Those poor folks in Tucson who lost their lives. The little girl who lost her future but her grieving family has to live on. I can't stand it. Yet we Americans are so lucky that such a tragedy gains all of our attention. In Iraq or Mexico this would be a forgotten footnote. The same goes for the Ivory Coast, Haiti, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon, Brazil, South Africa, Chechnya, Algeria, and all of the poorest places in the most fortunate places in the world.
The fact that they were all killed in a short period of time in a place considered safe makes this news but when it happens repeatedly daily in a small area, nobody cares. Our species is capable of such great atrocity against fellow members. If you disarm us the worst amongst us will run rampage as in Mexico but if you don't regulate weapons then Mexico happens too. Somewhere there is balance. Personally I am for gun freedom but not for all. Unstable people need to be stopped but who decides? Doctors? Judges? Neighbors? Can everybody get a vote on who and anyone receiving ten negative votes is ostracized (having his ostrich cut off).
The answer starts at home with civility and a belief system of right and wrong. Without this any one of us can digress into the bedlam of our primitive past. The difference is our enhanced weaponry, and not just on an individual scale but on nation state scales. Many dangerous men have risen to absolute dictator where the very lives of people are at his whim.
Not so long ago in England the local lord decided who could marry and often deflowered the bride as was his right. So much for civilization.
We all need to thank God that we live in a place where almost all of us have a roof over our heads. I hope we can practice kindness.
Jon
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