After watching a documentary, my inner blogger was reignited—I immediately opened the notes app on my phone and started writing.

[Subject: Russell Williams]
The documentary tells the story of a man who was once a highly respected military officer, a colonel, and the double life he led. On one hand, he was a strict and successful soldier, but on the other, he was secretly wearing women’s underwear and pleasuring himself. Strange, isn’t it? And on top of it all—he’s a murderer of women.
I was shocked, and I felt both angry and saddened.

According to the commentary, Russell Williams had these urges all his life, but he managed to suppress them due to his military identity. So what changed? What pushed him to this point?
We need to reflect on this question and work on societal solutions to prevent similar tragedies. I wouldn’t be writing this blog if I didn’t have ideas and opinions I wanted to share—so let me get right into it.

First of all, I’d like to believe that he experienced a lifetime of gender identity confusion but never had the courage to accept it. And there’s a reason I say “I’d like to believe” rather than stating it outright—because I know some will think I’m trying to justify or lessen his crimes, and I do not want to be misunderstood.
No. Committing murder and breaking into women’s homes to steal their underwear is a serious crime and cannot be minimized.

Let’s continue: there is no limit to what kind of person someone afraid of society’s judgment might become. They could become a killer, a rapist, a thief…
Here, we need to examine the additional factors that push people toward crime—and those factors must be held accountable as well.
For example, if someone is rejected because of their sexual or gender identity—denied work, excluded from society—and that person turns to crime, then society is also guilty. So are the politicians who shape that society, and the ideologically rigid religious organizations that hammer intolerant thoughts into people’s minds.
They all deserve blame, and we all need to learn how to resist together.
We must extend a helping hand to those in trouble and provide psychological support to those who need it.
As a society, we are all responsible for the country we live in—and for each other.

There’s also a philosophical question behind the reason we help:
Are we helping others just because we’re afraid the same thing might happen to us?
That’s an important question. We should help others so they don’t have to suffer—but are we truly conscious of that?
If not, we’re just selfish. Cowardly and selfish. And any help given with such a mindset becomes meaningless.

In short, while what needs to be done is simple, the world continues to spiral downward because people only want to unite with those who are just like them.
And no single person can stop this alone. Without social consciousness, there is no solution.
But does such consciousness even exist? Sadly, no.
We’ve become so divided on every issue that we’ve started to hate each other. Our respect for one another fades day by day—and this is leading us to a terrifying end.

Thank you for reading.