Swickard: Tragedy stalks the bold young men

Commentary by Michael Swickard - Know this: the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman had absolutely nothing to do with race nor police work or gun control. The shooting was caused entirely by the bold young men syndrome.  Every day there are plenty of news stories about fist, knife and gun fights among bold young men that end in tragedy. These deaths are caused by the inability of young men to step back from a confrontation. They charge head first into the confrontations as if honor were more important than life itself. To them maybe it is. Viewing the shooting in Florida through the lens of bold young men, it is easy to see how this situation happened. But bold young men theory is of no use politically since from the beginning of time young men have been bold and reckless, leading to needless deaths.  Long after the television lights of this story have gone somewhere else we have the ability to learn something from this needless death. There are three issues: first, one step back and there would have been no story. Secondly, this is much more about the demons inside these two young men than about societal demons. Finally, sadly, the next generation of young men will be just as bold and reckless. They also will die needlessly. Read column

Swickard: Tragedy stalks the bold young men