Remember this blog? I barely did either, but today necessitates its use for, if nothing else, my sanity.
I love America. I truly, truly do. It, in a very real way, was my first love. I've been to 47 of her states; I served in her Army for 5 years. Every political stance I take is predicated on what I believe to be what's best for my country as a whole and not my wallet or some other self serving interest.
In lieu of yet another tragic mass shooting, this time at a gay night club in Orlando, it's time for me to yet again give me thoughts on another tragedy.
There is so much blame to go around. The shooter, obviously, first and foremost. ISIS, who apparently radicalized him and inspired him via the internet, is probably a close second. Homophobia is right up there. Guns themselves certainly have a place. This particular mass shooting, the worst one in America's dubious history of them, is probably a despicable concoction of domestic terrorism with foreign terrorist roots with a side of hate crime and potentially a mental health disorder as well.
All of these elements are worth analyzing, addressing and eliminating. Yet one of those elements to our country's gun violence epidemic is met with a collective shoulder shrug : guns themselves. It's painful to feel compelled to point out that guns are a huge part of the gun violence issue, but we've reached this point.
America makes up little less than 5% of the world's population but owns 31% of all of its mass shootings since the 1960s. We're a first world country with a third world crisis on steroids. But there never seems to be enough political will to tackle the gun portion of the gun violence issue. It's mind boggling.
How dismissive large segments of the population are to this issue is very much a cause of these tragedies. There's no panacea, but people dealing in the reality of the situation and mobilizing the political will to reform gun laws is absolutely a crucial step in curing this national health crisis and not being the best of the worst on this issue.
This is far from a cry to ban all guns and to rescind the 2nd Amendment. I do believe the Constitution guarantees the rights of individuals to own arms. I get the desire to own a firearm in order to help protect your family. (Though a midsize dog is a far better deterrent.) I also embrace the recreational activity of practicing one's marksmanship and hunting animals, especially when population control for the own animal's sake is necessary.
When i was six, I asked my parents for my own gun. They got me a BB gun and my dad spent a whole week training me on how to use it and how to respect it. He instilled in me a belief my BB Gun was no different that a AR-15. I treated it as such. I never shot towards a house or aimed my gun at a person. Why? It wasn't a toy. It was a weapon.
And that has been lost on people. While they can be used for sport and fun they're primary design, their origins are to kill people with ease. Period. End of story.
We let people own drones, but we don't let civilians own drones with hell-fire missiles and other military grade hardware attached to them. Yet we let people own de facto military grade weapons of war that can kill masses of people with ease. Can't we logically accept that civilians shouldn't own military grade drones and weapons?
The AR-15 is not all that different from an M4, what they issued to me to protect myself from the Taliban. To put it more bluntly, they gave me a slightly more jacked up AR-15 to kill the enemy. And the same gun fell into the hands of a known wife beating homophobic ISIS sympathizer. AR-15 and other powerful semi automatic weapons have also fallen into the hands of hateful racists, the deranged and domestic and foreign terrorists.
We're a country awash in private gun ownership and rarely do they protect the population from others with private guns. In a country of 300 million people and probably even more privately, legally owned guns, there's only 260 or so justifiable homicides a year. Thank goodness those people had their guns and protected themselves and loved ones from harm, but if the bad guys didn't have such easy access to those guns would the justifiable homicides have even been necessary in the first place? Oh, and about 11,200 gun homicides happen every year. Basic arithmetic and such.
I've heard a lot of people say that if people in that Orlando gay nightclub were packing heat that shooter wouldn't have killed nearly as many people. Let's just ignore how concerning it is some people feel compelled to have a gun on them at all times just to feel safe. Instead focus on the victim blaming. It's the exact same inexcusable action of blaming a rape victim. "Well, how much did she have to drink?" "Well, she was asking for it by what she was wearing." "Well, if he was wearing his holster maybe he wouldn't be dead right now."
