NFrameFred
Member
We are more alike than we are different. Though the media has a vested interest in ‘stirring the pot’ and pitting both sides against each other, it would behoove all of us to remember their gleeful motto – “If it bleeds, it leads”. And if it sells papers or garners viewers, the gorier the better. So let’s step back, recognize that neither side is less than horrified by the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School and look at some facts using common sense.
There is a real danger for all concerned in letting emotion rule the day. It’s easy to blame the inanimate object of the gun to vent frustration, since you can’t be called racist or misogynist or bigoted by attacking an object. It feels good to demand “something be done” and allow ourselves to feel outrage. By passing more meaningless and impotent laws some feel that “at least we’re doing something”.
But let’s be realistic for a moment. We have passed thousands of laws and regulations and still people drive drunk, steal, rob, assault, and kill. We’ve thrown obscene amounts of money at social programs for fifty years and, I’m sorry, but the Left’s plaintive cry is that we just haven’t spent enough or the right people just haven’t been in charge to make it work rings as hollow as the same promises about Communism. We’ve removed personal accountability and responsibility from anti-social behavior accepting that it is permissible and ‘just the way it is’. The men of our society father children and then make themselves scarce in the support and raising of those children, since imposing a morality that says a family should consist of a mother and father who serve as good examples for their children and discipline and train them with love is now considered unreasonable and judgmental. Our cities and urban centers are clogged with children who gravitate toward criminal gang activity in an effort to feel like part of some twisted marred image of what the family is supposed to provide.
We hear and many apparently give credence to those who make excuses and dismiss any blame for violent images, films, and recreational games that use techniques recognized by our own military to remove and suppress the inhibitions and reluctance of soldiers to kill adversaries up close. And then these same folks dismiss any connection or causality when mentally disturbed impressionable people who have been allowed to immerse themselves in this conditioning act on it by murdering multiple people to make a statement to show their anger and defiance to the world before they end their own miserable existence.
Let’s be honest and admit the truth. Guns have been plentiful and easily available throughout our modern history yet we saw no such massacres until recent times. A sense of personal entitlement to act as we want in public without having to conform to traditional social mores and to exercise our rights to flaunt convention at everyone else’s expense is now the accepted model. So let’s call it as it is – the access and availability to guns has not changed, the way we act in public and the way we raise our children has.
If you have a bratty child who refuses to honor others’ space and property and keep his hands to himself you can a) indulge him, make excuses and give him what he wants at everyone else’s expense; b) refuse to correct him and attempt to restrict his reach by changing the rest of the world to accommodate him at everyone else’s expense; or, c) teach him properly, restrict and correct his behavior through discipline if necessary until he falls in line and at least acknowledges he must conform to get along in the world whether he likes it or not.
Though the obvious answer to anyone with a lick of common sense is “C”, it seems a great portion of the world chooses to continue to cling to “A” and “B”.
When my children were small and we went into someone else’s home I did not expect the homeowner to put up out of reach all the fragile home decorations, picture frames, remote TV controls or other such possessions. Neither did I tolerate my children touching/accessing these items or expect the host to be responsible for letting the children know it wasn’t acceptable. They were my children – it was my responsibility. Some did not agree with us lightly slapping their little hands/fingers when a verbal ‘no’ wasn’t heeded by the curious youngsters. But the truth of the matter is we had to actually administer such corporal punishment very few times before the child learned that ‘no’ meant ‘no’ and refusal to recognize it carried consequences. The result was they altered their behavior and I am proud to say we raised two very successful responsible adults who exhibit no lasting damage from having their hands slapped a few times at that age.
If we truly want to reduce the number of these horrific mass murder incidents (because it is folly to imagine such can be completely eliminated) then we must change what we are willing to accept in personal and public behavior and go back to what some adamantly insist on calling outdated values. But in truth, I do not expect this to happen, because then the responsibility falls on us personally and many don’t want to be held accountable for it. So it’s easier to blame an inanimate object under the guise of “doing something”. Just stop being hypocritical about it and pretending you’re actually accomplishing something other than restricting the rights and safety of the innocent.
