Yesterday I sat on my patio in the deep heat of summer, finches at the feeder, deer lying in the cool among trees, a newspaper on my lap. One would have no need to imagine a more delightful day. Yet I am leaden, body, mind, soul weighted down. I read the newspaper. I watched the news.
A poisoned culture continues to make enemies of fellow citizens; a binary arithmetic of convenience, us versus them, the way too long division of hate. A social world constructed of simple categories: ‘for’ me or ‘against’ me, black or white, male or female, liberal or conservative, too many sets of two’s, disregarding the nuanced complexity of real people in a real world.
Are all white cops afraid of black men? Of course not.
Are all black men violent? Of course not.
The only winners today are gun manufactures, not because they condone gun violence. They only sell guns for protection, not for aggression. They are seduced by the rugged individualism of American Wild West mythology that promotes the idea that guns make us safe. Manufacturers along with their mouthpiece the NRA have been successful in creating a gun culture where the problem is perceived as the answer. The solution to gun violence, more guns.
‘The only thing that stops a bad guy
with a gun is a good guy with a gun.’
Tell that to Philando Castile.
Guns are tools. They efficiently punch holes through paper targets, game animals, and human beings. We are told, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” In the most simple minded way that is true. What is also true is that guns make it easier for people to kill people. We have created tools we are not mature enough to handle. Should we put a circular saw in the hands of a five year old? Should we put guns in the hands of impressionable, frightened and angry adults? Are we old enough to be responsible for the expedient efficiency of guns? So quick, so easy, so effective. One against many. Rat-ta-tat-tat.
-Too many people do what they don’t want to do. “I didn’t mean to do it. The gun went off. It was an accident.”
-Too many people do what they want to do. They have reasons. They are angry. They are frightened. They want revenge.
I close with a poem.
The Seductive Expediency of Guns
Dallas, Texas
St. Paul, Minnesota
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
North Charleston, South Carolina
Ferguson, Missouri
Cleveland, Ohio
angry sad cities
cold bodies
hot blooded streets
in private, after hours,
when no one is listening
guns gloat over
the single handed harm they do
guns laugh at
how we love them
7/8/16
.