The Sense of Superiority and Dominance in Modern Society: Why Ones Decide Whether Others Live Or Die

We live on what is considered to be one of the most beautiful planets and is the only planet in the galaxy capable of supporting life. Everything about earth was designed perfectly to ensure that we would thrive. The sun has roughly five billion years left. Earth itself has been around for roughly four billion, but life only arrived in that last half-billion. We're alive because our planet was sturdy enough to last until the first signs of life arose. So how can a planet, so perfectly designed for us, house such imperfect human beings capable of taking another person's life?

During World War II about 65 million people died, during the Holocaust 6 million, 10 people were killed in a shooting at Santa Fe High School, and 3 people lost their lives during the Boston Marathon Bombing. All of these were preventable mass murderings that stem from the idea that life is a totem pole and you can place yourself at the top. The sense of superiority is something that comes along with human nature. It’s natural to want to place yourself above others in order to validate and affirm yourself, but we must step back and look at where our supremacy takes control, and when we start placing our lives in higher regard than others.

There is nothing worse than the act of ripping someone's life away from them, stripping them of their own potential and the world of what they had to offer; but it continues to happen every day. Mass shootings have unfortunately become a disturbing trend. These shootings happen in public places and receive enormous amounts of media coverage, ranging from news stations, movies made out of the events, and authors writing novels about the incidents, ultimately giving the perception that these shootings are becoming the new normal. Mass murderings, for the most part, are nothing new and have been happening for a long time, except they now seem to be happening more and more often. One of the earliest examples of killing mass amounts of people would be the Coliseum; it hosted gladiatorial fights for 300 years and thousands of people died in the pits. Lucky, we have since had laws put into place to protect people, but often they don’t pose enough of a threat to someone planning a murder and get broken so quickly that it is tough to find a solution before another shooting takes place. Young individuals are constantly under the influence of gun violence, ranging from video games to the media, and the idea that life is a game that can be restarted when you die. This constant exposure makes for people thinking that murders are just a normal part of life. But it's not. It’s not fair for an innocent person to be caught in the crossfire, and it’s certainly not fair for an individual to have the right to take someone else's life dictating whether they live or die.

There has been progress trying to make our county and world a safer place but it is far from what things could be like. Schools and other public places have problems with funding when trying to increase security measures, and the media has a problem in showcasing material that can be susceptible to viewers. Unfortunately, the reality is that the tragic theme of dominance is not going away any time soon or without some drastic changes. In the meantime, more people will continue to focus on how to stay safe and pray to god they don’t find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.