Reason First: Can Rationality Prevent Murder?

In the amount of time that it took to stab his girlfriend to death, Rondell Veal could have talked out his emotions. Instead of killing her, he could have employed reason and allowed those feelings to take a backseat. Sadly, none of this happened. Veal’s sentencing of 33 years in prison after serving two years already due to the 2017 homicide of Sherrie Campbell seems to be light. What could’ve prevented this first murder in three years in the city of Newark, Delaware? (A 2014 botched robbery saw the slaying of Marcus Johnson.) The application of logic and the understanding of safeguarding human life and actually thinking before one acts would have been the keys to a more conducive interaction.

Veal’s case just shows how myriads of men and women fail to use reason to quell disputes among love interests. If they had an argument, then they could have smoothed out the rough edges in conversation, not in acts of starting physical force. Veal ultimately traveled to New York and attempted suicide. His survival led to his capture as he recuperated in a New York hospital. Why did any of this have to happen? What is it about the complete breakdown of speaking one’s mind and forbidding any attacks against another human being?

The outcome of events show that rationality is still an uncommon virtue. To have communication evaporate and a knife, in this instance, take the place of a disagreement is the root of all evil. Everything that is discussed in Progressive (regressive) education about feelings and putting others before self and emoting instead of thinking are what led to the death of Miss Campbell. And the idea that Veal can experience reduced punishment due to mental health "reasons" is abhorrent.

In this time, Veal may be able to use the Internet, go to college, stay warm in winter, cool in summer, and possess the opportunity to be released early based on good behavior or other factors like the aforementioned psychological concerns. Meanwhile, a grieving family must go through the pangs of not having a daughter, mother, sister, cousin, or niece in their lives. And for what? Veal’s inability to deal with things on an adult, rational level? To pick up a knife or firearm, or to even raise a fist, reveals a weak-minded individual who cannot sort out reality from feelings.

The more that Veal had dug the blade into his once love interest, Veal demonstrated that he was less of a man. A real man can control his feelings and emotions. A real man knows what is necessary to conduct oneself when in a heated exchange of ideas. He doesn’t reach for a weapon and kill his significant other. He logically lays out a plan to see if the two of them can come to a rational compromise.

Alas, lives have been destroyed. There is no more time to reconcile this kind of behavior. 33 years is not enough for a life when people who commit lesser or truly non-crimes receive life sentences. By throwing his life away the instant that the knife pierced Miss Campbell’s skin, Veal became one of the millions of people “locked in a box with three hots and a cot,” as rapper Beanie Sigel has stated. The collapse of rational planning and conflict resolution seems to be eroding the romantic relationship scene.

Some boyfriends and girlfriends never hesitate for a moment to escalate a quarrel. Their lack of control over a conversation rejects them from the realm of thought. In its place, the man or woman who searches for a weapon to inflict harm against their one-time lover has resigned from any rational way of dealing with their problems.

As one of millions of American tragedies, this Veal-Campbell scenario is particularly heinous. While details are few according to the press, it is apparent that a dissolution in talks occurred. Without the control and application of rational faculties, these cases will continue to crop up not just in Delaware, but all over the country and the world.