Robert Tracinski

In the following viewpoint, Robert Tracinski argues that the Columbine killings occurred because the teen shooters were unaware of choices available to them beyond those offered by American culture. He maintains that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had been taught by American culture to believe that their only options were belief in God or life on terms dictated by their peers. Tracinski argues the teenagers, after rejecting those two options, turned to the deadly choice of nihilism—the belief that existence is meaningless—and the subsequent desire to destroy everyone as their only viable alternative. He concludes that the killings could have been avoided if Harris and Klebold had pursued personal goals rather than care about acceptance from their peer group. Tracinski is the editor of the Intellectual Activist.

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