Why are we so angry?

At times recently I have made the mistake of reading the comments that appear below certain stories in the online version of the BDN. Simply put I do not understand who these people are that comment. They appear to be from a wide age range and from different economic groups but the comments are just awful.

I understand that in todays world thought out. well articulated and most importantly understated opinion does not get you anywhere but sometimes I just do not know...

A strange drug deal gone bad, kidnapping story in Brewer prompts comments of throwing them in jail forever etc etc. Then of course there are too many amenities and so jail is too good for them. As with most issues I do not have a solution but I do think that throwing everyone in prison for the smallest of offenses is something that does not work.

States are going bankrupt, reducing services, firing teachers and we want to place everyone in more jails we need to built. It ancient Rome people were exiled away from Rome for crimes or thrown off the Tarpanian rock. We have no place to exile a person to in these times, but the system is broken.

My wife teaches and loves her students. However the things she sees will answer a great amount of the questions we have about where these kids come from. Children who come to school and do not know how to hold a book, children whose parents never read to them, children who spend the night in a bar every night, whose parents are in jail. Look bad things happen to good people and we all make mistakes. We all do. But our country is fast developing a subset of people that live below the established middle class life and see no way to attain it.

How do we fix things.

A. I believe that children at the age of 3 should be eligible to attend public schools. Not full daycare but something that gets them exposed to reading and learning activities as soon as possible.

B. Drug education and DARE type programs in the schools fully funded.

C. Summer Job Programs and Community Service Programs with aggressive recruitment for all teenagers 15 and over. Acceptance into college should require a community service project and an essay about the work or project done. Teen unemployment is epidemic, it needs to be corrected.

D. Education needs to be a priority. Cutting education is not smart. Reassessing where our money is spent is smart, but cuts are silly

E. Mentoring programs and More guidance staff at all levels of the educational system

F. Boot Camp Early Intervention Schools for those that begin to get in trouble with drugs and petty crime between the ages of 12 and 16.

I am sure this is just the beginning.

The fact is this. Too many people have kids they have no idea how to care for. Too many people are broken themselves.

But why are people so angry. We are worried about our own lives. I myself have said in the past that too many people are just not good. But why are they not good. Are we saying that we all have good in us? Do we believe that?

I do not have the answers. Writing this myself I get depressed about how bad it can sometimes be. Yet we each must do the best we can. Practice the Golden Rule. Try to provide an example. Live your life like your Mom is watching.