America, I love you, but you've really let me, millions of others and, most of all, 50 precious Orlando lives down. It's not to say you're guilty. It is is to say you/we bare much of the responsibility. Drop the victim blaming, or saying it's a lack of prayer in schools, or that it's just foreign terrorism. Let's just collectively act like adults and admit it: semi-automatic rifles are far too powerful to be left in the hands of a civilian population that has a small minority of whack jobs and evil souls who do a large amount of damage with them. We're not safer because of them. Quite clearly the opposite is, and has been, true.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
There's Nothing to Fear Except ...
I just don't feel it, but I sure as hell see it. So many Americans seem to be living in a perpetual state of fear.
That's not to say we don't have issues worth being concerned about. Wages are stagnant and plenty still financially struggle, ISIS is the epitome of evil and our election season has been a circus at best and exceedingly divisive at worst.
But to only dwell in the fear of all of this to completely ignore that the economy and jobs market has been trending upward for the better part of seven years now, our military and intelligence community have become very adept at fighting Islamic Extremism and politics are always murky, especially in an election year.
Yet so many people latch on to this irrational fear, viewing things as much worse than they truly are. Why is that? Where does it come from? Who is at fault?
I think people who've fallen victim to the fear aren't necessarily victims at all. They live in the most powerful and rich country in the world and many of these fear fans live a life of privilege by any objective measurement. Most Americans have an inherent advantage over the vast population of the world yet so many act as if the end is nigh.
While there are trials and issues worth tackling, it's worth noting that throughout the whole of human history charlatans have used fear to further their own agenda, often their own rise to power. Remember, every time a citizen buys into the fear, someone is getting a little closer to achieving exactly what they want.
Don't believe me?
Let's look at the media. Tell me, when was the last time you saw headline or heard a news anchors say, "Everything was fine today." It doesn't happen. It never will because it never sells. A mantra in journalism is "If it bleeds, it leads." Sure, much of that is human nature. We have predisposition to rubbernecking on highways as we pass the scenes of horrific car accidents. If a train was about to hit a stalled-out car on the tracks, would you look away? I know I wouldn't.
Quite frankly, we're just as much informed by violent events as were are entertained by them. It's exciting, borderline addictive. A news junkie, like myself, can easily be a violence junkie as well. ISIS blows up a Brussels airport, a concert hall in Paris or a convention in Southern California and our eyes our glued to the TV. It's not enough to know the essentials what happened. No, we crave every gruesome,gory eyewitness detail we can get our hands on.
And as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, someone with a message of fear swoops in and tells you that the odds of such acts of violence, terrorist or otherwise, are increasingly likely to happen to you -- that is, unless you elect them, of course. They'll never mention how for the past 15 years our intelligence community and military evolved from a Cold-War build and mindset into one custom made to tackle Islamo Fascism.
Are the defenses full proof? Obviously not. But why talk up how much better we've become at tackling this threat when one can portray Armageddon to get a few more votes?
Ahh, but the fear and false prophets don't just use the fear of terrorism to advance their aims. No, anyone different from the majority can be labeled as a liability on a good day and an existential threat on another. Mexico is only sending us their rapists and murderers. Most or all Muslims want to destroy us. Blacks only want to shoot each other and hate all cops.
I obviously don't endorse these sentiments, That doesn't mean they don't litter my Facebook feed on a nearly daily basis.
I'm pretty sure the Mexican landscaper with a wife and three kids and no criminal history other than sneaking into a country to give said family a better way of life is far from a rapist and murderer. I'd think that if all 1.6-billion Muslims, a quarter of the world's population, wanted to destroy America we would have a lot more than ISIS to worry about. I know not all blacks hate cops, seeing how there are black cops and all ...
Fear is a natural human condition. Try getting shot at and not feeling fear. It's not going to happen. The important thing is to overcome fear, not succumb to it. Yet so many of us choose to. In doing so, we surrender our objectivity and rationality. I'd even go so far as to argue we forgo much of our morality as well, caving into the darker, tribal corners of our nature.
