I know I promised a thrilling entry about literature and old people. I also was going to tell you about the most beautiful man on earth and how we're going to be passionate lovers for all eternity. But I'm forced to push these breaking stories aside to make room for another issue.
I'm sure you've all heard, but there's been another school shooting. Hmmm, must be Monday. Is anyone else getting tired of this song?
So here we go. One side'll be all "Gun control is the answer!" and the other is all "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" and I'm on both sides, firmly believing that killing requires a combination of guns AND people, meanwhile everyone argues, nothing gets done, we continue our tradition of avoiding problems, and then another 31 people die because some nutcase got a C on their geology final. It's like our fucking national pasttime.
I'm all about gun control, pretty much believing the things are useless and cause only grief, but people focus far too intently on that forgetting that every mass murderer out there would be psychotic whether they have a gun in their hand or not.
I could go on and on about this, but I don't want to, so I'm going to get right the point and be done. We, as a national community, do not take care of each other. Everything is politics and debate and right/left, right/wrong, "I believe, I am, I deserve, do for me, look at me". We're conceited, self-important, and completely selfish.
Yeah, I know, not you. Not your friends. Not me either, right? Maybe. I dunno. I'm not talking about us or you or those guys or that group, I'm talking about We the People.
We've all heard that stupid phrase "If you don't look out for yourself, nobody will." It's the worst thing anyone has ever said. First we have to stop believing it and then we have to make it untrue. Screw the law, screw gun control. Legislation and politics can are not the answer to this problem. Wake up, look around, get over yourself, and fix something. I'm so tired of this. Pay attention to other people. Not just your friends or your family, everyone. If we could all leave the world a little more beautiful (this word was difficult to choose, I'm using it to mean a lot of things) than it was before we got here, I promise this stuff would not happen so often.
Nothing I've said here is remotely original. So why do people have to keep saying it?
I couldn't have put it better myself.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people have to keep saying it? Maybe because people can't hear it until they are ready to listen, and we all come to that at different times. It's tough, but people can't be forced to get it, not really.
It is such a shame that things like this keep happening. I saw one place where a persons idea for preventing school shootings is to arm the teachers... which, well, doesn't make sense to me. I suppose when people know how to prevent things like this, they will stop, but until then, it is a scary world we live in. I don't live in the US, but that doesn't mean that I feel that much safer at my university.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, it almost makes me afraid to go to work. We're like sitting ducks in a building which anyone could potentially enter. As they could a library, I suppose. Our world is such a fragile place.
ReplyDelete