I know they keep saying it is, and telling people who weren't there hiding or wringing their hands that they're not sympathetic enough to have a valid (let alone voiced) opinion. But that's because describing the experience of fear is easier than being rational.
Sure, logic and facts aren't the only way to apprehend some truths, but truth and right reason cannot contradict, so if you are struggling with a contradiction, check your facts, check your logic, and check your gut; at least one and possibly all three are wrong.
I normally avoid hot political issues--okay, not abortion, but that's an old controversy and everyone is used to it from a political perspective--because it's an opportunity for social media to go crazy that am no longer young enough to find anything but tiresome and annoying and wrong, but I will make a rare exception and hopefully have the self discipline not to violate my policy...well...a third time.
I'll expand on my next point in the relative future, but without demeaning their horrific experience this week, as long as everyone is being political instead of remember our own and each other's humanity, these kids today, I tell ya...are just as dumb as we were at that age.
"A gun killed 17 students. A gun caused all this fear." Bullshit. A disturbed teenager--I'll restrict my opinion about his mental health versus his snowflake status to watercooler chat at work--killed 17 students. Or would it really have been okay to you if he just burned the school down? Probably would have achieved a significantly higher body count; is that a fair trade in your eyes? And fear? Okay, the prospect of a shooter is more alarming than that of someone with a machete, Florida schools largely not resembling slasher flicks, but one generally doesn't see honest and well-adjusted people going around crying at the sight of a pistol on a cop's hip or unable to sleep because speculation about how many neighbors might have guns--even field stripped, unloaded, and locked away--in their own houses!
No. They trot out the fear and hard cases to make hay while the sun's shining, but when the dust settles it's back to normal. And in the end, no one cares that it was a sick young man who killed 17 children. No one cares that Congress does not actually have the power to stop a distraught youth from coming unhinged. But people will keep thinking it does, because they keep listening to people who keep saying it does, because they don't care about murdered teenagers or teenage murderers, they only care about what what they're going to get out of trying to corral public sentiment.
Sure, logic and facts aren't the only way to apprehend some truths, but truth and right reason cannot contradict, so if you are struggling with a contradiction, check your facts, check your logic, and check your gut; at least one and possibly all three are wrong.
I normally avoid hot political issues--okay, not abortion, but that's an old controversy and everyone is used to it from a political perspective--because it's an opportunity for social media to go crazy that am no longer young enough to find anything but tiresome and annoying and wrong, but I will make a rare exception and hopefully have the self discipline not to violate my policy...well...a third time.
I'll expand on my next point in the relative future, but without demeaning their horrific experience this week, as long as everyone is being political instead of remember our own and each other's humanity, these kids today, I tell ya...are just as dumb as we were at that age.
"A gun killed 17 students. A gun caused all this fear." Bullshit. A disturbed teenager--I'll restrict my opinion about his mental health versus his snowflake status to watercooler chat at work--killed 17 students. Or would it really have been okay to you if he just burned the school down? Probably would have achieved a significantly higher body count; is that a fair trade in your eyes? And fear? Okay, the prospect of a shooter is more alarming than that of someone with a machete, Florida schools largely not resembling slasher flicks, but one generally doesn't see honest and well-adjusted people going around crying at the sight of a pistol on a cop's hip or unable to sleep because speculation about how many neighbors might have guns--even field stripped, unloaded, and locked away--in their own houses!
No. They trot out the fear and hard cases to make hay while the sun's shining, but when the dust settles it's back to normal. And in the end, no one cares that it was a sick young man who killed 17 children. No one cares that Congress does not actually have the power to stop a distraught youth from coming unhinged. But people will keep thinking it does, because they keep listening to people who keep saying it does, because they don't care about murdered teenagers or teenage murderers, they only care about what what they're going to get out of trying to corral public sentiment.
2 comments:
America doesn't have a gun problem, it has a culture problem.
Very true. Probably so true that no one notices it's an actual problem that needs attention, rather than just cultural flavoring. But you'd think we'd be circumspect enough to pick it up, what with so many people seeing racism and sexism behind the most irrelevant things; those are probably just too distracting, and that is probably not a coincidence.
What makes me roll my eyes is everyone talks a good game and then thinks focusing on guns is the solution. Take away guns so disturbed or bad people need to try harder? Some of the less shocking M.O.s are actually more dangerous and are already being defended as "not the same--we need these other things for normal activity in society," like cars that are not hard to drive into crowds, as we've already been seeing.
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