{"id":175774,"date":"2020-12-28T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=175774"},"modified":"2020-12-25T06:40:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T06:40:47","slug":"masks-can-be-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/12\/masks-can-be-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Masks Can Be Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

22 Dec 2020 – <\/em>In cities and states across the United States, politicians mandate that their fellow citizens wear masks. There is a lot of good evidence and reason to believe that this policy is a key causal factor in a nationwide explosion in violent crime and murders.<\/p>\n

Those who have not studied violence may not fully understand how harmful it can be to not<\/em> see someone\u2019s face. Masks give a powerful sense of anonymity to the killer, and dehumanize the victim.\u00a0Thus preventing empathy, and empowering aggression, violence, and murder. In city after city, across America, there have been more murders as of September, October or November, than all of the previous year. And masks are one of the major reasons why this is happening.<\/p>\n

I wrote the book\u00a0On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.<\/em> With over half-a-million copies sold, in seven\u00a0languages,\u00a0On Killing\u00a0<\/em>is a\u00a0\u201cperennial bestseller\u201d and Google Scholar says it has been cited over 2,900 times in academic research. It has established itself as one of the major scholarly works of our time.<\/p>\n

I wrote the book, and created a new field of scholarly endeavor known as \u201ckillology\u201d because I want to help keep people safe, and reduce violence in our society. \u00a0Psychology is not about teaching people to be psychos, criminology is not about teaching people to be criminals, and killology is not about teaching people to kill. It is about understanding the factors that empower and restrain killing in our society.<\/p>\n

People often point to some horrible crime and\u00a0declare\u00a0that,\u00a0\u201cThis proves humans are naturally killers!\u201d<\/p>\n

My response to them is, \u201cNo. That is an outlier. It is literally, one-in-a-million. You<\/em>\u00a0explain to\u00a0me<\/em>\u00a0the 99.9% of our citizens who will go a lifetime, and never even seriously attempt to take a human life.\u00a0Explain that!\u201d<\/p>\n

Poverty, divorce, infidelity, layoffs, and traffic accidents occur by the millions every day in our society.\u00a0And yet, in a lifetime of provocation, less than 00.1% of our citizens will attempt to take a human life.\u00a0That<\/em>\u00a0is the hard thing to explain!<\/p>\n

America is roughly a third-of-a-billion people.\u00a0Every person who interacts with another person represents a friction point, adding up to billions of friction points every single day.\u00a0An amazing array of social, physical, psychological and physiological factors provide a\u00a0\u201clubricant\u201d for each of these friction points, in order to prevent physical violence and murder.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>–\u201cKilling Enabling Factors\u201d Illustration from\u00a0On Killing<\/em>\u00a0by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman–<\/strong><\/p>\n

Masks are like a handful of sand in an automobile engine, greatly increasing the\u00a0\u201cfriction\u201d at…\u00a0Every.\u00a0Single.\u00a0One.\u00a0Of these countless billions of daily contact points.<\/p>\n

We all understand that people will say things online that they would never say face-to-face.\u00a0And masks create a similar sense of anonymity for the aggressor, empowering face-to-face violence and hostility across our nation.<\/p>\n

Israeli research tells us that if you are kidnapped, and you are blindfolded or you have a hood over your head, you are far more likely to be murdered by your captors.\u00a0You would think, since I cannot identify my captors, then I am less of a threat to them.\u00a0But your potential long-term threat to your captors is not what is keeping you alive.\u00a0It is looking into the face of another human being\u00a0\u2014 thus creating a powerful biological sense of empathy\u00a0\u2014\u00a0which is the most important factor keeping that captive alive.<\/p>\n

The face is the window to the soul, and covering the face with a mask destroys empathy and empowers interpersonal aggression.<\/p>\n

That is why individuals being executed by hanging or firing squad, are traditionally blindfolded or hooded. Mass murders committed by criminals, terrorists, or totalitarian states, very often involve shooting victims in the\u00a0back<\/em>\u00a0of the head, or cutting their heads off\u00a0from behind<\/em>.\u00a0Once again, covering or hiding the face negates empathy, and empowers some of the most ghastly forms of mass murder.<\/p>\n

