I'm a liberal. I also think I'm patriotic. But sometimes patriotism means facing some harsh realities. I don't like guns but for many years now I've heard the NRA talk about a citizen's "right to bear arms" as a right of the constitution and something not to be disputed. I didn't agree with them but as someone who wanted to, at the very least, put some stock in the words written by the founders of this country I grudgingly acknowledged that maybe, just maybe I'd have to give the NRA this one.
Then on Friday I read this article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/23/120423fa_fact_lepore written by Jill Lepore in The New Yorker. It rocked my world. It rocked my world because it filled in the missing piece for me but it also made me sad at what the citizens of this country have become (or maybe what we've always been). Based on Ms. Lepore's research the 2nd amendment to the constitution isn't about me being allowed to pack heat on my way to the grocery store…it's about the right to have a militia, an ORGANIZED GROUP OF CITIZENS…a MILITIA that are armed to defend against actual threats. This is far different than what the NRA has been touting since the Reagan administration. This take on it makes it clear that the founding fathers weren't expecting us to be armed to the teeth with assault weapons and semi-automatics, no they expected states to have armories stocked with weapons and ammunition at the ready for the citizens to use if the need for a militia presented itself.
The NRA uses the right to bear arms as an umbrella statement for people's overall rights. By telling people that the government is trying to rescind your right to bear arms they imply that once that goes it's a slippery slope to Nazi Germany. This fear tactic is working. I'm sorry to say this, I'm sorry to be some east coast snob but the NRA tactics of fear mongering have convinced some of the less informed citizens of this country that they are, in fact, at risk of losing all of their rights.
It's human nature to fear what you don't know or don't understand. I suspect that there are many people in this country that have had little exposure to foreigners of any kind; little exposure to people who are different from them, who are gay, or of other religious beliefs, or NO religious beliefs; little exposure to educated people or abstract thoughts about science and these things induce fear. I started to poke around the internet on Friday to learn about places I have little knowledge of; these places weren't faraway lands…they were places like Kansas and Oklahoma. Because yeah, I too fear what I don't know and can't understand. It seems that Kansas has a growing number of "ghost towns", abandoned towns where there is nothing left just the buildings, no people, they're all gone. I can't imagine that, I can't imagine there being so little commerce, so little LIFE that people have no choice but to find it elsewhere but clearly that's something that happens. Before those people left those small towns what did they know about other cultures? Other religions? Other overall beliefs? It's hard to say. Did they get that info from TV or the news?
If you consider whole towns of people diminishing down to nothing, no one left to eat cherry pie at the diner and no one left to make the cherry pie at the diner, then what? These people were "small town America" and people embraced that but with that type of isolation comes fear of what is different. Fear of the big city of urban life fear that those big city slickers are gonna strip you of your rights as an American…and you're pretty sure those fears are accurate, just look at what the NRA is telling you about what the big time politicians wanna do, they don't want to let you have guns in your home to protect your property or hunt and those rights were assured you in THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Look, I'm a pretty curious person. I do a lot of research for the sake of finding shit out and I never bothered to look into how accurate this was and I'M OPPOSED TO GUNS…d'ya think that someone who is living in a small, and getting' smaller, town is going to reach out for more info and challenge the NRA's stand? No. No they won't.
Worse than this though is our arrogance. Americans are arrogant. We are. We are fucking arrogant people. Somehow THAT'S what got bred into our DNA. We cannot be WRONG. We can't and we'd rather die arguing than admit we were wrong and LEARN FROM IT.
Sad to say that the wrong people are going to read Jill Lepore's article. People like me will read it…and admit that our former beliefs were wrong. I'm thrilled and relieved to know that what I used to believe about the 2nd amendment is wrong but that's me. That NRA-believin', small-town livin', social conservative, right-wing person in the middle of the country is never going to read it (why would they read a snobby magazine like the New Yorker?) and if they DID read it…well, it would just provide fuel to further trash the lefty liberals who want to strip away everyone's rights.
Here's the thing people. If you expect a government to be there for you then you need to give a little on your part. As much as the arrogant people of this country would like to brandish their semi-automatic high in the air and scream from the hilltop that they don't need government…well, try to live without it. It's flawed, certainly, but it's also necessary but you have to allow it to do its job, protect the citizens, provide social programs, incur taxes to reap benefits.
I told a friend that I wanted to go on a missionary trip across America to preach the ways of diversity, to preach NO religion and a broad acceptance of differences. I don't someone to stop being a devout Christian if they really believe in that but I want them to accept me for NOT being a devout Christian and celebrate our differences. I don't need everyone to enjoy exotic foods from strange and foreign lands, but I'd like them to try some of them and then make an educated decision (personally, I'm not a fan of Indian or Thai food but I've tried them on several occasions, I've had the experience to make the decision). I want to be listened to and I want to listen. It's okay to fear what you don't know or understand but I'm so sure it's okay to continue to avoid knowing or understanding different people and lifestyles.
We're at a crossroads, we're being taunted by bullies at the NRA and they are rallying their supporters in the rank and file of American arrogance. Humility is a virtue we'd do well to learn and experience right now we have to be willing to say, "huh, maybe I was wrong about that…" and then continue to learn more and develop our own opinions and thoughts on the subject. It's one thing to say, "hey I KNOW the constitution doesn't guarantee me the right to have a stockpile of guns…but I still WANT a stockpile of guns…" it's another thing altogether to stand your ground and insist that it's your RIGHT to have that stockpile of guns.
And what is a "right" anyway? Who grants those? We talk about God-given rights…what if you don't believe in God (or god)? Who grants you rights? People say that driving is a privilege not a right…what makes that difference? How can we say that owning a semi-automatic weapon is a right? Rights are entitlements but who grants those? We are an entitled society, from what I can tell we think we have a right to EVERYTHING but when everyone thinks they have a right to everything then at some point each of us infringes on the other's rights somehow, someway. This entitlement is just arrogance in a pretty suit.
We need to wake up, we are not a nice people and the ones who claim to be the nicest, the most religious, the bestest of the best…those are the ones that show the most entitlement; the most absolute arrogance and that will be our downfall. If you can't humble yourself; not before your God (or god) but before your fellow human then you, my friend, are an arrogant fucking asshole.
Make it a goal to humbly admit you were wrong about something, tell someone directly and ask for more information. Embrace new things and admit your wrong and see how that goes. It's a start.
And most importantly, be kind to others, we're forgetting how.
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