I am really REALLY tired of the whole gun culture thing. It passed ithe bounds of the ludicrous a long time ago.
I grew up in western PA. we had guns around for as long as I can remember. We hunted and engaged in shooting sports (mostly trap and skeet). The first day of deer season was a school holiday!
I am really REALLY tired of the whole gun culture thing. It passed ithe bounds of the ludicrous a long time ago.
I grew up in western PA. we had guns around for as long as I can remember. We hunted and engaged in shooting sports (mostly trap and skeet). The first day of deer season was a school holiday!
We reloaded our own ammunition. I was a military history/technology geek growing up. I could tell you more about weapon systems and weapon history than you would ever want to know. We had a family friend that had a class three license and whose entire house was literally filled with his weapon collection (with items going back to the 17th century, but mostly WW1 and WW2--and it also included a lot of things like actual uniforms, decorations etc.). He had fully functional automatic weapons (including an m1919 and a MG42).. and he was extremely knowledgeable.
As part of that whole scene I was rigorously taught firearms safety and respect for these very dangerous implements. In middle school the entire student body (unless their parents opted them out--which was rare) went through hunter safety training. My HS had a rifle team (and were state champs every year) and the range was in the basement of the recently constructed middle school.
Despite all of that (or maybe because of it) I have always taken weapons seriously and treated them with the respect they demand. I have never actually wanted to own any military grade weaponry (unless it was historical) or put it to use or pose with it in a photo. I still own a few weapons, but they are rarely used beyond going to the range once or twice a month... and I do not talk about them or openly carry them.
I am constantly left wondering WTF is wrong with these people.
"I am constantly left wondering WTF is wrong with these people."
I think it is a desperate attempt to assert some control in lives that don't have much. For a first world country we live our lives with a very patchy safety net. Add to that the increasing education requirements for work force security (and the decline of unions). Now do some comparisons between what father and grandfather were able to carve out with the same education. Sprinkle in the growing equality that has stripped white males of a good chunk of their advantage (not all, by any means). What have you got:
Millions of white men in more precarious positions than the ones they saw their fathers and grandfathers in growing up. They're one injury or layoff away from losing what they have and they know, deep in their guts, that they won't have an easy time getting it back. It all adds up to fear and resentment, and a few hundred dollars can get them something that makes them feel powerful. It also puts them in a club that also makes them feel powerful.
Then why do they keep voting for a political party that gives tax cuts to large corporations, opposes a fair minimum wage and universal healthcare, and wants to essentially complete the dismantling of what little is left of FDR's New Deal under which their fathers and grandfathers did so well? Why do they keep voting against their own economic self-interest? Do they love guns and hate "other" fellow Americans more than they want health and financial security for themselves and their families?
The best I can figure is that it is a combination of:
1) The Dems being the party of the 'other' (minorities, women, etc.) who have taken a bigger and bigger piece of their zero-sum economic pie.
2) The indoctrination of government help = socialism = communism = Stalin = EVIL.
3) Serious propaganda efforts by those with huge financial stakes in things like healthcare, weapon sales, fossil fuels, and low taxes for everyone super wealthy.
4) Most people's inability to really understand statistics that clearly show that the 'American Dream' is getting harder and harder to achieve as we tilt the playing field more and more in favor of those with resources and or special ability.
You combine what is, in effect, a zero-sum economic model (where someone else's success comes at a cost to you--and which is both archaic and wrong) and pushing the "explanation" for the lessened opportunities and lower pay and worse working conditions off onto those Other People (rather than corporate practices and policies).
The changes in technology since the 70s have been transformative (in a major way) for the economy--and particularly in the area of what were once high paying, secure jobs.
To remain competitive (employed) you had to be willing and able to up your game through education/re-education and to work outside of "traditional" areas (cultural and gender-role/employment flexibility).
It is usually easier to blame the Other than to change--particularly when the rich and powerful are ready to help you do it and are not ready to foot the bill to help you change.
The shift to a global economy and structure hurt the existing work structure--but, at the same time, it made a lot of things cheaper and more accessible than if they were made here. As in most changes, there were ups and downs (think of the shift from animal travel to internal combustion--new paths were opened, new jobs, etc... but a lot of old ones disappeared or changed).
The current shift is more profound in that it requires more change on the part of workers--more education and training. Different ways and types of work. Moreso than in the past.
Attempts to ameliorate this change and adapt/adjust were effectively hamstrung by the people who were profiting from it... and who pushed a series of narratives that were actually inimical to the interests of those caught up in the change, but which provided a simplistic explanation that meshed well with existing beliefs and prejudices.
