Come see the violence inherent in the system!
Monday, June 27th, 2005
“An armed society is a polite society.
Manners are good when one may have to back up his actions with his life.”
- Robert A. Heinlein
This weekend our hometown had 8 murders in three days. Now that might not seem like much to you, depending on where you live. Honestly, it’s not that much to me either … especially after all the places I’ve lived. When I lived in Chicago, 8 in 24 hours was a slow day. Where the Pussycat and I live now however, 8 in 3 months is unheard of. One of the murders occured because two men got into an minor argument and one of them decided to show he was the tougher man by shooting the other man’s car.
The car with a sleeping baby in it.
The car with the now dead baby. I know, it’s insane.
Pussycat and I live in a decent neighborhood surrounded by nice people. We have little to fear in regards to wanton violence. However, I’ve got to be honest … after hearing that story on the news, I’m glad we own a gun. Do I think that actually owning a gun makes my family invunerable? Of course not. It does however give me hope that if push ever came to shove, we would maybe have a tiny edge that would enable me to keep my daughter and wife intact. Don’t get me wrong, this is a not a pro-gun post in any way. I don’t even belong to the NRA. Never will either. I’m not for gun-control or against it. I’m simply for doing whatever it takes to protect my family.
(Actually, let me take that back, johnny longfellow just wrote me something that makes me need to clarify my stance) … as I said, politically, I’m neither for gun-control nor against it. However, having said that, I do believe in the second amendment whole-heartedly. I simply do not have much in common with those who feel the need to own grenade launchers as personal protection. Do I believe in guns? Yes. I can shoot fairly well, too. How good? Good enough that I don’t need to toot my own horn. Do I believe I need to own a 120mm cannon to protect my home? No. I don’t.)
Having said all that, let me add, God help the fool that would ever try to hurt our little girl. When she’s born, she’ll the be the most loved, pampered and protected little girl ever. If I had my way, just looking at my child with a mean look would be a hanging offense.
I cannot imagine feeling what that father, whose child died so needlessly, is feeling, but my heart goes out to him. The defense of the man who killed the child is that he was just “shooting the car.” Has society fallen to the point where a man feels he is proving his “machismo” by shooting another man’s car? I’m an constantly amazed at how society in general has changed in the last 20 years. I’m not all that old, and even I rememember a different time and a different way of life.
Recently, I was watching the news when a report came on about a young man, a well-known neighborhood drug dealer, who was gunned down as he plied his wares. His mother was on the news claiming how “it was a conspiracy” and “he was a good boy and never hurt nobody.” I didn’t know which was more amazing, the claim that his death was a conspiracy or that he never hurt “nobody.” Obviously, she’s never seen what smack does to an person. She must think that powder he’s selling is protein supplement. Right.
As a mother, she has a right to grieve the loss of her son. No one would ever want to take that away from her. I have to ask though … how far has society gone that our reporters allow someone to eulogize a dope dealer on national tv? How far have we gone when a mother can say that her dope dealing son was a “good boy” and actually get away with it? Every mother loves her son, of course, but even then there should be absolutes in how to judge a person. If you deal smack on the street and you get shot and die … you’re not a “good boy” … you’re just a dead smack dealer. That’s all. Is that harsh? Yes, it is. It’s also true. I just have no sympathy or respect for a drug-dealer.
Do I feel for the mother’s grief? Yes. I do. I feel for her the same way I feel for the man who lost his baby due to a stupid argument. I truly wish her son had not died. No one should die a violent and pointless death. I wish someone had gotten to him earlier and helped pull him out of the trap his surroundings and upbringing created for him. At the same time though, I feel society has lost something when it becomes acceptable to have a dope-dealer son and still call him a “good boy.” A good boy isn’t a dope dealer.
Where are the parents who spank their kids raw when they deal “small-time” at school? Where are the citizens bind together to show that kid there is a different way? Where are the politicians who enact real laws to deal with the drug producers instead of pussy-footing around the issue to reinsure votes? Where are those who teach that the way you treat society is the way you will be treated return? Where are those that believe when you join society as an adult you enter in a “Social Contract” much like Rousseau postulated?
If you find anyone like that, please let me know. I’m not sure they exist anymore. Until then, I guess I’ll be doing all I can to take care my wife and my little girl from all the “good boys.”
*if you don’t recognize the title of this post, you obviously don’t watch enough Monty Python
*the above graphic is used courtesy of Oleg Volk