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| What Do Dog Attacks, School Shootings, and Election Theft Have in Common? by S.L. McKay Spring 2001 |
| We continue to look everywhere but in the mirror for the root of our problems. Yet, when all is said and done, it is we, the People, that shape our nation. |
| Unfortunately, most of us are guilty of expecting others to do the heavy lifting. Some spurn government involvement in our lives yet blame it for not solving societal woes. Others espouse community via religious belief yet only extend assistance and caring through and to a personal place of worship. Some anti-choice advocates give lip service to the value of life but do not adopt orphaned and neglected children. Some go so far as violent action against doctors who perform legal abortions—so much for valuing life. Image the positive difference that could be made if the same time and energy was spent toward non-violent, constructive actions for children already born! Imagine the number of tragedies that could be prevented and the humanity gained by more intervention from family, friends, and neighbors against negligent dog owners and parents, and on behalf of children. The recent school shooting in San Diego had similar media coverage and public outcry as prior incidents. What is wrong with this picture? After several years of gun violence by teens in schools, why are the outcomes and responses the same? Have we learned nothing? Why do so many cling to the belief that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”? Even if one takes this view, then surely they would not oppose safety measures to prevent easy access to the means? What about the accountability that comes with gun ownership? One individual’s right to own a gun does not supercede another’s right to safety. Would most Americans vote for a candidate who’s top contributor was a group promoting road driving privileges for all, and insisting that there was no need for driver’s education classes, testing, licensing, and monitoring? The NRA, a key supporter to the Bush campaign, still clings to the illogical notion that hand guns are not used to kill and maim. Charleton Heston still waxes patriotic albeit ignorantly about the Second amendment and gun rights. Yet, I ask again: What about the accountability that comes with gun ownership? Further, what about government’s interventionist role when one individual’s right harms another? Do parents have the right to leave loaded guns in the house when there is overwhelming evidence that children will handle them? Do gun manufacturers have the right to oppose safety measures for their products? Whether through idle curiosity or harmful intent, a child with a gun is a threat. If a parent left a chainsaw unattended in the home and a child handled it and caused injury, it is hard to believe the parent would not be held liable. Of course, parents are not always the source of the guns. Notwithstanding, this has proven no deterrent to kids. As long as the NRA owns politicians kids will have easy access to guns. Our governmental representatives are perhaps the least accountable of all. They have provided negligible leadership when it comes to protecting our children. A GOP-led Congress, owned by the NRA and obsessed with destroying Bill Clinton, has done little to address the complexity of gun violence and gun safety. Further, both major parties receive tremendous support from the entertainment industry. So it comes as no surprise that after decades of conclusive research about the negative effects of exposure to violence, little has been done to curb violence fed to children through movies, television, and video games. Instead of focusing on altering the means that lead to violent crime, we weep, rage, and seek to punish after the fact. A testament to our communal irresponsibility is our laziness toward prevention and false sense of justice through incarceration. As a society, we seem to think building more prisons and executing more criminals is more effective than doing the heavy lifting needed to find solutions to help better raise our children. Most criminals are made, not born. We have more prisons. We have more prisoners. We have more executions. We have more children killing each other with guns! We continue to look everywhere but in the mirror for the root of our problems. Yet, when all is said and done, it is we, the People, that shape our nation. This brings me to the 2000 presidential election. Our democracy was in trouble long before “chad” and “butterfly ballot” became words used in daily conversation. Right up to Election day I heard and read of voters whining that the candidates had not defined themselves; that the media had not given them enough information; that they were confused. There is only one person responsible for informing the voter: the voter. Representative democracy is not a spectator system. There is no excuse for not being informed about candidates and issues in this day and age. Access to information is easier than it’s ever been. Literally hundreds of mainstream and alternative newspapers, magazines, television and radio are available 24/7 via hard copy, broadcast and on line. Granted, few sources are objective and none should be viewed at the gospel. Again, this should not be a problem for the responsible voter since there is a range of data to peruse in order to form a well-rounded opinion. Citizens that believe they receive intellectual nourishment from nightly network newscasts are comparable to naive babes that wait to be spoon-fed at pre-designated times and never cry for more. There were also a large number of voters who seemed confused about how to judge a candidate. Those that bought into the corporate media view (a.k.a. image over substance) looked for superficial traits like “charm” and “stiffness.” Those who relied only on mainstream media could not have been completely informed about the candidates on such important distinctions as IQ, experience, and private/personal records. It is hard to image that G.W. Bush would have become the GOP nominee, let alone finagle the election, were all voters truly aware of his dismal record as governor of Texas. Or if they had looked into his prior history, including being AWOL from Guard and refusing to give account as well as other questionable dealings like Funeralgate, unanswered questions about drugs, about character, and lack of experience but not connections. Likewise, had more voters been aware of Al Gore’s 24 years of mostly stellar service to the nation, with only the one hiccup that the corporate media exploited with glee, and the fact that most of his so-called exaggerations were fabrications by the media and Bush campaign. Granted, he still won the popular vote, but it would have been a landslide and Florida would not have been an issue if more voters had participated in becoming thoroughly informed of the stark difference between the two candidates. Nonetheless, Election Day came and Florida happened. Granted much of the problems in Florida (and other states) had to do with serious civil rights infringements. This cannot be overstated. Nor can it be ignored. However, a portion of the problems would never have happened if voters had taken responsibility for their actions. This means being responsible in determining that they were prepared to exercise their right to vote. How should they have done this? |