The debate about “good” and “evil” in class prompted me to think deeper about what we see as truly evil as a society and how that differs in other countries with different beliefs. One thing that we find horrific and unforgiveable in this country are serial killers. This led me to examine serial killers in China to see if they have the same impact, and I found that the United States has many more recorded serial killers than China. According to Radford University’s Serial Killer Database, in 2010 the United States has 117 serial killers while internationally there were 113. Also, according to these statistics, the United States has 3,204 reported serial killers total while China has 57. This could have many different factors playing into it including the fact that some countries may be less likely to report serial killers and detectives may be unable to stop serial killers. However, the statistics showing the number of serial killers in the United States is truly shocking. The statistics also showed European countries following the United States with some of the highest numbers of serial killers. This led me to wonder if the individualistic tendencies of Western societies enabled serial killers. Although this would be very difficult to prove, the Chinese philosophy of a wholistic society where families are held in high regard and your worth comes from your role in society not as an individual, may be beneficial when it comes to preventing serial killers. If this is true, Chinese philosophies on morality and how to live are preventing “bad” people.
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