Wednesday, August 07, 2019
World on Fire
...No contrived hashtags here. More appropriately, disgust. Mass-aggression events — as you know — are disgusting, regardless of the motivations or views of the evil minds behind them. People should be mad. It’s totally understandable that many, in a sincere desire to see it stop, would call for the elimination of firearms among the population so that their use is restricted to the military, police, and criminals. And, of course, one needn’t only blame weapons when all the woes of humanity can inevitably be directed to the current President. After all, he’s the one who wants to enforce immigration policy to be in line with — until recently — virtually ever other nation on the planet. Add to that the nebulous villain, “hate.” Yep, the recent murderers were bonafide “haters” as well (as opposed to those who don’t “hate” the person they kill). The victims of the first tragedy in ElPaso no doubt were a greater loss to loved one’s because the shooter had a gripe with hispanic migrants and immigrants. If we outlaw that line of thinking, surely the problem will end. The second shooter, in Ohio, was a fervent socialist so,...one free pass. No hate to see here.
Back in lefty-land the Democrats, in addition to their usual support for taking guns away from people who don’t use them for wanton aggression, have again proclaimed their opposition to the boogeyman du jour, “white nationalism.” Well duh. That’s pretty much on par with saying one is opposed to mass-killings. Between the lines is the usual implication that someone who doesn’t publicly note an opposition to white nationalism is clearly for white nationalism. If you publically state your opposition to white nationalism and racism, your credentials may still be questionable if you also believe in limited constitutional government. Recall when Trump had announced that he considered himself a “nationalist” and elaborated that he loved his country (presidents probably should love their country). The next day, several establishment media propaganda organs, among them CNN and MSNBC were saying that Trump had proclaimed himself a “white” nationalist — something with a significant difference in meaning and something he had never even implied support for.
“The Rhetoric has become too hot” Really? That’s it? When talking heads (minus brains) say, the “rhetoric, ” of course they don’t mean the left’s rhetoric. It’s only those “buffoons” like Trump who actually think America has a national border and its citizens should be defended against intrusion by unknown people. The honest appraisal is that the issue itself has become “too hot.” Another result of the political class having done nothing to address a legitimate problem. A nut case is motivated by the same sympathies as many sane people and takes it to the extreme and our response is supposed to be, “this terrible thing happened over the the migration issue so obviously we should let as many unknown people in as possible...and give them free health care and college.” I’ve noted before a rather profound quote I heard in college, “extremist behavior often represents widely held beliefs in an exaggerated form.” The Unabomber blew hands off of innocent people to express his hatred for modernity — and technology specifically. The fact that his actions were terrible doesn’t mean there aren’t decent stable persons greatly concerned about the state of technology and modernity. To say so doesn’t excuse or defend the Unabomber’s actions. As I’ve often noted, “Hitler liked dogs.” Dog lovers everywhere have no cause to hang their heads in shame or or change their view of dogs.
The El Paso gunman was, by all definitions, a “White Nationalist” and accordingly a racist. Now the media propaganda arms have their exhibit A that no one should support sane border / immigration policy. The Ohio gunman was....oh no! An Elizabeth Warren-supporting socialist. What can the media do with that? They’ll no doubt have to tuck it away with the Bernie supporter who shot up a Republican congressional baseball practice. Of course the arguments against socialism don’t include the fact that some mass-shooters were for socialism, any more than a White Nationalist shooter proves we should have open borders. In this regard, my biased observation would be that conservatives generally don’t use the beliefs of a murderer as an excuse to silence their opposition. The left....always does this.
What’s my solution? I have no solution. I’m sorry but, this is the honest answer. There are little legislative tweaks addressing related issues like mental illness. I don’t know the circumstances surrounding the recent shooters but almost all mass shooters have a history of using psychiatric drugs.
I’m not going to go on a rant about the second amendment. That would be about as appropriate as demanding laws against “hate” (thought crimes) and the confiscation of firearms from model citizens seeking to protect themselves.
The real verdict here is that, out of millions of people, some are nuts, cruel, ...evil. Some will be violent toward others. Even England and Japan have their share of brutal knifings or vehicular homicides. It’s hard to gloss over the drama of a mass-shooting (and you shouldn’t anyway). No...gun crimes will continue. Mass-shootings will occur on some scale. And, it has already reached the point where logical analysis won’t be enough to placate a valid sense of helplessness. I fully support the second amendment of the U.S. constitution but its days are numbered. Just as the very idea of limited government is drawing further to a close, not because that’s a wise course of action but, it’s the unfortunate direction that history inevitably steers.
Sane minds will also never be completely able to prevent the actions of insane minds. A few rational adjustments here and there may reduce the carnage but there will always be traffic accidents, flu epidemics, shootings, and mass shootings. ‘Not to say, “accept it.” Solutions are worth a try but stupid and ineffective solutions aren’t worth...anything. Debates over immigration policy, socialism, or racism are irrelevant regarding the few people who are violent, and hold political beliefs as well.
Tragedy In the “gun debate,” where for now, everyone loses.
