The DAD in me; On Murder of Persons, Ideas and Futures
(Part 3 of 3)
Another disclaimer; I'm writing this hours after a fertilizer plant exploded in a small town called West, Texas. It's huge (the explosion, not the town). It follows the Boston Bombing only a couple of days old and as I just talked of the news cycle bumping one big story for the next big story, the thought that this cycle isn't even 72 hours old makes it pretty difficult to fathom, as I imagine most people would agree. Right now it is a mad dash of ensuring to the nation that this explosion on the far side of America was an accident, no terrorist or underground 'V for Vendetta' faction going on here. Just an accident, plain and simple. Fingers crossed.
We are all hoping that, anyways. This next week will be a big one for the idea of the safety of America's psyche. I can't imagine the cabal of the nation's mass media sources would allow for any other viewpoint. We are safe we are safe we are safe we are safe from each other. For example, Americans are so safe from each other the US Senate voted down proposed legislation today on a Gun Control Bill that would make background checks mandatory when buying firearms in the US. That is how safe we are from each other; the US Senate doesn't think any of us needs any reason whatsoever to be stopped from buying a gun. You know, to kill foxes and stuff.
Murder is one of those mortal sins that is so subjective. We justifiably kill for abstractions of ideas such as God or country but can't justifiably kill for the sake of killing. Yet we do kill each other for food, vengeance, sport or just a good parking spot. It's in our genes. Mexicans are mass-exterminating small villages in an effort to create and maintain a type of social hierarchy based on drug marketing/trafficking/outsourcing. It's all over the news. Well, not English news but if we were in Mexico we would definitely be paying more attention to it. And we all know how well known Mexico is for their high grade weapons manufacturing and ammunition industry.
Our society is based completely on the fact that whoever's ancestors killed the most enemies are on the top of the societal pyramid while those that adopted the pacifist approach centuries ago are still giving most of our incomes and future to the children of those long dead assholes. Look at the Royal Family as a great example; who on earth would be afraid of any of them in a straight up fist fight? Their power comes from the fact that long ago one of their ancestors was willing (and did) kill anyone he pleased in pursuit of God-like powers over our ancestors. Our fear of them is so ingrained that if they requested us to volunteer our children to go to war and kill others and possibly die to maintain their own personal rank in their society while staying behind high walls, a lot of us would do it; for the idea of what they represent; Only the Strong Deserve to Survive because the Weak Get Killed.
Murder will always be with us. It's human nature confronting our animal nature. This essay or that study will not change the fact people get murdered. We condone it as much as we condone our armies, our news sources and our people living on the streets. There is no solution to it. We look to mistakenly look to America to lead us to the solution only to find that they are busy because a 'fertilizer' factory has blown up. The fact that it is labelled 'fertilizer' which is a pretty well known ingredient in making bombs makes me suspicious to the truth of what was actually being made in that factory. It is Texas, home of the handgun and there must be some place that makes those bullets. But it could just be the cynical paranoid in me seeping through.
So the question is, how do we improve upon our current situation with our children? Keep them informed? Of what, murder statistics? Tell them early and often as they grow up there are going to be people out there that might just kill them as they get older? For no reason or for some abstraction of an idea that they represent? How do you approach that to a 5, 10, 15 year old about such a subject? 100 years ago we would have been shipping them off to go kill other kids across the sea or to go fight a tank with their single shot Lee Enfields. So we have made some progress there, at least. Yay, us.
In my previous posts, I discussed guns and RAPE. Both are tools of murder, either in body or in soul. That is why it is part of our responsibility as parents to shelter yet educate our children from those two methods of killing. I talked of our moral compass yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to hear Jon Stewart also talk of such a thing on his show tonight over the torture of Al Queda suspects during the Iraq invasion by America. Torture begets torture, murder begets murder. To be fair, at the time of taping, he did not know of the Texas explosion. But if Jon Stewart mentions it, it must be true. We all have moral compasses and should use it when we pick our leaders. Or when we are thinking of killing someone. We owe it to ourselves to be the right role models for our children.
I freely admit that this article is weak, like the ending of the Dark Knight Trilogy. The events of today have tired me. My thoughts on these matters have grown foggy as tonight, be it accident or deliberate there was the murder of not only dozens of innocent Americans but also of the murder of an idea that America can be in control of it's future. It wasn't done by some lone 'dark-skinned male' with a pressure cooker or some ruptured gas line underneath a pile of lethal cow paddies. The real villains are those in the US Senate (4 Democrats also voted against the bill while 5 Republicans voted for) who had an opportunity to make our society somewhat safer for our children but in turn are once again suggesting we turn our wraith to Hollywood who is admittedly culpable to promoting the gun culture and maintaining our ignorance of their amazing abilities because, fuck, it can be pretty cool to be the hero one day.
Hail to the King Baby. I'm done. Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.
