but this one is particularly stupid. Ramirez’s point is that the shooter (presumably) was detached and lacked human contact, which, for some reason, lead to him wanting to kill people. Even if we took that premise, I fail to see how we’re supposed to reach the conclusion. I’m devoid of human contact (no IRL friends at all, spend most of my time online), but I don’t want to kill people. And I certainly don’t plan massive sprees or prepare for stand-offs with police officers. There’s something more here than “I spend all my time on my laptop and smartphone” (look at what Batman is holding).

And really, is that an attempt to make this not about guns more blatant AND more pathetic than this? When gun control opponents keep repeating that guns don’t kill people, blah blah blah, at least they’re acknowledging that there is a conversation about guns. Ramirez seems almost intent on not mentioning firearms. Or questions of mental health, which is another topic that gets brought up every time there’s a shooting.

No, the real reason for this shooting is clear as day to Mr. Ramirez: those darn Gen-Y kids are spending all their time online, which makes it impossible to communicate with real people. Which is such a flagrantly stupid thing I have to wonder if Ramirez isn’t some Luddite who fears the ‘demon box’ and won’t allow one in his home. Who the fuck still looks at the Internet and says “It’ll suck out your humanity! Why don’t you go talk to people?” Newsflash, Ramirez: plenty of people have more success finding real friends with shared interests online than they do in real life. Even the obsessive types who commit all their energy to one esoteric fandom are able to find people who want to talk about the same obscure thing.

Spending time online is not a sign of a lack of social contact. Just because a conversation isn’t taking place in one room, face-to-face, doesn’t make it somehow invalid as human interaction.

And are the shooter’s parents divorced? Ramirez includes ‘dissolution of the family,’ but a cursory glance on Wikipedia doesn’t mention if his parents ever separated. Is Ramirez just shoe-horning in some of his pet peeves now?