Yearning for change after a painful week

We can wring our hands or we can take action. Consider this: you can help stop killings by police: call the offices of your elected federal and state officials and demand they support the specific reforms called for in Amnesty International’s report, “Deadly Force” https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/aiusa_deadlyforcereportjune2015.pdf

I served in the U.S. Navy 20 years and we had lots of weapons, shotguns, 45 pistols, M-14 rifles, we had nuclear weapons to guard. I could lay hands on an M-60 machine gun if need be. But it wasn’t in some closet it was lock up nice and safe in the Armory.

Why the general public has access to devastating firepower like this sniper is just a mystery. But the deeper fantasy is how anybody convinces themselves that these weapons make you any safer.

So many tragedies I ever investigated in the service were firearms related. Couple of drunks from the USS Florida were playing Russian Roulette and one murdered the other. Multiple suicides I also saw caused by firearms in base housing. Simple depression, but if you have a high caliber handgun handy…

I just see personal firearms as a social evil. Anybody that convinces themselves otherwise is just kidding themselves and probably endangering others.

How about repealing the 2nd Amendment? This would take away the excuse everyone uses for owning guns. It worked for the 18th Amendment when it didn’t work as expected.

And please remember that if today you feel sad, but you can otherwise go about your normal routines and activities and not worry about what might happen to your son or daughter or brother or sister, that is a tremendous privilege.

Frickety frack. The violence blows. I will continue to submit that in my admittedly uneducated opinion (I’ve never studied sociology in detail), the root of a lot of the problems we have is a form of classism. I will freely acknowledge that some of this classism is race-based, but much of what we see happening has its root in “I am better than you”. Perhaps it is “I am more important than you”, maybe “I am richer than you”, “I am whiter than you”, “I am smarter than you”, “I am more educated than you” (which doesn’t always translate into “smarter”), “I am more law-abiding than you”, “I am more entitled than you”. Whatever one person’s criteria is for being “better”, will translate into treating other people with less dignity, value, respect, kindness–general goodness–than they should. When such treatment persists by one group–especially a group with power, whether that is police, rich folks, government (i.e., rich folks), white folks (i.e., probably rich folks), whatever–against another, a backlash of sorts is to be expected.

Unfortunately, there is no easy cure for the tribalism, cronyism, protectionism, whatever-ism, that strives to maintain the privilege of one class at the continued expense of another. It is up to individuals to check their attitudes when encountering persons of a different class, or when hearing reports of events that involve persons of a different class. A good example of this is a story I heard on the radio about the Orlando shooting of a few weeks ago. The reporter was wondering how many people were horrified when they first heard of 49 victims being shot to death at a night club, but then felt some degree of “relief” to learn that it was “just” a gay night club.

We all have to be mindful of those we disdain. Whether it’s people of color, the homeless/houseless, the poor, Old White Men, Christians, Muslims, others of one faith or another, atheists, the uneducated, the addicted, climate change deniers, global warming alarmists, Republicans, Democrats, small children, professional athletes, dog owners, old people, teenagers, the tattooed, LGBT folks, women–I don’t know (and this list in no way reflects my personal feelings…). Everyone needs to be treated with the same level of dignity and respect that we would afford our friends and family. Everyone needs to be given the benefit of the doubt (until they remove all doubt) and given equal treatment. I catch myself constantly making snap judgments that are completely unfounded and I have to adjust my attitude. Sometimes I am successful, but we all must continue to live consciously, recognize our own biases, and strive to counteract them when needed.

[cash value $.02]

Live with tolerance, compassion and hope. The media and many politicians dish out news slanted toward fear and intolerance to serve their own ratings, agenda and power. It’s social conditioning. Everything we do has consequences. It’s up to us to forge our future.