This epidemic of mass tragedies is enabled by the most effective means of control the Right has: paranoia, the tireless chase to control people of color, and the demonization of change
When I was a kid in the late 80s, a woman entered an elementary school in my quiet town and shot six children, killing one. She later took a family hostage in their own home, shooting the son before fatally turning the gun on herself. This story was eventually turned into a made-for-tv movie starring Valerie Bertinelli and the home where she took her life was sold for a song to a family I knew well. (That last part always bothered me.)
I honestly don't know what it will take to enact meaningful, permanent change. This country is exhausting. Today is another one of those days where I think the only solution for my own health and that of the ones I love is to cut the Gordian knot and get out of this country.
It is crazy-making that there's really nothing to add to this. The arguments won't go anywhere with those for whom 2A is a fanatical religion. I do believe they will eventually lose because the voting numbers will be overwhelming in the long run but it is going to take too long and how many people will die or suffer in the process?
I have so many thoughts and feelings about this topic and they're all a jumbled, tangled mess. I just know that I feel defeated and, I don't see change happening. Nothing has changed since Columbine. Small steps have been made and then Rs just tear it all down. Let's see if Biden changes his tune on bipartisanship.
For me it was Sandy Hook Elementary and nothing changed. That was it for me, I learned then that nothing would ever change regarding gun laws in this country.
At the roots of this is also America’s embrace of violence in general as well (rape, domestic violence, world domination and reverence for anything military, obsession with revenge, gaming etc) and how prevalent the glorification of violence is in entertainment. This take is controversial, but I truly do believe we are creatures of influence. We learn language through mimicry and relate through mirroring. It seems silly to deny we are hardwired this way.
And now our continual and ever increasing online presence has seemed to unleash an amplification of an inability to be wrong about anything ie an egotistical need to dominate (You mentioned this about Trump on the Weekender and it really hit me how it appears to be an inherent part of our culture now, and part of why people actually admired Trump. It’s become a sickness.).
When I was a kid in the late 80s, a woman entered an elementary school in my quiet town and shot six children, killing one. She later took a family hostage in their own home, shooting the son before fatally turning the gun on herself. This story was eventually turned into a made-for-tv movie starring Valerie Bertinelli and the home where she took her life was sold for a song to a family I knew well. (That last part always bothered me.)
I honestly don't know what it will take to enact meaningful, permanent change. This country is exhausting. Today is another one of those days where I think the only solution for my own health and that of the ones I love is to cut the Gordian knot and get out of this country.
"America, why are your libraries full of tears?"
It is crazy-making that there's really nothing to add to this. The arguments won't go anywhere with those for whom 2A is a fanatical religion. I do believe they will eventually lose because the voting numbers will be overwhelming in the long run but it is going to take too long and how many people will die or suffer in the process?
I have so many thoughts and feelings about this topic and they're all a jumbled, tangled mess. I just know that I feel defeated and, I don't see change happening. Nothing has changed since Columbine. Small steps have been made and then Rs just tear it all down. Let's see if Biden changes his tune on bipartisanship.
For me it was Sandy Hook Elementary and nothing changed. That was it for me, I learned then that nothing would ever change regarding gun laws in this country.
At the roots of this is also America’s embrace of violence in general as well (rape, domestic violence, world domination and reverence for anything military, obsession with revenge, gaming etc) and how prevalent the glorification of violence is in entertainment. This take is controversial, but I truly do believe we are creatures of influence. We learn language through mimicry and relate through mirroring. It seems silly to deny we are hardwired this way.
And now our continual and ever increasing online presence has seemed to unleash an amplification of an inability to be wrong about anything ie an egotistical need to dominate (You mentioned this about Trump on the Weekender and it really hit me how it appears to be an inherent part of our culture now, and part of why people actually admired Trump. It’s become a sickness.).
All truth, masterfully spoken. Again, thank you.