What the hell? Seriously, the hell people
So I ran, and walked a bit because my knee still hurts. All I can think about is how I have been in this country for less than a week and how many people have been shot? Now that it’s 5 cops plenty of people are talking about how to bring all this to an end, ideas to help. I am going to say what I have always been saying as plainly as I can, and hopefully folks will get it now.
The very first thing we need to do is demilitarize the population, the civilian population, the police, everyone. The Second Amendment was written at a time when the best in the world were shooting 3 rounds per minute out of a muzzle-loaded, smooth-bore rifle. We obviously have to accept that times have changed and our laws need to change to meet that. No “right” is absolute. Many times the “right to free speech” has been limited when it comes to terms of public safety, this gun epidemic is a matter of public safety. Part of this is people need to realize the NRA is merely the lobbying wing for gun manufacturers and distributors. They are not interested in your rights, they are only interested in making money.
The second thing is we need to change our ideas and language. Phrases like “well so-and-so deserved it because…” will only perpetuate more violence. Nobody deserves it, nobody should have the power of life and death over another. We are imperfect, our judgment cannot always be trusted, and therefore, nobody has the right to decide who should live and who should die. Even in the most “obvious” of circumstances. This includes the police. Because when you say people have the right to decide these things, there will always be someone who doesn’t agree with you making that decision at some point. Simple solution, nobody can make that decision. Period, end of argument, no extenuating circumstances, that’s it. “but what about” no. There is no instance where it’s ok to take someone’s life. If everyone understood that, then the whole thing ends right away.
This includes the police, needing to be more careful with how they approach situations. Maybe instead of charging in like they were Wyatt Earp, they should wait for backup to arrive, wait until you don’t need to use force, wait until things have calmed down. I’ve been talked to by police. They really do try and escalate situations. They act all “alpha” try to intimidate and be in “control” try to exert “authority”. It does not make me comply, it makes me jumpy, nervous, it makes me want to fight. They are aggressive toward me, and I react with aggression. It’s not good. Even immigration at the airport the other day were unnecessarily aggressive toward me. I wanted to lash out, but that wouldn’t have done any good. But I really hated it. People shouldn’t be treated that way. It’s not the way a free society should be acting towards other human beings.
We really have to start looking at all human beings as our brothers and sisters. There’s no “but this person wants to kill me” or any of that mess. So be it. You have to accept that not everyone will be your friend. Some people will be swayed, due to lack of education, lack of empathy, lack of whatever, to want to harm you. They’ll listen to politicians, “religious” leaders, whatever and believe what they are doing is right. If we’ve truly learned that no one person has the authority to take the life of another, then we know they are wrong. That’s all. Us trying to kill them in return, is just as wrong. There is no winner there. There is no “winning” a war, a battle, a fight, whatever. When you answer violence with violence, everyone has lost. That’s just the way it is.
None of this touches on the deep problems in this country, and world society in general, where we routinely treat people differently based on how they look, or what religion they belong to. That shit needs to stop. The things I talk about seem very difficult and they are. I’m talking about a complete change in consciousness. Intersectionality is a real thing, and once we accept that all these things are connected and we need to change our attitudes, modes of thinking, language, then we can truly start to change these things.
There are some people who won’t change, that’s true. We need to do our best though and we have to accept that as long as we allow weapons to permeate this entire world, we will always be at risk. As long as we keep our populations armed, police armed, armies pointed in every direction, at every level of society, we are at risk. Until we allow understanding and peace to rule the day, until we accept that all people have value, all people have a voice, all people are allowed to exist as they are , and we have no right to judge whether they should live or die, we are at risk. I accept it. I understand these things. People who would shoot me on sight, that’s their problem. If I’m devout, I understand that my God will accept me into my heaven, and condemn those who hated me to my hell. If I’m not then I simply accept that I go back into the void from which I came, my struggle done. That’s that, it’s that simple. Somebody has to go first in this Mexican standoff, and we can either all start shooting, or someone can just disarm, and hope that the others disarm as well. Here I am, I’m just going to put my weapons on the ground (figuratively, I don’t own any weapons) and walk away. I’m not here to rule or dominate anyone. I’m not here to tell anyone how to live. I’m just saying I want a world where everyone can live.
Have fun, keep running, and remember; if Gil can run then so can you!
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