“This is a country built on violence and determined to survive by violence or take the world down with it. It consistently rejects peace talks in favor of war, nonviolent approaches to crime in favor of killer cops, and open borders in favor of heavily militarized border enforcement. Then it cries when its children are killed. Then it sells more guns. It’s a twisted place to live and most of its residents have no clue how twisted.” Ron Jacobs, Counterpunch
They will say anything to deflect attention from guns and their complicity in making guns easy to obtain. They ramble on about mental illness, entry doors, armed guards, armed school teachers, hardened schools, but the bottom line is always more guns, not less guns. And so this deadly wheel turns, in Texas, New York, California, Georgia. Readers of the Balcony know that I’m proud to be an unarmed American. I hate guns. This doesn’t imply any desire on my part to impose my views on others. Anyone of legal age who wishes to own a pistol, shotgun, or hunting rifle should be allowed to do so. Responsible sport shooters and hunters pose little risk to the public. If owning a pistol makes you feel safer in your home, by all means acquire one and learn how to use it. I don’t, however, believe in open carry laws because I see no justification for them; they are part of the Wild West mentality we must cast off.
My problem is with the weaponry of war, military-grade assault rifles like the AR-15 or semi-automatic pistols. Citizens have no need for such weapons, no matter what the NRA or its silver-tongued lobbyists say. Fuck them. And fuck all politicians of either party who bend over for the Gun Lobby year after year. I reserve special disdain and contempt for Greg Abbott, a coward and a punk; Dan Patrick for being a self-righteous asshole; Ken Paxton for just being who he is; Ted Cruz for personifying a perverted Ivy League education; Kevin McCarthy for being a dry turd masquerading as a man. All of these pissants, and many, many more, have blood stains under their fingernails.
Money and power. Cower behind the cross, hold up a gun, wail for the unborn and millions will follow you, send you money, and vote for you, no matter what. Republicans have message discipline and get on the same page very quickly, but the GOP is an immoral gang of weasels. On the other side the Democrats stagger around the frontier of the culture war, preoccupied with identity politics, wokeness, call it what you will. You want to know what triggers me? Stupidity. Injustice. Cruelty. The rule of law is being eroded, abroad and at home, and those in power escape accountability for their misdeeds. What’s a progressive to do? Where do I turn? Like James Baldwin, I hold the right to shame and criticize my country until it does better. Our society will never be perfect or even close to it, but one predicated on fear and hatred cannot long endure.
What’s the breaking point, where does this madness end? Does it end? How do we break the iron grip of the gun lobby and the defense industry, and stop promoting violence as the answer to our mutual problems? How do we reinvigorate the anti-war movement? How do we change the American economy to make it less predatory, unfair, unequal, and also less detrimental to the planet? There’s so much heavy lifting to be done.
In the novel Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy I come across this passage which, if we continue staggering blindly down our current path, might just apply: “We are dealing with a people manifestly incapable of governing themselves. And do you know what happens with people who cannot govern themselves? That’s right. Others come in to govern for them.”
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