Are you saying that the mindset of a person who commits mass murder is more understandable than the mindset of a person who commits suicide ("stupid people do stupid things")? Or that the deaths of the various mass murder victims are less tragic than the death of a person who commits suicide?
I'm not disagreeing; I'm just not sure exactly where you're putting the focus when you talk about understanding and accepting "mass murders."
[Edit: It's a minor point, but I bumped up against it when I started playing with the idea.]
I don't know, but yes. I think that's what I think...or was thinking...someone distantly close to me committed suicide and that news made me stop, as opposed to the Aurora incident where I hardly gave it a thought.
Maybe it's just that he was closer to me...but, admittedly, had he been one of the Aurora victims, I'm not sure I'd have thought much of it (or him, rather).
I guess I'm saying that with suicide, the emphasis is on you, and in other tragedies the emphasis is on the tragedy. Killing yourself, you are the tragedy...and it's sad that people think of themselves like that...indicative of a bigger problem than whatever caused the Aurora situation.
It's like at least the Aurora guy went out fighting...he didn't give up hope, he became impatient with hope...and decided he'd go out and do something...something stupid, yes...but something.
Suicide, it's like the guy didn't have hope...not even enough to have hope that he would have hope...and then, nothingness.
If he couldn't find hope, why should I be able to?
And if I can't, do I follow his path or the path of the Aurora guy?
Tempered, of course, to my situation...which doesn't involve life or death...not until I'm old and grey.
I can't decide who I'd choose to emulate more/less...who was more/less noble/cowardly...who should be considered more/less...because, I think at the end of the day the mentalities are simililar, just the execution different.