The topic today is guns, because there have been several prominent stories in the news lately of which guns play a large part. I, myself, do not own a gun. I've thought about buying one -- and by "though about", I mean I've literally thought about it, I've never actually considered it as a realistic course of action. It might make sense for some people to own guns for protection, say, if you live in a very bad part of town, or you live in an area without prompt police service, or you're well-trained in the use of firearms, but none of these apply to me. I look at it from a mathematical standpoint. If we assign a positive value to all the good events that can occur from me owning a gun (the largest value being me saving myself or a loved one from critical injury), and assign a negative value to all the bad events that can occur from me owning a gun (the largest value being an accident or provocation causing critical injury to me or a loved one), and multiply each value by the probability of that event occurring, and add everything together, by my estimation, the sum would be overwhelmingly negative. So, I shouldn't buy a gun. We have an alarm system and cell phones to call the police. This is almost certainly the best bet in the unlikely case we ever need protection.
"Guns don't kill people, people kill people," is the well-known tagline for the National Rifle Association. While this is technically true -- there are many cultures with many guns and very low gun violence (Switzerland is the classic example) -- I find it disingenuous. It's not the guns that lead to violence, it's the gun culture that leads to violence, and I think the NRA, in large part, perpetuates our gun-crazed culture in the U.S. They play the constitutional-right-to-protect-oneself card, because that's the best argument politically (and surely some of their members are honest people who really feel this way) but I suspect that for a lot of gun owners it's more about paranoia and power. They are paranoid about the "bad guys" taking over, and having guns makes them feel powerful -- powerful in a delusion, vigilante, unrealistic, super-heroic sort of way, but powerful nonetheless. And it's dangerous when groups like the NRA push this fringe un-reality into the mainstream via bills like Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law that infamously came to the forefront because of the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Speaking of Trayvon Martin, I keep waiting for something to come up that at least makes some sense of the situation. It seems nearly inconceivable to me that what allegedly happened -- a man tracked down and shot an unarmed teenager simply for looking suspicious -- is what actually happened, but it's been a while, and nothing more of substance has come out. Maybe that is actually what happened. The shooter, George Zimmerman, claims self-defense, but I don't see how he can possibly make this claim when a) he was clearly the aggressor, b) he was armed and Martin wasn't, c) he has no serious injuries (he said that he was, in fact, badly hurt in a scuffle, but video footage taken immediately afterward belies this). So why hasn't he been arrested? Even with the Stand Your Ground bullshit it seems to me like the case in there.
As everybody knows, there is a racial component to the shooting. Martin was a black teenager and Zimmerman is a white/Hispanic man. Martin was also wearing a hoodie, which apparently is an article of clothing associated with thugs. (I honestly didn't know hoodies had this reputation. Doesn't every teenage boy wear hoodies? I had (and still have) a bunch of them.) It brings to the forefront the perception we have in this country of young black males as being particularly criminal and violent. This is a really charged topic, one that most people (particularly white people) aren't comfortable discussing. It's a topic that I don't want to go into now, not because I want to dodge it (on the contrary, I think it's an important issue and would like to share my thoughts on it), but because it requires a whole lot more words than I want to type on the subject right now. One thing I will say is that Adam Carolla has been speaking out on this issue a lot on his daily podcast lately. His feeling is that everything stems from the nonexistence of fathers in too many black families. If, as a society, we could solve this problem, all the other problems (the crime, the violence (real and perceived), the prejudices, etc.) would largely be alleviated. While I hardly take Carolla's political commentary as gospel (the best thing I can say about a lot of his cringe-worthy political rants is that they're kinda funny), I agree with this particular assessment almost 100%, and it would be nice if leaders of all races would make this a focal point. But, this is a broad issue and doesn't really apply specifically to the Trayvon Martin case. From where I stand, given the information at hand, his death is a tragedy and an injustice, plain and simple.
[Hilarious scene from "The Simpson's". A quote from Homer from the same episode, "When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power... like God must feel when he's holding a gun."]
