You know what's really depressing? Feeling like it's your job to spread the word about the human shadow.

This must be how exactly those Dr. Oz guys feel. They say the same things over and over — eat less bad fat and sugar, eat more good fat and fiber, get more exercise, get more rest, turn off the TV, go play outside, blah blah blah — while of course most of us stay just as unhealthy and out-of-shape as we ever were. But those guys are doctors. They feel like they have to keep saying it. So they do keep saying it. Every week, every article, every TV show… (At least they get paid for repeating themselves.)

So here I am, talking about the human shadow again: (but not getting paid)

Rather than acting like we don't know why in hell such grisly things keep happening all over the world — which will never stop them from happening — why don't we admit that we really do know.

Why don't we go ahead and admit that it's our own obsession with power and explosions and guns and graphically portrayed violence, multiplied by how many weak-minded people there are in the world.

We fly drone bombers. We wage wars and topple regimes in other countries for bad reasons. We fund munitions factories, but we don't fund schools and teachers. We let our children play — play — with deadly weapons, and with simulations of attacks on others with deadly weapons. We allow things which are absolutely sub-human to flourish on the internet, where any fool can access them.

We are responsible for the effect of our actions. And we are also responsible for becoming as aware as we can of these effects. — Rollo May