Ultimately what I'm here to tell you is that while it's not all good, it's certainly not all bad. In 2008, many of the cynics said Western Civilization would cease to be in a few years, but here we stand. Beware the false prophets that wear suits, wave holy books or wear tinfoil hats. (At least the guy in the tinfoil hat is sincere in wanting to help you.) False prophets' predictions only come true when enough people succumb to the fear and self-fulfill them.
When you see anyone in positions of or currently pursuing power in any and all of its forms producing, promoting and perpetuating fear, don't fear their claims. Fear the fear mongers.
That's not to say we don't have issues worth being concerned about. Wages are stagnant and plenty still financially struggle, ISIS is the epitome of evil and our election season has been a circus at best and exceedingly divisive at worst.
But to only dwell in the fear of all of this to completely ignore that the economy and jobs market has been trending upward for the better part of seven years now, our military and intelligence community have become very adept at fighting Islamic Extremism and politics are always murky, especially in an election year.
Yet so many people latch on to this irrational fear, viewing things as much worse than they truly are. Why is that? Where does it come from? Who is at fault?
I think people who've fallen victim to the fear aren't necessarily victims at all. They live in the most powerful and rich country in the world and many of these fear fans live a life of privilege by any objective measurement. Most Americans have an inherent advantage over the vast population of the world yet so many act as if the end is nigh.
While there are trials and issues worth tackling, it's worth noting that throughout the whole of human history charlatans have used fear to further their own agenda, often their own rise to power. Remember, every time a citizen buys into the fear, someone is getting a little closer to achieving exactly what they want.
Don't believe me?
Let's look at the media. Tell me, when was the last time you saw headline or heard a news anchors say, "Everything was fine today." It doesn't happen. It never will because it never sells. A mantra in journalism is "If it bleeds, it leads." Sure, much of that is human nature. We have predisposition to rubbernecking on highways as we pass the scenes of horrific car accidents. If a train was about to hit a stalled-out car on the tracks, would you look away? I know I wouldn't.
Quite frankly, we're just as much informed by violent events as were are entertained by them. It's exciting, borderline addictive. A news junkie, like myself, can easily be a violence junkie as well. ISIS blows up a Brussels airport, a concert hall in Paris or a convention in Southern California and our eyes our glued to the TV. It's not enough to know the essentials what happened. No, we crave every gruesome,gory eyewitness detail we can get our hands on.
And as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, someone with a message of fear swoops in and tells you that the odds of such acts of violence, terrorist or otherwise, are increasingly likely to happen to you -- that is, unless you elect them, of course. They'll never mention how for the past 15 years our intelligence community and military evolved from a Cold-War build and mindset into one custom made to tackle Islamo Fascism.
Are the defenses full proof? Obviously not. But why talk up how much better we've become at tackling this threat when one can portray Armageddon to get a few more votes?
Ahh, but the fear and false prophets don't just use the fear of terrorism to advance their aims. No, anyone different from the majority can be labeled as a liability on a good day and an existential threat on another. Mexico is only sending us their rapists and murderers. Most or all Muslims want to destroy us. Blacks only want to shoot each other and hate all cops.
I obviously don't endorse these sentiments, That doesn't mean they don't litter my Facebook feed on a nearly daily basis.
I'm pretty sure the Mexican landscaper with a wife and three kids and no criminal history other than sneaking into a country to give said family a better way of life is far from a rapist and murderer. I'd think that if all 1.6-billion Muslims, a quarter of the world's population, wanted to destroy America we would have a lot more than ISIS to worry about. I know not all blacks hate cops, seeing how there are black cops and all ...
Fear is a natural human condition. Try getting shot at and not feeling fear. It's not going to happen. The important thing is to overcome fear, not succumb to it. Yet so many of us choose to. In doing so, we surrender our objectivity and rationality. I'd even go so far as to argue we forgo much of our morality as well, caving into the darker, tribal corners of our nature.