On another gun-related topic, yet another school shooting went down this week. This one at, Oikos, a small largely Korean Christian university in California. The shooter One Goh is apparently a disgruntled former student. No other motive is being report. Although I think I know another motive: the dude is a fucking lunatic. Whenever this type of thing happens the media always searches for some deep reason, and nothing satisfactory ever comes from it. It's never, "The shooter, a very wealthy and social man, had uncovered a ring of pedophile rapist-terrorist, who were planning a cross-country crime spree culminating with the destruction of the White House. By shooting these people, he saved hundreds of children and perhaps the entire country." It's always, "The shooter is described as a loner and has displayed evidence of mental instability." You don't say? Lining up your former classmates, picking them off one-by-one, and then admitting you did it to a supermarket clerk -- mental instability? Huh, go figure.
Speaking of "the media", this (gun-related) story is a perfect example of why many of our major media outlets suck. All facets of the political polyhedron like to claim there is a media bias, and there is, a bias toward money. Media outlets want eyeballs, so instead of reporting, more and more, they sensationalize. Just read this headline, "Police draw guns at home of Torii Hunter", what types of images does that conjure up? Now read the story (it's very short). Can this even be called "a story"? Police followed protocol in response to an accidentally tripped alarm -- that's a nonevent. Hunter is quoted as tweeting, "The cops that were here today had there (sic) guns drawn but pointed downward in for safety. Those guys handled the situation like trained cops," and "The police department did a great job of protecting my home. Thanks guys!" This is such a bullshit article. But, in part, it's my own fault. I should know better than to click a random Yahoo! headline. For every ten times I click, I read one half-interesting story. That's a .050 batting average. Well, no more. This is it. No more clicks, Yahoo!. You've fooled me for the last time.
And this is it for this entry. Until next time...
Quick Update: After writing this, I noticed that ABC News release "enhanced" footage of George Zimmerman showing what could be a big gash on his head. It still seems fishy to me. He still sought out Martin. He still could have prevented the entire ordeal simply by listening to the 911 attendant. Also, does getting in a physical altercation that you basically started warrant shooting somebody? Like I said, it's still fishy to me, but since I specifically mentioned Zimmerman's apparent lack of injury, I wanted to put up this update.
[Gang Starr's "Tonz of Guns". Best line: "They like the feel of chrome in their hand, the shit makes 'em feel like little big man.]
"Guns don't kill people, people kill people," is the well-known tagline for the National Rifle Association. While this is technically true -- there are many cultures with many guns and very low gun violence (Switzerland is the classic example) -- I find it disingenuous. It's not the guns that lead to violence, it's the gun culture that leads to violence, and I think the NRA, in large part, perpetuates our gun-crazed culture in the U.S. They play the constitutional-right-to-protect-oneself card, because that's the best argument politically (and surely some of their members are honest people who really feel this way) but I suspect that for a lot of gun owners it's more about paranoia and power. They are paranoid about the "bad guys" taking over, and having guns makes them feel powerful -- powerful in a delusion, vigilante, unrealistic, super-heroic sort of way, but powerful nonetheless. And it's dangerous when groups like the NRA push this fringe un-reality into the mainstream via bills like Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law that infamously came to the forefront because of the Trayvon Martin shooting.
Speaking of Trayvon Martin, I keep waiting for something to come up that at least makes some sense of the situation. It seems nearly inconceivable to me that what allegedly happened -- a man tracked down and shot an unarmed teenager simply for looking suspicious -- is what actually happened, but it's been a while, and nothing more of substance has come out. Maybe that is actually what happened. The shooter, George Zimmerman, claims self-defense, but I don't see how he can possibly make this claim when a) he was clearly the aggressor, b) he was armed and Martin wasn't, c) he has no serious injuries (he said that he was, in fact, badly hurt in a scuffle, but video footage taken immediately afterward belies this). So why hasn't he been arrested? Even with the Stand Your Ground bullshit it seems to me like the case in there.
