Very thoughtfully argued, Corbin. I agree with you. Even as I fear the tyranny of the government, I understand, as do you, the futility of a gun. Action, as opposed to simple faith (or even resignation) is indeed required, by implementing those other Amendments, which is the soundest plan for defeating fascism. Violence quickly declares a victor, and Americans love a shootout. It's endemic to our national identity. But peaceful civil disobedience and thoughtful defense of our other liberties may be our only slow path out of the current darkness. There's no silver bullet.
Gentlepersons, make no mistake about it: Donald Trump does not intend to relinquish power peacefully, or at all, when his term ends. We are at this very moment involved in a civil war. One must look to the intent and the conduct of the one wielding the most power to determine that status of the moment. The question for us is: What do we do, starting right now? We are in the proverbial kettle of water and the temperature of the water is rising. It's lukewarm right now, but it will get hotter and hotter.
I agree. His intentions, as Richard says, are crystal clear. What is not so clear is how his power grabs will play out. As to what we do, I say organize, work to make Corbin's beautiful vision of a progressive wave a reality and evangelize with passion for the version of Christianity that James Talarico articulates so well. Or if you prefer, a humanist scale of values that says: Nothing Above the Human Being and No Human Being Below Another. and a movement that works to overcome all forms of violence - not just physical but also racial, sexual, economic, religious, psychological, and moral - and discrimination through ACTIVE non-violence. Starting yesterday. The majority is with us, I firmly believe. And I believe this is our moment ;-)
Many of us have been throwing sand in the gears and using everyday micro activism to fight this regime since February. Trump is weak, the heritage foundation is propping him up. Take dear leader out of the picture, he’s not well physically, it’s going to fall. JD Vance is a putz. Just my opinion.
Thanks Darcy -- resistance is important, especially to mitigate the harm as much as possible. But building is equally, if not more, important I believe.
When you build a resistance you’re also building community. At least we are here in my blue dotted city in Montana. I used to be an introvert, not anymore.
I don't know that I can agree with you, Linda. If failure is defined as becoming president of the U.S. a second time, we need to be very much concerned with his failures.
It isn't just DJT. It's all the Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society traitors who have executed their agenda to dismantle our hard-earned progress over the course of 50 years. The AGs across the country are engaging in class action lawsuits. It's about damn time, too. Too bad the Ivys, white shoe law firms, tech bros and others didn't collaborate and wield power against these demons, instead of collapse like cowards, covering their own asses and paychecks. And don't get me started about the feckless, pompous, go along to get along DNC. I'm confident organizers and others have excellent strategies to throw sand in the gears of these fascists - and make no mistake. That's what they are. Executing a slow-rolling coup. I'd also call on the former FBI agents, the retired or fired military, and police chiefs with integrity and a love of our constitution to organize. We CAN do it. But organize we must. Not just protest. Act. It's tough to do, because the chaos and disruption is overwhelming, makes it difficult to focus, and determine where to even begin. One. Conscious. Step. At. A. Time. That said: what, kind sir, do you propose? All ideas should be on the table. Teachers. Unions. Healthcare providers. Small business owners. How are each of us, in our current rolls, impacted by the craziest, and how do we collectively obstruct their progress?
It depends on whether you fall for the narrative that the civil war should be carried out between you and your neighbor or whether you think that the civil war is between the oligarchs and the rest of us.
The white supremacists, Christian nationalists and racists are mere puppets of the oligarchs. Thomas Frank, “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” [2004] and Heather Cox Richardson, “How the South Won the Civil War.” [2020] “The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?” Critical Sociology, Feb. 2018.
Excellent question, Judy, and the question for which we must find the answer(s.) The first step is to recognize the threat. Even if Trump dies in office or becomes incapacitated, there are those who will step in to fill the void. I think that our staying vocal and confrontational helps. And we need to elevate leaders to the top who can carry the torch. It's complicated. There are tens of millions of Americans who are clueless. I have been writing letters to Democrats running for national office emphasizing two points: 1) Push for a new NEW DEAL; and 2) mobilize those in their 30's, 40's and 50's with fear and the knowledge that if they don't vote out of power, starting now, the ones (Republicans and oligarchs) who put that $40 trillion federal debt on us, they won't get Social Security and Medicare. We've got to show them that Republican politicians are their enemies.
