I originally wrote this as a comment on a Facebook thread discussing reasons why Jared Loughner murdered a 9-year old girl and five other people, wounding almost a dozen others while trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. I had linked to an article pointing out that merely blaming the suspect as being "mentally ill" was a cop out.

*****

1. Mental illness isn't inherently dangerous. Lots of people come into the clinical classification of "mentally ill" (whether or not clinical classification is too strict a delineation of what may be considered a spectrum of "acceptable" or "normal" behavior is another discussion) without any tendencies towards violence.

2. People who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, and other mood/mind/impulse affecting substances are more likely to act on violent impulses than those who are considered "mentally ill."

3. Something needs to provoke an impulse toward violence to be acted upon. Often, that impulse is fueled by fear that manifests as a belief that one must resort to violence in order to protect oneself, and/or a dehumanization of the Other that denies the impact of one's actions.

It is this last factor that can be influenced by an environment of blame and fear-mongering.

NOTE: I am NOT saying that it's Sarah Palin's fault that this guy murdered a bunch of people. I am saying that it is irresponsible FOR ANYONE to actively promote fear over understanding and communication, because it taints us all.