Masks also muffle your voice.\u00a0So, many people shout in order to be heard and understood while wearing a mask.\u00a0But shouting signals aggression!\u00a0When someone shouts at you, you\u00a0immediately\u00a0become defensive and hostile. And the situation can spiral downward from there, into aggressive confrontations, violence, and even murder<\/p>\n

At a basic, intuitive, almost\u00a0\u201cbiological\u201d level, we understand this.\u00a0We inherently distrust and fear anyone wearing a mask and the muffled shouts that come from that individual.\u00a0This is buried deep in our genes, and\u00a0<\/em>in our culture.\u00a0And\u00a0it cannot be eliminated<\/em>\u00a0by declarations from politicians.\u00a0Thus, seeing everyone around you in masks, creates anxiety and social isolation that can be profoundly harmful, and potentially create ever more violence.<\/p>\n

This daily\u00a0dehumanization,\u00a0desensitization,\u00a0alienation, and social isolation created by masks, can contribute to two different types of violence.\u00a0Erich Fromm, tells us that “destructive aggression occurs … in conjunction with a\u00a0momentary<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0chronic<\/em>\u00a0emotional withdrawal.\u201d<\/p>\n

First, is that\u00a0\u201cmomentary emotional withdrawal\u201d resulting in a spontaneous\u00a0act of\u00a0violence created by a specific circumstance. Often resulting in a single homicide, committed in a fit of rage.<\/p>\n

In addition to this\u00a0spontaneous\u00a0violence, there is the\u00a0\u201cchronic withdrawal\u201d caused by a long-term build-up of alienation and isolation, that can result in mass murders and massacres.\u00a0I hope I am wrong, but I believe in the coming year we will see many more horrific mass-murders and massacres.<\/p>\n

Again, I pray that I am wrong.\u00a0But I think it is very likely that we will see day-care massacres, school bus massacres, and vehicles used as weapons of mass murder, plowing into our children at100 miles-per-hour.\u00a0These crimes have happened around the world, and it may be only a matter of time, until they come to our nation.\u00a0(And there are many things we can and must do, right now, to mitigate the possible loss of life from such attacks.)<\/p>\n

What else is left to shock us?\u00a0What else is there,\u00a0<\/em>that will create media coverage, and provide the fame, that the\u00a0alienated enraged killer desires?<\/p>\n

We are on a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching descent into ever greater acts of evil. It started with school massacres committed by children, who grew up to give us college massacres, who then came back to our elementary schools as adults to express their rage in the mass murder of our children.<\/p>\n

More information about this can be found in my book,\u00a0Assassination Generation. In the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida, school massacre, I was invited to the White House as part of the President\u2019s round table on violent video games.\u00a0I had the honor of giving a copy of\u00a0Assassination Generation<\/em>\u00a0to the President.\u00a0Last year I was invited to the White House again, and had the honor of briefing the Vice President and giving him a copy of my book.<\/p>\n

Doctors tell us that masks contribute to acne, anxiety, depression and heart disease. Dentists tell us that masks are causing gum disease and other dental problems. I cannot speak to these medical pros-and-cons of masks.\u00a0But I can state, without hesitation, that having our entire population wearing masks, is one of the most physically and psychologically harmful things we can do.\u00a0There can be no doubt that it will lead our nation into even deeper depths of violence, death, despair, and heartache.<\/p>\n

There is one other important dynamic that we must consider.\u00a0A monstrous mass murder, by a single individual, can create more\u00a0psychosocial trauma than countless deaths by disease.\u00a0In its section on PTSD, the\u00a0DSM\u00a0<\/em>(the\u00a0\u201cbible\u201d of psychology and\u00a0psychiatry) tells us that, whenever the cause of trauma is\u00a0\u201chuman in nature\u201d (such as assault, torture or rape) the degree of trauma is\u00a0\u201cmore severe and long lasting.\u201d\u00a0Millions die from disease every day, and it has little impact on our behavior, but one serial killer or serial rapist can\u00a0paralyze\u00a0a city.<\/p>\n

