Ungrateful brutes? Brutish ingrates? Spoiled brats? Yea or nay?

Were Eric and Dylan not, in both absolute and relative terms, better off than most teenagers in this world, and in this country, and maybe even in the Denver metropolitan area?

Certainly they were better off than I was when I was their age. I had no car, awful acne, and a mother who wouldn't even let me go into the backyard without her permission.

And yet they were not only suicidal but homicidal.

Were they not somewhat ... ungrateful?

Is anyone *not* entitled to his or her unhappiness?

They (especially Dylan) were better off financially. Certainly more than an average european teenager.

Compariong to just white american populations? Again, Dylan had it better than most. Eric would come closer to the average as afar as white USA middle class goes.

But this aside, suicidal thoughts are not linked with material wealth. Poverty can be one of the reasons why someone is depessed, but its in no way the only or necessary reason.

Both boys did come from good backgrounds. Their families lived comfortable lives. Eric hated materialism though and Dylan just wanted someone to love. Money doesn't buy happiness and can end up making things worse. Sabratha is right, suicidal thoughts also have nothing to do with wealth and status.

I agree with Sabratha and Nirvana here totally.

They probably were somewhat ungrateful but I believe many people, maybe even most people in the Western world are ungrateful in some shape or form.
How many times as a kid did you complain about something only to have an adult say "Be glad you aren't a starving kid in Africa."
Often people want the best and most possible of anything that exists and are disappointed and bitter if they don't or can't get it.

They may have been a bit ungrateful and took how nice they had it for granted. Neither one of them really seemed materialistic to me though. They both drove around in old/used cars, didn't have a lot of expensive clothes, etc. They both worked to earn money for the things they wanted. It's not like everything was just handed to them.

But..they were mentally sick and mental illness doesn't care who you are. You could have a ton of money or have nothing. Something was not right with the wiring of their brains. People that aren't mentally sick don't sit around wishing for death and planning to shoot up their schools. I think that no matter what they had or where they came from it wouldn't matter. It wasn't going to change how their minds were.