I enjoy your writing style and personal stories. It brings home political economics, true kitchen table discourse.
Your reasoning in this one is outstanding. A strong contrast with the tactics guys like Charlie used in their antagonism sessions on campuses and interviews.
Lame-ass weak white men love their guns because they are consumed with fear. Since 1776 they have owned and operated every aspect of our society, but now that their power and privilege are fading they are having a meltdown, thus guns.
I would have put a "Like" on this comment, except for the racism. Too bad it didn't read "weak ass, frightened people" Ain't got nothing to do with skin color and that is a FACT.
I’ll put a like on it simply because white fits. When in this country has anyone mattered except white men ? Hell 250 years later White women still don’t have equal rights! Who stops it WHITE WEAK MEN !
I would love to hear what, exactly, are the "rights" that women in this country don't have as compared to men. For example, is it the "right" that men have to register for Selective Service? Is that the problem? Maybe you have a different life experience than me - in my case I know thousands of women here in the US and Europe (mostly due to my work) and I'm not sure that any have complained about their "rights", except in the general sense that we are all subjected, from time to time, to unjust or weird laws. If you could articulate your experience, I think people would be interested. If you have to resort to gutter talk - THAT is a problem.
You miss the point altogether, men are GUARANTEED equal rights under the Constitution and it has been ratified by the required number of States but being held up by guess who
? Trump! On the grounds that it had run out of time to be ratified. The biggest argument against that is that the 27th was proposed in 1789 and was not ratified and become law until 1992. 203 years , but then as we all know the wise one is allowed to pick and choose the laws he obeys and our whores in Congress look the other way as does the bought and paid for Supreme Court.
As far as the Selective Service registration it should have been tossed years ago on the grounds that it discriminates by sex, age and religion.
The fact that you and "Tom" identify as "white" says a lot about you. The fact that you both ignore history and the composition of the population says even more. And your inability to hold civil conversation is a real give-away in regard to the anger that you are holding onto. You really need to study and learn a bit more about this wonderful place where you live. It will make you a happier person.
Nobody is going to have a civil conversation with someone who comes out swinging calling us racists. Racists against your whiteness? I’m white too. Take your stupidity and supposed wonderful life, you’re obviously living in an alternate world. Would you like me to read some whitewashed books or real history. Do you still think the pilgrims and Native Americans were sharing a lovely thanksgiving? Pound sand magat!
You wrote: Jesus's call to "turn the other cheek" wasn't a call to be a doormat; it was a radical strategy of nonviolent resistance, a way to assert one's humanity against an oppressor without mirroring their violence. We've traded that for a faith that justifies building castles with moats and defensive turrets.
So true! On 9/11, at a meeting of the Newsday editorial board to discuss how we should respond, my boss said, “This is no time to turn the other cheek.” So I felt compelled to write a column quoting Walter Wink’s exegesis on that line from Jesus. Wink wrote: “Jesus abhors both passivity and violence as responses to evil.” Jesus wanted us to challenge the oppressor’s injustice cleverly. If the tormentor’s slap to your face was aimed to humiliate, you turn the other cheek to make a point: “Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me.”
Please read From Dictatorship to Democracy by Dr Gene Sharp. He wrote a blueprint for how to have a successful nonviolent civil disobedience campaign against our own oppressive government.
Ah Newsday. I left Malverne when I got married, decades ago. Was Lou Schwartz, whom I dated in college, there when you were?
Onto my opinion about the challenge of turning the other cheek. It could be an admonition not about loving your enemy but for you to come from love, which is great advice no matter who you are addressing.