Thus, from one major and critical perspective, the over-all societal harm of fear, isolation, distrust,\u00a0and violence created by masks, is far greater than the harm caused by disease.\u00a0This downward spiral into alienation and distrust,\u00a0is the opposite of \u201cde-escalation\u201d and \u201cempathy\u201d.\u00a0These are buzz-words we hear a lot, but they do\u00a0<\/em>communicate powerful tools that are needed to reduce violence.\u00a0Tools that are badly\u00a0diminished\u00a0by wearing a mask.<\/p>\n

Finally, the field of killology can tell us something that the field of criminology refuses to confront.\u00a0The number of murdered people completely under-represents the level of violence, because medical technology is saving ever more lives.<\/p>\n

In\u00a02002,\u00a0Anthony\u00a0Harris\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a0team\u00a0of\u00a0scholars\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0University\u00a0of Massachusetts\u00a0and\u00a0Harvard,\u00a0published\u00a0their\u00a0landmark\u00a0research,\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0journal\u00a0Homicide Studies.\u00a0<\/em>They\u00a0concluded\u00a0that\u00a0advances in\u00a0medical\u00a0technology, between 1960 and 1999,\u00a0cut the murder rate to a third, or a quarter, of what it would otherwise be.\u00a0<\/em>And the leaps and bounds of life-saving technology in the two decades since then \u2014\u00a0with lessons learned in almost 20 years of war\u00a0\u2014\u00a0has saved the lives of even more victims of violence.\u00a0Thus preventing many more murders.<\/p>\n

When we compare money over any period of time, we speak in terms of\u00a0\u201cinflation-adjusted dollars.\u201d If we fail to do so, we intentionally and willfully misrepresent the amount of money involved.<\/p>\n

When we look at murder over any period of time, we must talk in terms of\u00a0\u201cmedically-adjusted murders.\u201d And we willfully and deliberately misrepresenting the situation, every time we fail to do so.<\/p>\n

When we finally start reporting \u201cmedically-adjusted murders\u201d then\u00a0we will begin to understand just how\u00a0desperately, tragically\u00a0bad<\/em>\u00a0the situation has become.\u00a0For every murder we report,\u00a0there are ever increasing numbers of our citizens<\/em>\u00a0physically maimed and scarred, and\u00a0emotionally crippled and traumatized by violence.<\/p>\n

And how much more so, when we create vastly more\u00a0\u201cfriction\u201d by throwing that “handful of sand” into the engine-block of our civilization, by making everyone wear masks?<\/p>\n

For a politician sitting in his basement, or a movie star holed up in his mansion, it is easy to call for a universal mask mandate. But they have servants who do their shopping and yard work. For those living on the edge of physical and emotional well-being, for individuals who have to interact every day with potentially hostile employees or customers, for those who are already on the edge of committing violence, for all the \u201creal people\u201d out there, mandating masks can be profoundly harmful.<\/p>\n

This policy has already resulted in an\u00a0erosion of emotional wellbeing, and an explosion of violent crime.\u00a0And it is something that we can stop, right now,\u00a0<\/em>in order to save lives.<\/p>\n

Masks truly can be murder.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (ret.) is an award winning author, and nationally recognized as a powerful, dynamic speaker and trainer.\u00a0He has had over a dozen books published, to include his \u201cperennial bestsellers\u201d\u00a0<\/em>On Killing<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>On Combat,\u00a0<\/em>and a\u00a0<\/em>New York Times<\/em>\u00a0best-selling book co-authored with Glenn Beck.\u00a0His books are \u201crequired\u201d or \u201crecommended\u201d reading in all four branches of the US Armed Forces, and in federal and regional law enforcement academies nationwide. www.killology.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

22 Dec 2020 – In cities and states across the United States, politicians mandate that their fellow citizens wear masks. There is a lot of good evidence and reason to believe that this policy is a key causal factor in a nationwide explosion in violent crime and murders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":175777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[867,70],"class_list":["post-175774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america","tag-anglo-america","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}