Ultimately what I'm here to tell you is that while it's not all good, it's certainly not all bad. In 2008, many of the cynics said Western Civilization would cease to be in a few years, but here we stand. Beware the false prophets that wear suits, wave holy books or wear tinfoil hats. (At least the guy in the tinfoil hat is sincere in wanting to help you.) False prophets' predictions only come true when enough people succumb to the fear and self-fulfill them.
When you see anyone in positions of or currently pursuing power in any and all of its forms producing, promoting and perpetuating fear, don't fear their claims. Fear the fear mongers.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Road Trip: Day 1
960 miles through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and ending on South Dakota. Phew I'm tired.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Heart Pain and Brain Drain
Damn, has it been a downer of a week.
Some racist prick shoots nine people dead in a house of worship. Many scientist have concluded we're living in the midst of the sixth great extinction. Global Warming is very real and getting worse.
All the above is depressing enough, but it's the subsequent lack of any widespread intelligent reactions to such vital issues that really has me down.
I can't believe the responses I've seen from more traditional mass media and social media to Dylann Roof's slaughter of nine black people. First off, so many parties immediately launched into advancing their own interests. Pro and anti gun control parties put on their spin. Mass media plastered click bate headlines with corresponding articles of little to no substance in droves. It was all so predictable.
Can't we just take time to be sad? Can't we just process this instead of pretending we know what exactly happened? Can the talking heads shut up long enough for us to observe this?
Now that the dust has somewhat settled, I feel comfortable espousing a few views.
The idiocy I've seen from some friend's and friend of friends' Facebook posts is beyond stupid. First off, if you think that this wasn't an act of domestic terrorism, you are, quite frankly, a fucking idiot. If you think this an act of mass murder wasn't fueled by racism, you're even more of a fucking idiot.
Roof, the shooter, was wearing an Apartheid-era South Africa flag and a Rhodesia flag, a former nation that was under white-minority rule until 1980 until true democracy took hold and the country became today known as Zimbabwe, The young man told the victims and survivors as he was committing his heinous act that he was solely targeting black people because they are "raping our women" and "taking over our country." On top of that, he immediately confessed to law enforcement he did it. It's also looking likely his manifesto has been found posting online where he claims Trevon Martin's death and it's controversy caused him to do research where he alleges mass black-on-white crimes drove him to do his evil deed.
Sure, anyone who goes into a church and butchers nine people probably isn't mentally well. But to act like this wasn't heavily steeped in racism means you're... well, you know.
This act of domestic terrorism was made all the more depressing to me because of a recent Facebook debate I engaged in. An acquaintance of mine, though hardworking and tough, is an ardent racist. I try to focus on his good qualities, but he inundates his Facebook friends with borderline and outright racists posts. I usually look past it because when has a Facebook debate ever changed anyone's mind? Recently though he posted a video of a a crowd of black people doing incredibly destructive and stupid things. He provided the caption, "See the common denominator?"
This far too disgusting and easy to counter. I responded with a video of the 2011 Vancouver riots, then Penn States, Boston, San Francisco and -- this is a good one -- a pumpkin festival in New Hampshire. Of course, the majority of these rioters destroying random people's property were predominantly, if not solely, white. He responded with bogus statistics. I came back with FBI statistics, showing how white people were murdered in 2013. 2,500 of which were murdered by fellow whites. (For the record, while an idiot, this acquaintance doesn't have a violent bone in his body.)
Funny how Roof seems to never have bothered to search white-on-white crime.
As I mentioned briefly in my prior post, I truly thought my generation was on the cusp of achieving a post racial America. Judging by my Facebook friend's sentiments, the fact Roof is only 21 and the views being espoused by people of all backgrounds made me realize just how naive I truly was. I should have known better. Defying all morality and reason, the Confederate flag has flown high above South Carolina's capital-- it still does.