Look at this for how well that is dealt with -- and there's more from Raj, who works with business leaders, in the link :
“Every single thing we do in this life should come from love. Every action, every statement, even if you have to let somebody go, the hardest thing you have to do, can you do it with love and not anger, fear, greed? Most business decisions come from fear and greed. Can you make that exact same decision but from a place of love?” Raj Sisodia
Let's be real. Bombs, aircraft, tanks, etc. is not what we're talking about. If we could further restrict private ownership of weapons BB guns that would be a positive step. The Black Panther Party defended themselves in a shootout with Oakland police and survived. Yes, they went to jail, and yes they faced relentless persecution and government sanctioned assassinations and disruption (COINTELPRO). As a reaction to them carrying guns into the CA capitol, perhaps the only gun control passed by Republicans was enacted as a direct result.
Panthers we’re trying to improve their communities with some success. Nixon and Hoover decided they were too dangerous and assassinated about 60 of them. This ended the movement. The press collaborated I discovered in 1971 the truth in the Washington Post in the last line of an article about Fred Hampton being shot in his sleep. A great tragedy and a loss for the country.
Well said. Unfortunately, you cannot whip out an amendment when a person unjustly attacks you. Political assassination is embraced by our society…look at how we glorify and justify murder of our “enemies” and call it extrajudicial executions or the war on terror or the war on drugs or the war on crime…who knows how it will be framed and justified tomorrow. It's only a horrible tragedy when the guns hits one of your ideological kin.
I fear the tyranny of white supremacy most of all, then secondarily the government acting in support of white supremacy. That fear is well justified. Any honest appraisal of American history as well as current events reveals this was and continues to be a real threat to Black and minorities lives in America. From slaver owners and their slave catchers, to the KKK and other past and current gangs like the Proud Boys, to Hoover's COINTELPRO, and local police forces who openly practice abusive and discriminatory practices. It would be foolish for Black people to disarm themselves when governments deliberately fail to protect us. No one should passively walk into confinement and allow themselves to be maimed and murdered.
I DO NOT advocate nor practice carrying a gun. That would be an open invitation for a policeman to shoot me, because they FEAR anyone equally or unequally armed or resistant to their authority, and are legally justified and societally encouraged to use lethal force under the guise of that FEAR… especially if the person is Black.
I DO advocate knowing how to shoot a gun if necessary to protect a life, even as I am painfully aware that I am totally vulnerable to what I can’t see coming at me and only partially protected if I do. Throughout human history, suppressed populations wrapped their weapons in oilcloth and buried them into hidden caches just in case things got out of hand. It is what my ancestor did post-reconstruction, because amendments and laws didn't work then and they are not working now. Awareness, protective diligence, and the modern day version of a hidden weapon cache is a reasonable response.
As the saying goes, I'll throw my gun away when everyone else does.
Excellent feature and food for thought. The question comes down to this, for me personally...Am I afraid of others and would a gun solve this issue? I believe that is a NO on gun ownership on both counts. No doubt safe communities are a better answer for life, health and children and adults not fearful of each other. Unless you are hunting something ( hopefully not another human) guns DON'T WORK for the safety issue. Don't want them and don't need them, especially to be safe. Don't think anyone else does either, except in rare occasions. A bear is sick and comes into town and starts attaching childen would be one scenario ( highly unlikely to be a bear's choice of action) or hunters go out in hunting season to help reduce the excessive numbers of deer that are eating through a nearby forest, then starving to death. Shooting them is kinder than them starving to death. Getting rid of bears or deer or people, would help, too. Maybe global warming will help with all three. Guns will not, as Israel is discovering in Gaza.
Great writing on this issue. Thank you. I am worried about the huge, and growing, ICE military, and what those people will do when laid off by the next liberal administration, if there is one. They seem mostly to be already radicalized troops with lots of weapons.
