When a child is pushed to such an extreme place, in their mind or heart, as to think picking up a gun and driving to a school, crowded restaurant, or movie theater and randomly killing innocent men, women and children is an answer, the whole question of whether or not to ban guns is a moot point for me. Its not the gun folks, its our culture.
I will not and cannot profess to have any of the answers but I feel something is broke in our society. Poverty, hunger, lack of access to medical care and respect for our fellow man seem to be just a cursory overview of what I see as some of the contributing factors to the up tick in violence in our society.
let us ponder this question, is it worse for someone to live in one of the richest countries, in the history of the world, to see first hand wealth but not have any of it or for the person who lives in a third world country where everyone is poor? To live in a country where adequate medical access is available down the road but a person is unable to access it? How about a person who is hungry and hasn't eaten well in years and yet turns on a TV and sees nothing but food commercials and is told that to receive food stamps and be over weight is a wrong? I really think if I were to be poor, hungry and in need of medical attention I would prefer to live in a country where everyone else is poor, hungry and dying of very curable diseases. I wouldn't have to be slapped in the face with the knowledge that probably next door my neighbor is eating a nice meal, being warm, and has just gotten over a serious illness without ruining their credit or losing their home, everyone around me would be in the same boat. Misery loves company and in this instance I think it preferable.
Our children, those little ones we all can agree need to be loved, nurtured and protected are showing the signs of post traumatic stress disorder. The levels of stress that are more easily carried as adults is destroying our children. We all know children are sponges. They absorb everything. They hear, see and feel everything that is around them. Both consciously and with their little sub-conscious minds. The violence, lack of respect and seemingly lack of hope I see on their little faces is but a symptom of how, as adults, as a society we have failed.
When our children go on killing sprees, bully other children to such an extent that it has become a form of torture it should be the wake up call that we have failed. Failed as parents, members of a society, and guardians of future generations. I am not so concerned whether or not the citizens of this country have guns because I know that happy, well adjusted people do not take a gun and walk into a school and kill 26 adults and children. What we need to do is fix the underlying problems that are filtering down and exhibiting themselves in our children . The saying shit roles down hill holds true. Unfortunately, our children are at the bottom of the hill.
Many years ago I was in Liberia. This was in the mid 90's. Liberia is a country that was formed for ex-slaves wishing to return to Africa. Its a country that has been ravaged by constant war, poverty and violence. The average level of education in Liberia is on 6th grade. For a country rich in oil, diamonds and lumber there is mostly poverty.
I traveled there with my friend who had been born and raised in Liberia. One of the first things that struck me after we touched down at the national airport was the lack of anything medium. We traveled to just outside of Monrovia, the capital city. While driving threw the capital I noticed either extreme wealth or extreme poverty. People were either healthy looking or appearing to be on the edge of starvation. Nothing in between. Just extremes.
When we pulled up to my friends home it was surrounded completely by high walls. Once inside the gates it was as if we had entered another world. His family's home was nice. I asked his mother why a country rich in natural resources was so poor? Her remark has stayed with me the rest of my life. She replied, "when your fellow man ceases to care about you the whole of society is diminished."
I really think this is one of the core issues that is facing our country today. I believe if we can spend our time, energy and money on finding ways to improve our fellow man the level of violence will drop. Happy people do not kill each other. Think of the money which has only recently been spent on the whole gun control debate. I wonder if that money would have been better spent getting a consortium of great minds together to come up with a way to eradicate hunger, poverty, to educate our fellow man. I just have to sit back and wonder.
I am not, by the writing of this blog, supporting gun right's proponents nor am I endorsing the removal of the right to have guns. For me, the question is much more complex. I am more concerned with removing the causes which contribute to gun violence. I want to see our country resolve the issues which are destroying us. I will say it again, poverty, hunger, homelessness, lack of education, hopelessness, fear, intolerance, and inequality appear, to me, to be at the root of the ills which are ripping apart our society.
Just as with any other problem, guns are the end result of much deeper, underlying issues and until we, as a society, nation and world really address the problems which lead to violence, especially gun violence, we are doomed to see violence increase time and time again. We have to say no more.
We have to stop finger pointing in this country and personally, each and everyone of us, take responsibility for what is happening. We must come to a universal agreement that business as usual is no longer working and we must dig deep within ourselves to find the answers.
I believe when any one person suffers we all suffer. Pain and suffering are like a cancer. It grows and is contagious. It spreads from one person to another. We have the ability to change and end that syndrome The work we do today will enable us to see a better tomorrow. This is what we all want right?
No comments:
Post a Comment