There is a real danger for all concerned in letting emotion rule the day. It’s easy to blame the inanimate object of the gun to vent frustration, since you can’t be called racist or misogynist or bigoted by attacking an object. It feels good to demand “something be done” and allow ourselves to feel outrage. By passing more meaningless and impotent laws some feel that “at least we’re doing something”.
But let’s be realistic for a moment. We have passed thousands of laws and regulations and still people drive drunk, steal, rob, assault, and kill. We’ve thrown obscene amounts of money at social programs for fifty years and, I’m sorry, but the Left’s plaintive cry is that we just haven’t spent enough or the right people just haven’t been in charge to make it work rings as hollow as the same promises about Communism. We’ve removed personal accountability and responsibility from anti-social behavior accepting that it is permissible and ‘just the way it is’. The men of our society father children and then make themselves scarce in the support and raising of those children, since imposing a morality that says a family should consist of a mother and father who serve as good examples for their children and discipline and train them with love is now considered unreasonable and judgmental. Our cities and urban centers are clogged with children who gravitate toward criminal gang activity in an effort to feel like part of some twisted marred image of what the family is supposed to provide.
We hear and many apparently give credence to those who make excuses and dismiss any blame for violent images, films, and recreational games that use techniques recognized by our own military to remove and suppress the inhibitions and reluctance of soldiers to kill adversaries up close. And then these same folks dismiss any connection or causality when mentally disturbed impressionable people who have been allowed to immerse themselves in this conditioning act on it by murdering multiple people to make a statement to show their anger and defiance to the world before they end their own miserable existence.
Let’s be honest and admit the truth. Guns have been plentiful and easily available throughout our modern history yet we saw no such massacres until recent times. A sense of personal entitlement to act as we want in public without having to conform to traditional social mores and to exercise our rights to flaunt convention at everyone else’s expense is now the accepted model. So let’s call it as it is – the access and availability to guns has not changed, the way we act in public and the way we raise our children has.
If you have a bratty child who refuses to honor others’ space and property and keep his hands to himself you can a) indulge him, make excuses and give him what he wants at everyone else’s expense; b) refuse to correct him and attempt to restrict his reach by changing the rest of the world to accommodate him at everyone else’s expense; or, c) teach him properly, restrict and correct his behavior through discipline if necessary until he falls in line and at least acknowledges he must conform to get along in the world whether he likes it or not.
Though the obvious answer to anyone with a lick of common sense is “C”, it seems a great portion of the world chooses to continue to cling to “A” and “B”.
When my children were small and we went into someone else’s home I did not expect the homeowner to put up out of reach all the fragile home decorations, picture frames, remote TV controls or other such possessions. Neither did I tolerate my children touching/accessing these items or expect the host to be responsible for letting the children know it wasn’t acceptable. They were my children – it was my responsibility. Some did not agree with us lightly slapping their little hands/fingers when a verbal ‘no’ wasn’t heeded by the curious youngsters. But the truth of the matter is we had to actually administer such corporal punishment very few times before the child learned that ‘no’ meant ‘no’ and refusal to recognize it carried consequences. The result was they altered their behavior and I am proud to say we raised two very successful responsible adults who exhibit no lasting damage from having their hands slapped a few times at that age.
If we truly want to reduce the number of these horrific mass murder incidents (because it is folly to imagine such can be completely eliminated) then we must change what we are willing to accept in personal and public behavior and go back to what some adamantly insist on calling outdated values. But in truth, I do not expect this to happen, because then the responsibility falls on us personally and many don’t want to be held accountable for it. So it’s easier to blame an inanimate object under the guise of “doing something”. Just stop being hypocritical about it and pretending you’re actually accomplishing something other than restricting the rights and safety of the innocent.