Bravo. Brave you, precision for telling the plain truth and understanding the statistics which tell a truth beyond emotional rhetoric. A majority of our population is ignorant about numbers, statistics, trends and therefore cannot make "ratio"nal decisions. Yikes! It is a failure of our education system, which I am beginning to believe is designed to dumb down America to leave it defenseless to fanatical emotional appeals. Yikes! Loaning my life energy to repurposing education. We don't need to prepare people for jobs in the future, we need caring, conscious compassionate, people able to ask useful questions. and relate to numbers as astute evidence for wise decisions.
Considering how even the recent "Kirk killing" is being so inconsistently reported and interpreted, it raises further questions. We have to suspect the authenticity of every event, and every detail reported about it. There's a huge agenda of mind control (dare I say psyops) going on and our first questions around each "dramatic" occurrence should be more: what are "they" doing with this?...not so much, what do we now?... about this.
The NRA has done a good job in convincing people they need guns. Did gun manufacturers push their agenda for profit? It is going to be nearly impossible to reverse their message. Especially since there is no profit in it.
It seems that the guns most criminals get are stolen. If there are no guns to steal, then there's less guns for the criminals to hold of. I'm sure they'd still be able to get some, but it will be harder and far more expensive. Right now, it's so easy, a child can do it. Steal dad's gun and sell it to a guy whose office is his car trunk. Boom! Beer money.
Very thoughtfully argued, Corbin. I agree with you. Even as I fear the tyranny of the government, I understand, as do you, the futility of a gun. Action, as opposed to simple faith (or even resignation) is indeed required, by implementing those other Amendments, which is the soundest plan for defeating fascism. Violence quickly declares a victor, and Americans love a shootout. It's endemic to our national identity. But peaceful civil disobedience and thoughtful defense of our other liberties may be our only slow path out of the current darkness. There's no silver bullet.
Gentlepersons, make no mistake about it: Donald Trump does not intend to relinquish power peacefully, or at all, when his term ends. We are at this very moment involved in a civil war. One must look to the intent and the conduct of the one wielding the most power to determine that status of the moment. The question for us is: What do we do, starting right now? We are in the proverbial kettle of water and the temperature of the water is rising. It's lukewarm right now, but it will get hotter and hotter.
Let's just hope that he isn't any better at staying in power past his sell-by date than he is at anything else. What he's best at is failure.
And cheating.
Give credit where credit is due: Trump read his base perfectly- white, racist Christian nationalists.
I agree. His intentions, as Richard says, are crystal clear. What is not so clear is how his power grabs will play out. As to what we do, I say organize, work to make Corbin's beautiful vision of a progressive wave a reality and evangelize with passion for the version of Christianity that James Talarico articulates so well. Or if you prefer, a humanist scale of values that says: Nothing Above the Human Being and No Human Being Below Another. and a movement that works to overcome all forms of violence - not just physical but also racial, sexual, economic, religious, psychological, and moral - and discrimination through ACTIVE non-violence. Starting yesterday. The majority is with us, I firmly believe. And I believe this is our moment ;-)
Many of us have been throwing sand in the gears and using everyday micro activism to fight this regime since February. Trump is weak, the heritage foundation is propping him up. Take dear leader out of the picture, he’s not well physically, it’s going to fall. JD Vance is a putz. Just my opinion.
Thanks Darcy -- resistance is important, especially to mitigate the harm as much as possible. But building is equally, if not more, important I believe.
When you build a resistance you’re also building community. At least we are here in my blue dotted city in Montana. I used to be an introvert, not anymore.
I don't know that I can agree with you, Linda. If failure is defined as becoming president of the U.S. a second time, we need to be very much concerned with his failures.
Besides failure, his other talent is lying. That's how he "won".
and cheating.