As everybody knows, there is a racial component to the shooting. Martin was a black teenager and Zimmerman is a white/Hispanic man. Martin was also wearing a hoodie, which apparently is an article of clothing associated with thugs. (I honestly didn't know hoodies had this reputation. Doesn't every teenage boy wear hoodies? I had (and still have) a bunch of them.) It brings to the forefront the perception we have in this country of young black males as being particularly criminal and violent. This is a really charged topic, one that most people (particularly white people) aren't comfortable discussing. It's a topic that I don't want to go into now, not because I want to dodge it (on the contrary, I think it's an important issue and would like to share my thoughts on it), but because it requires a whole lot more words than I want to type on the subject right now. One thing I will say is that Adam Carolla has been speaking out on this issue a lot on his daily podcast lately. His feeling is that everything stems from the nonexistence of fathers in too many black families. If, as a society, we could solve this problem, all the other problems (the crime, the violence (real and perceived), the prejudices, etc.) would largely be alleviated. While I hardly take Carolla's political commentary as gospel (the best thing I can say about a lot of his cringe-worthy political rants is that they're kinda funny), I agree with this particular assessment almost 100%, and it would be nice if leaders of all races would make this a focal point. But, this is a broad issue and doesn't really apply specifically to the Trayvon Martin case. From where I stand, given the information at hand, his death is a tragedy and an injustice, plain and simple.
[Hilarious scene from "The Simpson's". A quote from Homer from the same episode, "When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power... like God must feel when he's holding a gun."]
On another gun-related topic, yet another school shooting went down this week. This one at, Oikos, a small largely Korean Christian university in California. The shooter One Goh is apparently a disgruntled former student. No other motive is being report. Although I think I know another motive: the dude is a fucking lunatic. Whenever this type of thing happens the media always searches for some deep reason, and nothing satisfactory ever comes from it. It's never, "The shooter, a very wealthy and social man, had uncovered a ring of pedophile rapist-terrorist, who were planning a cross-country crime spree culminating with the destruction of the White House. By shooting these people, he saved hundreds of children and perhaps the entire country." It's always, "The shooter is described as a loner and has displayed evidence of mental instability." You don't say? Lining up your former classmates, picking them off one-by-one, and then admitting you did it to a supermarket clerk -- mental instability? Huh, go figure.
Speaking of "the media", this (gun-related) story is a perfect example of why many of our major media outlets suck. All facets of the political polyhedron like to claim there is a media bias, and there is, a bias toward money. Media outlets want eyeballs, so instead of reporting, more and more, they sensationalize. Just read this headline, "Police draw guns at home of Torii Hunter", what types of images does that conjure up? Now read the story (it's very short). Can this even be called "a story"? Police followed protocol in response to an accidentally tripped alarm -- that's a nonevent. Hunter is quoted as tweeting, "The cops that were here today had there (sic) guns drawn but pointed downward in for safety. Those guys handled the situation like trained cops," and "The police department did a great job of protecting my home. Thanks guys!" This is such a bullshit article. But, in part, it's my own fault. I should know better than to click a random Yahoo! headline. For every ten times I click, I read one half-interesting story. That's a .050 batting average. Well, no more. This is it. No more clicks, Yahoo!. You've fooled me for the last time.
And this is it for this entry. Until next time...
Quick Update: After writing this, I noticed that ABC News release "enhanced" footage of George Zimmerman showing what could be a big gash on his head. It still seems fishy to me. He still sought out Martin. He still could have prevented the entire ordeal simply by listening to the 911 attendant. Also, does getting in a physical altercation that you basically started warrant shooting somebody? Like I said, it's still fishy to me, but since I specifically mentioned Zimmerman's apparent lack of injury, I wanted to put up this update.
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ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of getting a gun because when the apocalypse goes down this December I don't want to have to get close enough to a zombie to put a screwdriver in it's eye socket.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, good point. I forgot to the zombie variable into my equation. Ugh... Now I have to do all the calculations again.
ReplyDelete