So what else is new? Nevertheless, gun violence in America is much higher than in other civilized countries (that is countries not suffering civil war or insurgency, like Libya, Syria and Iraq). Americans are 20 times as likely to die from gun violence as Europeans, Russians, Chinese or Japanese. It's not just about mass killings, it is about the total amount of gun killings here.

On this we can agree.

Yeah in other countries they be-head them. I'll take my chances here.

Truth is, it happens, unfortunately.

January 7, 2015: Islamists murdered 12 people in Paris during the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

July 22, 2011: Confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik kills 77 in Norway in twin attacks: a bombing in downtown Oslo and a shooting massacre at a youth camp outside the capital. The self-styled anti-Muslim militant admitted both attacks.

April 30, 2009: Farda Gadyrov, 29, enters the prestigious Azerbaijan State Oil Academy in the capital, Baku, armed with an automatic pistol and clips. He kills 12 people before killing himself as police close in.

Sept. 23, 2008: Matti Saari, 22, walks into a vocational college in Kauhajoki, Finland, and opens fire, killing 10 people and burning their bodies with firebombs before shooting himself fatally in the head.

Nov. 7, 2007: After revealing plans for his attack in YouTube postings, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen fires kills eight people at his high school in Tuusula, Finland.

April 26, 2002: Robert Steinhaeuser, 19, who had been expelled from school in Erfurt, Germany, kills 13 teachers, two former classmates and policeman, before committing suicide.

April 28, 1996: Martin Bryant, 29, bursts into cafeteria in seaside resort of Port Arthur in Tasmania, Australia, shooting 20 people to death. Driving away, he kills 15 others. He was captured and imprisoned.

March 13, 1996: Thomas Hamilton, 43, kills 16 kindergarten children and their teacher in elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, and then kills himself.

Dec. 6, 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, bursts into Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college, shooting at women he encounters, killing nine and then himself.

Aug. 19, 1987: Michael Ryan, 27, kills 16 people in small market town of Hungerford, England, and then shoots himself dead.

But neither should we sit in our isolated splendor and ignore the fact that there are some countries, doing some things, in some fashions that are working out better than ours. It is quintessentially American to recognize these things, steal the idea, and make it better. Got to keep your eyes on the horizon.

I still see a lot of people working their asses off, but I understand what you are saying. I was raised by hard-working pragmatists that were honed sharp by the Great Depression and World War II. They primed me for success and I succeeded, emulating their work ethic and frugality. My generation was relatively affluent, well-educated, worry-free, and the first electronics generation. So many opportunities, it was amazing. We were mostly raised right. Most had stay at home moms and provider dads that were always there.

The Boomers did well and exceeded their parents success. Vietnam and civil rights pounded us into shape. But we never were as rock hard and dedicated as the depression and war kids. GenX and Millennials are further removed from the stuff that makes us grow up and be responsible early. Many don't even leave home after high school and make a life for themselves. They have never tasted war nor experienced fear or deprivation. Many have a single parent that is awfully busy. They have been partly raised by sophisticated electronic media. The apathy level can be astonishing.

But still I see hardworking kids at the university, so it is hard to generalize. I see Boomers still working their asses off. I think there are a lot of everything that is good in America, we have just gotten a bit soft and complacent due to consistent decades of good times. It's all part of the human cycle. Civilizations evolve. They get sophisticated and rich, tough and invincible. They conquer all enemies. Then they overreach, get lazy, and coast until war, revolution, famine, or plague changes the entire game. Then they get hardened and focused again.