The Dichotomy of Gun Violence

There, yes. Here, no!

Is it surprising that the U.S. has increased issues with gun violence, 15 years after 9-11?  Everyone voting records of Senators (click to view) who wanted to attack Iraq, despite the questionability as to Iraq's culpability.  Colin Powell referred to it as "war fever" and reinforced the sweeping zeitgeist of violence in his book "American Power and Intervention from Vietnam to Iraq."  We have now had 15 years of indoctrination that violence is an acceptable form of problem solving; or at least a perceived acceptable form of solving problems.
lept to arms.  Even people one wouldn't think would be pro-violent, wanted to use violence in reaction to the actions of 19 people. This is evidenced by looking at the

We're teaching our young well

Someone who was 15 years old in 2001, would be 30 years old now.  That would put them in their impressionable years subjected to a saturation of pro-war (pro-violence) messages that play viscerally on fear.  Consider the age ranges who have grown up in an era where using violence to procure U.S. foreign policy desires, often framed in noble terms (e.g. fighting for freedom):

1. A one year old would be fifteen (pre-impressionable)
2. A five year old would be twenty now (impressionable)
3. A twenty year old would be thirty-five (impressionable)
4. a twenty-five year old would be forty (post impressionable)

Compare current (2014), especially items two and three, with the FBI statistics for ages of gun offenders which increases dramatically (by 68%) from the next highest age group of offenders.  Most gun homicides are perpetrated by people ages seventeen to thirty-four. Whereas, other ages on either side of that age band, show murders by guns in the hundreds, in this age band, murders are in the thousands.   This is the age band that lived their impressionable years through media saturation that violence is okay, at least in certain circumstances

Good Violence vs Bad Violence

Most gun violence doesn't take place in the sanitized environments of a classroom, social media, or a blog. It takes place in highly emotionally charged situations of fear and anger.  Murder has always been considered a crime of passion.  Is it reasonable to expect that someone, anyone can tell themselves this is not the time to be violent.   Is it unreasonable to believe that even before the moment of pulling the trigger -- way before -- that a large number of people, are inoculated with the idea that at some point gun violence is not only okay; that there are mitigating circumstances where

gun violence, performed by the right person for the right reason is justified.

Given the most popular visual narratives, and video games, justified violence is a constant message to the impressionable:

• Grand Theft Auto
• Game of Thrones
• Hunger Games
• Mortal Kombat

Plus we need to examine what we expect from people we have designated as being privileged to have guns and to serve our needs. We want those people to be protective of us. Is it reasonable to expect that in every incident, that every person empowered to use force will make the correct decision.

Culture Change vs Control

Gun control seems to be a loosing battle as gun ownership and violence is clearly rising. Gun control advocates, such as myself, can only hope that we have reached a point of urgency that something might break. However, that may be hoping against hope. Clearly though, this country needs a new over arching view of guns and gun violence. A new zeitgeist needs to start and start now. It took fifteen years to reach this state of crisis, it is going to take time to reverse the momentum of this crisis.

It takes a village...

...to teach the impressionable the ideal of non-violence; in how to react to challenging situations with peace. This means daily engagement with each other; non combative, non argumentative engagement. We need to stem the fuel that feeds the fire. We need to get over our love of guns!

In the mean time:

Realistic Gun Control

Become an Actionist! More effective than an Activist!  Yes arguing on social media and yelling in the streets has an emotionally rewarding aspect. I know, I grew up demonstrating against US involvement in Vietnam.  However activism is self indulgent, preaching to the choir.   It's a big world. No one cares what you have to say.

Take Effective Action! Become an Actionist!

It's no secret to anyone reading this that the world is run by money. Become a money person. Make a difference! We still have the pro-gun lobby outnumbered, which we each have to ante up less to become more effective than the pro-gunners.  This link is to the most effective gun control lobby in the country: Every Town For Gun Safety

The Inclusive Christmas

Sadly, one of the factors of modernity that has made Christmas inclusive is consumerism.  That is NOT what this missive is about This about the...