I am really REALLY tired of the whole gun culture thing. It passed ithe bounds of the ludicrous a long time ago.
I grew up in western PA. we had guns around for as long as I can remember. We hunted and engaged in shooting sports (mostly trap and skeet). The first day of deer season was a school holiday!
We reloaded our own ammunition. I was a military history/technology geek growing up. I could tell you more about weapon systems and weapon history than you would ever want to know. We had a family friend that had a class three license and whose entire house was literally filled with his weapon collection (with items going back to the 17th century, but mostly WW1 and WW2--and it also included a lot of things like actual uniforms, decorations etc.). He had fully functional automatic weapons (including an m1919 and a MG42).. and he was extremely knowledgeable.
As part of that whole scene I was rigorously taught firearms safety and respect for these very dangerous implements. In middle school the entire student body (unless their parents opted them out--which was rare) went through hunter safety training. My HS had a rifle team (and were state champs every year) and the range was in the basement of the recently constructed middle school.
Despite all of that (or maybe because of it) I have always taken weapons seriously and treated them with the respect they demand. I have never actually wanted to own any military grade weaponry (unless it was historical) or put it to use or pose with it in a photo. I still own a few weapons, but they are rarely used beyond going to the range once or twice a month... and I do not talk about them or openly carry them.
I am constantly left wondering WTF is wrong with these people.
"I am constantly left wondering WTF is wrong with these people."
I think it is a desperate attempt to assert some control in lives that don't have much. For a first world country we live our lives with a very patchy safety net. Add to that the increasing education requirements for work force security (and the decline of unions). Now do some comparisons between what father and grandfather were able to carve out with the same education. Sprinkle in the growing equality that has stripped white males of a good chunk of their advantage (not all, by any means). What have you got:
Millions of white men in more precarious positions than the ones they saw their fathers and grandfathers in growing up. They're one injury or layoff away from losing what they have and they know, deep in their guts, that they won't have an easy time getting it back. It all adds up to fear and resentment, and a few hundred dollars can get them something that makes them feel powerful. It also puts them in a club that also makes them feel powerful.
Okay, but this guy is a freaking millionaire. His thing is just performance art for his constituents, right?
Then why do they keep voting for a political party that gives tax cuts to large corporations, opposes a fair minimum wage and universal healthcare, and wants to essentially complete the dismantling of what little is left of FDR's New Deal under which their fathers and grandfathers did so well? Why do they keep voting against their own economic self-interest? Do they love guns and hate "other" fellow Americans more than they want health and financial security for themselves and their families?
The best I can figure is that it is a combination of:
1) The Dems being the party of the 'other' (minorities, women, etc.) who have taken a bigger and bigger piece of their zero-sum economic pie.
2) The indoctrination of government help = socialism = communism = Stalin = EVIL.
3) Serious propaganda efforts by those with huge financial stakes in things like healthcare, weapon sales, fossil fuels, and low taxes for everyone super wealthy.
4) Most people's inability to really understand statistics that clearly show that the 'American Dream' is getting harder and harder to achieve as we tilt the playing field more and more in favor of those with resources and or special ability.
In other words, the Moneyed Masters of the Universe played them by arousing their bigotry and resentments to their own detriment.
Yes.
You combine what is, in effect, a zero-sum economic model (where someone else's success comes at a cost to you--and which is both archaic and wrong) and pushing the "explanation" for the lessened opportunities and lower pay and worse working conditions off onto those Other People (rather than corporate practices and policies).
The changes in technology since the 70s have been transformative (in a major way) for the economy--and particularly in the area of what were once high paying, secure jobs.
To remain competitive (employed) you had to be willing and able to up your game through education/re-education and to work outside of "traditional" areas (cultural and gender-role/employment flexibility).
It is usually easier to blame the Other than to change--particularly when the rich and powerful are ready to help you do it and are not ready to foot the bill to help you change.
The shift to a global economy and structure hurt the existing work structure--but, at the same time, it made a lot of things cheaper and more accessible than if they were made here. As in most changes, there were ups and downs (think of the shift from animal travel to internal combustion--new paths were opened, new jobs, etc... but a lot of old ones disappeared or changed).
The current shift is more profound in that it requires more change on the part of workers--more education and training. Different ways and types of work. Moreso than in the past.
Attempts to ameliorate this change and adapt/adjust were effectively hamstrung by the people who were profiting from it... and who pushed a series of narratives that were actually inimical to the interests of those caught up in the change, but which provided a simplistic explanation that meshed well with existing beliefs and prejudices.
Well said.