Friday, October 17, 2014

The New Duck and Cover?

I recently was exposed to the workspace /school safety flavor called ALICE .That means:
Alert
Lockdown
Inform
Counter
Escape
For details, just google say;  with the words ALICE and shooter, and you will get plenty of links. It appears to be an amendment to the Full Employment For Consultants Act.
Anyway, it reminded me of something from when i was a sprout, Duck and Cover .
Duck and Cover, and ALICE are, in a systems thinking sense, good examples of our culture's tendency to recommend a band aide to the gut shot.

ALICE recognizes the reality of the Tainter Symplification , and is actually a decent, well meaning attempt to deal with the problem of the loony shooter in the public place/workplace, given our inability to address the prime multi-causal origins of the phenomena.

1. We do not have a healthcare system. We have a healthcare sector of a market system. I think that is one of the reasons that countries that have a healthcare system and lack a strong gun mythos, also have less mass shooters. In these, it is much easier to spot the looney  at a younger age.

2. The 30 years of "tax revolt" and "government is the problem", not to mention imposition of revenue caps on local governments via state reduction of local decision powers (Wisconsin, where i am); makes it nearly impossible to have public buildings designed during the cold war (threat = "the bomb") to be remodeled/repaced with ones for the current threat (crazy/disgruntled/drug trial/etc. shooter).

3. The easy to get guns and use them nearly anywhere 2nd amendment misreading/NRA for gun manufacturers who can't compete in overseas sales against the AK-47 so need expanded domestic market for military small arms/culture of fear/have to rely on your self/ concealed carry/castle doctrine/gun mythos, war on drugs increasing the risk factor for non-corporate drug entrepreneurs therefore raising prices and therefore street violence (totally unregulated market therefore self help disput settlement)/ ... etc

4. The culture of violence, which is amplified to the Looney that ultimate authority in this kingdom of magical thinking, is a thing called "capital punishment", that sets a wonderful example for the fusterated deranged folk among us... ecspecially if god is communicating with them...

5. Increasing economic disparity and structural unemployment and at the same time teaching that status/power comes from wealth increasing fear/desparation...

I could go on.
ALICE is a duck of the social problems and vacant ideology that we have. What comes after ALICE? Concealed carry allowed everywhere, as the failure cascade continues.