It isn't just DJT. It's all the Heritage Foundation and Federalist Society traitors who have executed their agenda to dismantle our hard-earned progress over the course of 50 years. The AGs across the country are engaging in class action lawsuits. It's about damn time, too. Too bad the Ivys, white shoe law firms, tech bros and others didn't collaborate and wield power against these demons, instead of collapse like cowards, covering their own asses and paychecks. And don't get me started about the feckless, pompous, go along to get along DNC. I'm confident organizers and others have excellent strategies to throw sand in the gears of these fascists - and make no mistake. That's what they are. Executing a slow-rolling coup. I'd also call on the former FBI agents, the retired or fired military, and police chiefs with integrity and a love of our constitution to organize. We CAN do it. But organize we must. Not just protest. Act. It's tough to do, because the chaos and disruption is overwhelming, makes it difficult to focus, and determine where to even begin. One. Conscious. Step. At. A. Time. That said: what, kind sir, do you propose? All ideas should be on the table. Teachers. Unions. Healthcare providers. Small business owners. How are each of us, in our current rolls, impacted by the craziest, and how do we collectively obstruct their progress?
We need to find a way.
It depends on whether you fall for the narrative that the civil war should be carried out between you and your neighbor or whether you think that the civil war is between the oligarchs and the rest of us.
The white supremacists, Christian nationalists and racists are mere puppets of the oligarchs. Thomas Frank, “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” [2004] and Heather Cox Richardson, “How the South Won the Civil War.” [2020] “The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?” Critical Sociology, Feb. 2018.
And what is your suggestion that those of us in the kettle do?
Excellent question, Judy, and the question for which we must find the answer(s.) The first step is to recognize the threat. Even if Trump dies in office or becomes incapacitated, there are those who will step in to fill the void. I think that our staying vocal and confrontational helps. And we need to elevate leaders to the top who can carry the torch. It's complicated. There are tens of millions of Americans who are clueless. I have been writing letters to Democrats running for national office emphasizing two points: 1) Push for a new NEW DEAL; and 2) mobilize those in their 30's, 40's and 50's with fear and the knowledge that if they don't vote out of power, starting now, the ones (Republicans and oligarchs) who put that $40 trillion federal debt on us, they won't get Social Security and Medicare. We've got to show them that Republican politicians are their enemies.
Hello Richard... Pray For Divine Intervention...
I enjoy your writing style and personal stories. It brings home political economics, true kitchen table discourse.
Your reasoning in this one is outstanding. A strong contrast with the tactics guys like Charlie used in their antagonism sessions on campuses and interviews.
Lame-ass weak white men love their guns because they are consumed with fear. Since 1776 they have owned and operated every aspect of our society, but now that their power and privilege are fading they are having a meltdown, thus guns.
I would have put a "Like" on this comment, except for the racism. Too bad it didn't read "weak ass, frightened people" Ain't got nothing to do with skin color and that is a FACT.
...except the "owned and operated every aspect of our society" part.
I’ll put a like on it simply because white fits. When in this country has anyone mattered except white men ? Hell 250 years later White women still don’t have equal rights! Who stops it WHITE WEAK MEN !
You seem a bit too simplistic in your "analysis"....maybe you should give it a little more thought and ditch your racist attitude.
Maybe you should shove your opinion up your ass
I would love to hear what, exactly, are the "rights" that women in this country don't have as compared to men. For example, is it the "right" that men have to register for Selective Service? Is that the problem? Maybe you have a different life experience than me - in my case I know thousands of women here in the US and Europe (mostly due to my work) and I'm not sure that any have complained about their "rights", except in the general sense that we are all subjected, from time to time, to unjust or weird laws. If you could articulate your experience, I think people would be interested. If you have to resort to gutter talk - THAT is a problem.
You miss the point altogether, men are GUARANTEED equal rights under the Constitution and it has been ratified by the required number of States but being held up by guess who
? Trump! On the grounds that it had run out of time to be ratified. The biggest argument against that is that the 27th was proposed in 1789 and was not ratified and become law until 1992. 203 years , but then as we all know the wise one is allowed to pick and choose the laws he obeys and our whores in Congress look the other way as does the bought and paid for Supreme Court.
As far as the Selective Service registration it should have been tossed years ago on the grounds that it discriminates by sex, age and religion.
I’ll second that Tom!