Inclusiveness of Peace and Goodwill

Growing up so Lutheran that I had plans to become a Lutheran pastor, I am firmly aware of the name of this holiday being derived from the birth of Jesus. Over the years I have slowly come to realize that Christmas, despite it's name, is not so much tied to the divinity of Jesus and what that is purportedly supposed to mean to humanity. Even as a kid I had misgivings about participating in something that excluded such a large population of the world because they did not believe in Jesus as a savior. Fascinated by the Bible and it's exclusionary aspects, I have studied the history of the making of he Bible and the human influence in its creation. Given that the divinity of Jesus wasn't decided upon until more than three hundred years after his death, I stopped believing that divinity. Yet, I still celebrate Christmas and for me it is a spiritual holiday

The Inclusion of Moreness

Even the beginning of Christmas celebrations, called "Jul" in Germanic, Celtic, and Norse traditions, has it's roots beyond the Christian tradition.   The Jul (Yule) season is tied to what Christians call pagan gods, such as Odin.  Ironically, archaeologists have determined that Jesus most likely was born in early March.  Was the celebration moved to December to integrate with previous pagan celebrations.  Were the pagans inclusive enough to include a celebration of Christs birth?  Even the Qu'oran acknowledges the existence of Jesus without his Divinity.   In modern time non-Christians celebrate Christmas as a time of getting together and Being Together.  The point being that Christmas is more than a single myopic incidence of belief,  It is more.

Sharing, Giving, Loving

These are the aspects of Christmas celebration. You will find these elements as aspects of every spiritual tradition, regardless of labels placed on those traditions,  Buddhist, Taoist, Pagan, Muslim or Christian.  So what's in a name?  Other than something to put on the calendar as a reminder to love, share, give, and be peaceful, there is nothing to it.  What more could it be, without being exclusionary?

Peace On Earth Goodwill to All

Please include all in your celebration.

The Struggle For Restraint

An Art. A Discipline: Not Lashing Out

Last night I was subjected to verbal malice barely disguised as humor. It was rancorous teasing that took me back to my teens when I was a very short boy (5'1" when I graduated high school).  I found myself once again being a 16 year old unfairly bullied and I came very close to "bitch slapping" my verbal assailant; ready to escalate to greater physical violence.  I knew from my past experience, I could humiliate and possibly hurt this person. My past experiences at being bullied provided me with what I came to call "some ugly habits."

We have entered into an age of aggression. Stephen Hawking fears that human aggression will destroy us (humanity) all. In an era where aggression is not only accepted, but lauded, it becomes more and more difficult to exercise restraint (i.e. to not lash out at anything that makes us uncomfortable.) Hunter S. Thompson, put it succinctly when he said, "we are a land of [300] million used car salesmen all armed with guns and no compunction to use them against anyone who makes us uncomfortable."

Why Here? What Prompted This?

Why write about restraint and aggression in a blog about global warming and population explosion?  Because aggression may very well be part of the underlying root causes of anthropogenic climate change and aggression certainly threatens the well being of humanity.  The way humans aggressively exploit the planet with little care for the near or far future can only be described as "aggression"

What prompted this now was two things.  An article a friend of mine sent me about remember that the Japanese aggression prior to and during World War II and the above mentioned incident.

Acceptance of Aggression

What is most unsettling were my memories of the positive reinforcement for lashing out with physical violence that accompanied my physical violence.   Physical violence thwarted some of the bullying and some of the girls in school found it attractive.  However, in later years, I would find this behavior hampered my growth as a human being.  As a culture we (The US) are seeing the costs of aggression, though many choose not to see those costs:  A quagmire of violence in the Middle East that is expanding globally; and rising brutal police aggression, etc....

Stewing in the Past

What I know from my own experience last night is that my impulse to throw my fists was rooted deeply in the past, consciously and sub-consciously.   Moving away from being that aggressive teen took a concerted effort to not stew about the mistreatment bestowed up on me years ago; a hard journey though many bottles of Jack Daniels.  This stewing in past memories is rife in most of the acute incidences of world aggression:

• Israel vs Palestine
• Sunni vs Shi'ites
• Russians vs Ukrainians
• ....

Often the past memories are not our own as individuals.  Yet, we as humans seem to cling to them, enjoying the drama of aggression that they bring to us.

Restraint

The time of least global strife came during the years of restraint; those years when we didn't react to the 1st bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.  Or, when we didn't over react to the bombing the Embassy in Libya.  Some were angered that we didn't.  However, note that this epidemic of aggression begin and has been rising since we lashed out at the world with aggression for the second bombing of the World Trade Center.  Since then, aggression has been expanding exponentially.  We frack, pollute, shoot and expect violence to deter violence and forget there was time less than half a century ago when aggression wasn't this rampant.

A time of Restraint