Those parishioners gunned down in what's meant to be the most peaceful and serene of settings sure seemed like outstanding citizens to me. The grief-stricken congregation and community seems to be uniting as one. That's awesome. It fills me with hope.
But then I factor in how species are and have been dying off at rapid rates since the advent of the Industrial Revolution and how otherwise seemingly smart and rational people continue to deny or turn a blind eye towards Global Warming and realize we may very well be absolutely fucked.
I'm so down isn't due to me questioning the goodness of mankind. I think the vast majority of people the world over, at their cores, are good. I don't question our hearts. I question our collective whole's ability to think through these issues. Our hearts sustain us, but we need our brains to save us from ourselves.
Friday, June 19, 2015
We're Better Than This. Aren't We?
I don't get it.
Nine people are shot dead in a church and, instead of mourning, the nation is pointing fingers and trying to spin opinion to fit an agenda.
Is it so much to ask if we're allowed to just be sad for a while?
Schools aren't safe. Churches aren't safe. I thought my generation was close to achieving something of a post racial America, and then a 21 year old tries to start race war. Then I have a few of my peers tell me it's okay for a cop to shoot an unarmed person in the back as they run away because, "It's an order."
I guess I'm just baffled that people are still racist in light of overwhelming evidence and common sense that all people are just that: people. Everyone's an individual and deserves to be treated with the utmost respect. Every stranger you meet deserves a blank slate. It's that simple and even more obvious.
But there are people running around acting like one race has a monopoly on intelligence, morality and peace and the other stupidity, sin and violence. There is only one race: the human race.
We're all in it together.
Nine people are shot dead in a church and, instead of mourning, the nation is pointing fingers and trying to spin opinion to fit an agenda.
Is it so much to ask if we're allowed to just be sad for a while?
Schools aren't safe. Churches aren't safe. I thought my generation was close to achieving something of a post racial America, and then a 21 year old tries to start race war. Then I have a few of my peers tell me it's okay for a cop to shoot an unarmed person in the back as they run away because, "It's an order."
I guess I'm just baffled that people are still racist in light of overwhelming evidence and common sense that all people are just that: people. Everyone's an individual and deserves to be treated with the utmost respect. Every stranger you meet deserves a blank slate. It's that simple and even more obvious.
But there are people running around acting like one race has a monopoly on intelligence, morality and peace and the other stupidity, sin and violence. There is only one race: the human race.
We're all in it together.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Headache Bellyaches
My car broke down last night, second time in as many weeks. As I waited on the side of the road for AAA to come tow my wounded Civic, I listened to the Cleveland Cavaliers fall to the Golden State Warriors. Ohio pro sports team and their fans' luck often seem intertwined.
Poor Cleveland. No city, hands down, deserves a championship as much as you guys do. It will come soon though.
Congrats to Golden State, I guess. Way to beat our beleaguered JV team plus Lebron James. What an "accomplishment." (Yes, I'm bitter.)
ON top of all this, i managed to lose my wallet. This doesn't sit well with me as I now have few means to extract my cash. I don't know how I managed this fumble, but I found a way.
On top of that, woke up with a major headache this morning. It's still raging. It's a challenge to even look at the screen.
There are worse fates in life. I probably shouldn't be complaining, but isn't that what a blog's for?
Poor Cleveland. No city, hands down, deserves a championship as much as you guys do. It will come soon though.
Congrats to Golden State, I guess. Way to beat our beleaguered JV team plus Lebron James. What an "accomplishment." (Yes, I'm bitter.)
ON top of all this, i managed to lose my wallet. This doesn't sit well with me as I now have few means to extract my cash. I don't know how I managed this fumble, but I found a way.
On top of that, woke up with a major headache this morning. It's still raging. It's a challenge to even look at the screen.
There are worse fates in life. I probably shouldn't be complaining, but isn't that what a blog's for?
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