As a white female I don’t agree. You white men have been at the helm since before 1776, nothing great has come from you being in power.
The fact that you and "Tom" identify as "white" says a lot about you. The fact that you both ignore history and the composition of the population says even more. And your inability to hold civil conversation is a real give-away in regard to the anger that you are holding onto. You really need to study and learn a bit more about this wonderful place where you live. It will make you a happier person.
Nobody is going to have a civil conversation with someone who comes out swinging calling us racists. Racists against your whiteness? I’m white too. Take your stupidity and supposed wonderful life, you’re obviously living in an alternate world. Would you like me to read some whitewashed books or real history. Do you still think the pilgrims and Native Americans were sharing a lovely thanksgiving? Pound sand magat!
I don’t give a damn what color you unless it’s MAGAette red! Give some of us white guys hell we have earned it Lol
Sharing your thoughtful article with my 16 year old grandson. He doesn’t own a gun,but would probably like to.
You wrote: Jesus's call to "turn the other cheek" wasn't a call to be a doormat; it was a radical strategy of nonviolent resistance, a way to assert one's humanity against an oppressor without mirroring their violence. We've traded that for a faith that justifies building castles with moats and defensive turrets.
So true! On 9/11, at a meeting of the Newsday editorial board to discuss how we should respond, my boss said, “This is no time to turn the other cheek.” So I felt compelled to write a column quoting Walter Wink’s exegesis on that line from Jesus. Wink wrote: “Jesus abhors both passivity and violence as responses to evil.” Jesus wanted us to challenge the oppressor’s injustice cleverly. If the tormentor’s slap to your face was aimed to humiliate, you turn the other cheek to make a point: “Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me.”
Very well said. I might add that there's no place for toxic ego while bending the arc.
Please read From Dictatorship to Democracy by Dr Gene Sharp. He wrote a blueprint for how to have a successful nonviolent civil disobedience campaign against our own oppressive government.
Ah Newsday. I left Malverne when I got married, decades ago. Was Lou Schwartz, whom I dated in college, there when you were?
Onto my opinion about the challenge of turning the other cheek. It could be an admonition not about loving your enemy but for you to come from love, which is great advice no matter who you are addressing.
Look at this for how well that is dealt with -- and there's more from Raj, who works with business leaders, in the link :
“Every single thing we do in this life should come from love. Every action, every statement, even if you have to let somebody go, the hardest thing you have to do, can you do it with love and not anger, fear, greed? Most business decisions come from fear and greed. Can you make that exact same decision but from a place of love?” Raj Sisodia
From <https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/the-key-to-life
Or, as Jim Jeffires said: https://www.tiktok.com/@comedy_castle_/video/7432866290882186514
Good piece! Thanks for taking time to write it.
I’ve never believed that by having a gun, you could protect yourself from the government. you would need the right to own nuclear weapon.😂
Let's be real. Bombs, aircraft, tanks, etc. is not what we're talking about. If we could further restrict private ownership of weapons BB guns that would be a positive step. The Black Panther Party defended themselves in a shootout with Oakland police and survived. Yes, they went to jail, and yes they faced relentless persecution and government sanctioned assassinations and disruption (COINTELPRO). As a reaction to them carrying guns into the CA capitol, perhaps the only gun control passed by Republicans was enacted as a direct result.
Panthers we’re trying to improve their communities with some success. Nixon and Hoover decided they were too dangerous and assassinated about 60 of them. This ended the movement. The press collaborated I discovered in 1971 the truth in the Washington Post in the last line of an article about Fred Hampton being shot in his sleep. A great tragedy and a loss for the country.
Well said. Unfortunately, you cannot whip out an amendment when a person unjustly attacks you. Political assassination is embraced by our society…look at how we glorify and justify murder of our “enemies” and call it extrajudicial executions or the war on terror or the war on drugs or the war on crime…who knows how it will be framed and justified tomorrow. It's only a horrible tragedy when the guns hits one of your ideological kin.