I love the instantaneous question Dad asks right after the blast (0.30).
Points for fatherhood.
Another disclaimer; I'm writing this hours after a fertilizer plant exploded in a small town called West, Texas. It's huge (the explosion, not the town). It follows the Boston Bombing only a couple of days old and as I just talked of the news cycle bumping one big story for the next big story, the thought that this cycle isn't even 72 hours old makes it pretty difficult to fathom, as I imagine most people would agree. Right now it is a mad dash of ensuring to the nation that this explosion on the far side of America was an accident, no terrorist or underground 'V for Vendetta' faction going on here. Just an accident, plain and simple. Fingers crossed.
We are all hoping that, anyways. This next week will be a big one for the idea of the safety of America's psyche. I can't imagine the cabal of the nation's mass media sources would allow for any other viewpoint. We are safe we are safe we are safe we are safe from each other. For example, Americans are so safe from each other the US Senate voted down proposed legislation today on a Gun Control Bill that would make background checks mandatory when buying firearms in the US. That is how safe we are from each other; the US Senate doesn't think any of us needs any reason whatsoever to be stopped from buying a gun. You know, to kill foxes and stuff.
Murder is one of those mortal sins that is so subjective. We justifiably kill for abstractions of ideas such as God or country but can't justifiably kill for the sake of killing. Yet we do kill each other for food, vengeance, sport or just a good parking spot. It's in our genes. Mexicans are mass-exterminating small villages in an effort to create and maintain a type of social hierarchy based on drug marketing/trafficking/outsourcing. It's all over the news. Well, not English news but if we were in Mexico we would definitely be paying more attention to it. And we all know how well known Mexico is for their high grade weapons manufacturing and ammunition industry.
Our society is based completely on the fact that whoever's ancestors killed the most enemies are on the top of the societal pyramid while those that adopted the pacifist approach centuries ago are still giving most of our incomes and future to the children of those long dead assholes. Look at the Royal Family as a great example; who on earth would be afraid of any of them in a straight up fist fight? Their power comes from the fact that long ago one of their ancestors was willing (and did) kill anyone he pleased in pursuit of God-like powers over our ancestors. Our fear of them is so ingrained that if they requested us to volunteer our children to go to war and kill others and possibly die to maintain their own personal rank in their society while staying behind high walls, a lot of us would do it; for the idea of what they represent; Only the Strong Deserve to Survive because the Weak Get Killed.
Murder will always be with us. It's human nature confronting our animal nature. This essay or that study will not change the fact people get murdered. We condone it as much as we condone our armies, our news sources and our people living on the streets. There is no solution to it. We look to mistakenly look to America to lead us to the solution only to find that they are busy because a 'fertilizer' factory has blown up. The fact that it is labelled 'fertilizer' which is a pretty well known ingredient in making bombs makes me suspicious to the truth of what was actually being made in that factory. It is Texas, home of the handgun and there must be some place that makes those bullets. But it could just be the cynical paranoid in me seeping through.
So the question is, how do we improve upon our current situation with our children? Keep them informed? Of what, murder statistics? Tell them early and often as they grow up there are going to be people out there that might just kill them as they get older? For no reason or for some abstraction of an idea that they represent? How do you approach that to a 5, 10, 15 year old about such a subject? 100 years ago we would have been shipping them off to go kill other kids across the sea or to go fight a tank with their single shot Lee Enfields. So we have made some progress there, at least. Yay, us.
In my previous posts, I discussed guns and RAPE. Both are tools of murder, either in body or in soul. That is why it is part of our responsibility as parents to shelter yet educate our children from those two methods of killing. I talked of our moral compass yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to hear Jon Stewart also talk of such a thing on his show tonight over the torture of Al Queda suspects during the Iraq invasion by America. Torture begets torture, murder begets murder. To be fair, at the time of taping, he did not know of the Texas explosion. But if Jon Stewart mentions it, it must be true. We all have moral compasses and should use it when we pick our leaders. Or when we are thinking of killing someone. We owe it to ourselves to be the right role models for our children.
 |
| and promote compass manufacturing in our society |
I freely admit that this article is weak, like the ending of the Dark Knight Trilogy. The events of today have tired me. My thoughts on these matters have grown foggy as tonight, be it accident or deliberate there was the murder of not only dozens of innocent Americans but also of the murder of an idea that America can be in control of it's future. It wasn't done by some lone 'dark-skinned male' with a pressure cooker or some ruptured gas line underneath a pile of lethal cow paddies. The real villains are those in the US Senate (4 Democrats also voted against the bill while 5 Republicans voted for) who had an opportunity to make our society somewhat safer for our children but in turn are once again suggesting we turn our wraith to Hollywood who is admittedly culpable to promoting the gun culture and maintaining our ignorance of their amazing abilities because, fuck, it can be pretty cool to be the hero one day.
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