The problem isn't that people don't still fist fight. The problem is their intent of the fist fight has changed. As you said, years ago two neighbors or a friends got crossways at each other. If they couldn't solve it by words they'd simply throw down for a little bit and be done. Shake hands and go drink a cold one together. Now days the intent is to kill. Keep beating and hitting until they're severely maimed or dead. That's what has changed.
I look at these types of events as a side product of not accepting someone else to win or get ahead if it means you can't win, and instead the other person must lose if you feel slighted or you lose. I know it's shunned to discuss here, but just look at the culture of our politics these days, where it's not enough to win some, lose some, and compromise where it's prudent, instead much of our language is spent spouting that the other side must lose instead of being compromised with, even if the result is that "both sides" will lose in the end. I'm sure this type of culture is nothing new in history, but we seem to be slipping backward into some bad habits.
I don't think that many will argue that the guy who died wasn't deserving of some sort of retribution. Honestly, it is hard for me to imagine that someone capable of such action has many friends or will be missed by many. But the guy who shot him crossed a line that really can't be defended (not saying that you are). Whatever brought him to that line, he made a choice to cross it.
The REALITY is that every single one of us has a "line" - it's different for every person, but like it or not, deny it or not - every single one of us has a "line", and if you push a person across their "line", they WILL SNAP.
In days past, people were not fundamentally different. People still got angry, still treated others with contempt at times, and some still needed their behinds whipped.
Yes. A smaller scale example is marriage. It's why it's good to get unplugged and go fishing/hunting/golfing with the guys, or "shopping with the girls" if you're a women. Too many people are perpetually "plugged in" and do not allow themselves time to decompress from situations/life in general. It's like a pressure cooker. The pot reaches a point that it can't hold anymore pressure and it has to release. People are the same way.
Yup. Somebody cuts you off? Let it go. Someone being unreasonable? Be the bigger man and walk away. You never know who's crazy and what people are capable of. Losing your life over nonsense is never worth winning the argument or refusing to back down.
I once had a roommate that delighted in pushing my buttons. One time he was ticking me off, and in the process, he threw a glass of water on me. In the moment, I wanted to "get him back" and if I had a glass of water, I would have thrown it on him, but I didn't have a glass of water. You've heard the expression "spitting mad" and I was literally that. I spit on him instead, and boy did that set him off. He charged me, punches were thrown, and then we wrestled it out. It wasn't about the water then, either. It was about the disrespect.
I can relate. When I was single (post college) I had a roommate who was like this as well. Very passive aggressive type. He'd do stuff for the simple enjoyment of irritating me. Never had a physical confrontation with him. Though we came close a few times.
My wife tells me this every time I use the car horn. "You are going to get yourself shot." In today's America (even in Alabama), this isn't just an idle observation.
If he had shot an Alabama fan in Louisiana I would like his chances of getting off...