I fear the tyranny of white supremacy most of all, then secondarily the government acting in support of white supremacy. That fear is well justified. Any honest appraisal of American history as well as current events reveals this was and continues to be a real threat to Black and minorities lives in America. From slaver owners and their slave catchers, to the KKK and other past and current gangs like the Proud Boys, to Hoover's COINTELPRO, and local police forces who openly practice abusive and discriminatory practices. It would be foolish for Black people to disarm themselves when governments deliberately fail to protect us. No one should passively walk into confinement and allow themselves to be maimed and murdered.
I DO NOT advocate nor practice carrying a gun. That would be an open invitation for a policeman to shoot me, because they FEAR anyone equally or unequally armed or resistant to their authority, and are legally justified and societally encouraged to use lethal force under the guise of that FEAR… especially if the person is Black.
I DO advocate knowing how to shoot a gun if necessary to protect a life, even as I am painfully aware that I am totally vulnerable to what I can’t see coming at me and only partially protected if I do. Throughout human history, suppressed populations wrapped their weapons in oilcloth and buried them into hidden caches just in case things got out of hand. It is what my ancestor did post-reconstruction, because amendments and laws didn't work then and they are not working now. Awareness, protective diligence, and the modern day version of a hidden weapon cache is a reasonable response.
As the saying goes, I'll throw my gun away when everyone else does.
Excellent feature and food for thought. The question comes down to this, for me personally...Am I afraid of others and would a gun solve this issue? I believe that is a NO on gun ownership on both counts. No doubt safe communities are a better answer for life, health and children and adults not fearful of each other. Unless you are hunting something ( hopefully not another human) guns DON'T WORK for the safety issue. Don't want them and don't need them, especially to be safe. Don't think anyone else does either, except in rare occasions. A bear is sick and comes into town and starts attaching childen would be one scenario ( highly unlikely to be a bear's choice of action) or hunters go out in hunting season to help reduce the excessive numbers of deer that are eating through a nearby forest, then starving to death. Shooting them is kinder than them starving to death. Getting rid of bears or deer or people, would help, too. Maybe global warming will help with all three. Guns will not, as Israel is discovering in Gaza.
This is so well put and so full of useful facts, I’m going to save it because I’m sure I’ll be referencing it quite a bit.
Great writing on this issue. Thank you. I am worried about the huge, and growing, ICE military, and what those people will do when laid off by the next liberal administration, if there is one. They seem mostly to be already radicalized troops with lots of weapons.
Bravo. Brave you, precision for telling the plain truth and understanding the statistics which tell a truth beyond emotional rhetoric. A majority of our population is ignorant about numbers, statistics, trends and therefore cannot make "ratio"nal decisions. Yikes! It is a failure of our education system, which I am beginning to believe is designed to dumb down America to leave it defenseless to fanatical emotional appeals. Yikes! Loaning my life energy to repurposing education. We don't need to prepare people for jobs in the future, we need caring, conscious compassionate, people able to ask useful questions. and relate to numbers as astute evidence for wise decisions.
Yes, it is deliberate, the dumbing of America.
Considering how even the recent "Kirk killing" is being so inconsistently reported and interpreted, it raises further questions. We have to suspect the authenticity of every event, and every detail reported about it. There's a huge agenda of mind control (dare I say psyops) going on and our first questions around each "dramatic" occurrence should be more: what are "they" doing with this?...not so much, what do we now?... about this.
The NRA has done a good job in convincing people they need guns. Did gun manufacturers push their agenda for profit? It is going to be nearly impossible to reverse their message. Especially since there is no profit in it.
Well, the gun sellers are few, and we are many. It depends on what you mean by "profit": the money to the few or the safety to the rest of us.
It seems that the guns most criminals get are stolen. If there are no guns to steal, then there's less guns for the criminals to hold of. I'm sure they'd still be able to get some, but it will be harder and far more expensive. Right now, it's so easy, a child can do it. Steal dad's gun and sell it to a guy whose office is his car trunk. Boom! Beer money.