Typically, I try not to write things that are remotely political in nature, but ultimately the point of my brog is to have a space in which I write out my thoughts, and whether six people read my words or zero people read them, it’s still an exercise in putting my thoughts into words and occasionally seeing if I can get any further clarity out of expressing them.
It’s hard to ignore and remain silent on the topic of gun control, considering the latest episode of American Massacre involved a bunch of high school students and faculty getting gunned down by a mentally unstable person who somehow had possession of an AR-15 automatic assault rifle. I don’t mean to sound ignorant and uneducated in all the facts, but the truth is that I have not gone out of my way to learn more than the surface facts of the whole tragedy because frankly I don’t want to get too detailed in what I already know is a horrific incident that could probably have been prevented if not for the simple fact that firearms, and extremely deadly firearms, are just way too fucking accessible in America.
Ultimately, I’m fine with handguns and the general guidelines of the Second Amendment. Believe me, I thought long and hard about acquiring a gun after some stupid shitheads kicked in my front door with the intent to rob my house, except that I was home when it happened, and they ran instead of seeing if I were packing or not when I came running down my hallway. However, my thoughts were always a handgun, or a shotgun at most, and only one. Not a weapon that a Taliban fighter would be carrying on their person at all time, or any weapon that would be available by default in first-person horde shooter.
I don’t think assault weaponry needs to be available to the public in any capacity, yet here we stand, in an America where quite literally, anyone can somehow manage to get their hands on one, regardless of their mental capacity, or existing rap sheets with law enforcement. If someone has enough murderous intent, they’re more than capable of acquiring an instrument of mass death.
I’m not going to disrespect those who have lost their lives senselessly by saying it’s as worse as the incident, but it’s hard to argue that it’s pretty appalling, the aftermath of the Parkland massacre, where survivors and witnesses while attempting to convey their thoughts and give eyewitness summaries, are being accused of being actors.
Actors. Acting like they were victims of a massacre.
I get that these are massive uphill battles being tasked towards public relation spinsters, but I have to wonder how those who actually spin this bullshit manage to go to sleep at night, accusing teenagers of being actors less than 24 hours after having their lives put in jeopardy by a deranged gunman?
The America we live in today is a broken and fractured country where people voluntarily take sides on extremely opposite sides of just about everything, and because it’s so divided, the sides often relegate to the extremes on every single debate, and because of the political regime we’re currently mired in, no matter how absurd, insensitive or insulting an argument is, it’s considered plausible, and the two adamant sides draw hostile battle lines, fight, nothing gets accomplished, until the deliberately curated Republican party plays its advantageous position to mandate decisions in their favor.
And then those who try to stick up for their beliefs and make bold decisions that are bound to divide and stir pots, they’re basically attacked unconstitutionally, and create flabbergasting conflicts that the people are surprised to see even taking shape. Naturally, I’m talking about the recent story where Delta Airlines, one of the prides and joys of the State of Georgia decided to stand up a little bit for gun safety, and severed their ties with the NRA, angering conservatives, especially Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, who flagrantly threatened the airline stating that he would 86 all tax legislation that would benefit Delta unless they repaired their relationship with the NRA.
Now I don’t pretend like I care about politics, but doesn’t that seem like a blatant showing of his hand that he probably receives a lot of money in some way shape or form from the NRA? And shouldn’t government officials not be threatening private businesses in such manner?
Obviously, with such words having been thrown around, it’s hard to say how this particular conflict is going to pan out. Frankly, the easiest thing would be for Delta to up and get the fuck out of Georgia, which would be a really sad story in itself, because of the sheer number of jobs that would inevitably be lost or gone with the company, as well as the impetus behind it. Or maybe actual Governor Nathan Deal can step in again and pull the “I like money more than X-conservative ideal” and have his lieutenant step back from the ledge a little, and let the whole thing blow over.
But the sadder thing is simply how this all transpired, and how despite the fact that for the umpteenth time, an insane lunatic has blown away a large number of people, there’s still even a debate about gun control at all. There’s no secret that those in charge of weapons pay a lot of money to make sure that the need for their wares is always in demand, but especially throughout the last decade, it’s no secret that America’s balance of firearms to incidents is skewing unfavorably to the obvious conclusion that there just might a little too many fucking guns floating around out there for the long-term safety of society.
It’s like how often stories in books, shows and movies always use the concept of the manufacturers of weaponry always paying a lot of money into government stooges to make sure that their products are needed; this probably wouldn’t be such a common trope in storytelling if it weren’t so common in reality.
I’m not entirely sure what the point of this particular post was, but when the day is over, I look at the country I live in, and more often than not, feel sadness that this is the America we live in today. A country full of people so voluntarily divided and hostile over such differences, that we’re getting to the point where shitty things like massacres occur, and before the bodies of victims can even get cold, teams of professional bullshit spinsters are already out on force with strawmen in tow to get those enraged to distribute their vitriol in various other directions except the one they really need to be headed towards.
The solutions are obvious, but with so many people and factors standing in the way of what might obviously make the country a better and safer place, they’re deliberately stonewalled and obscured so much that it becomes nearly impossible to get back on the right track towards them.
I often ask myself whenever I see/hear/read something that details such a situation, is this real life? Because things are sounding so unbelievably absurd, that it’s literally hard to believe that this is actually happening in reality. Yet it is, because this is, the America we live in today.
