Tragedy occurs at the intersection of Anger and Ignorance. These
streets aren’t on any map, and those who find themselves there are already
lost. But, start down either one, and the other can be found easily enough.
Anger is a
two-way street. Ignorance is a congested highway.
Anger is not “hate,”
but it is the genus of the species. A person can be angry without hating. Hate
isn’t just irritation or annoyance or frustration at anyone or anything. Hate
is the RESULT. An angry person can make rational decisions. Hate blinds. Hate
deafens. Hate mutes.
This is an angry
world. This is a world where common sense is dwarfed by knee-jerk reactions. A
world where it is all or none.
Anger is
fueled by Ignorance. Not the derogatory stupidity, but of the actual act of
ignoring what is really there. The media knows this. They thrive on it.
Journalism has become an exercise in creative writing to determine who can come
up with the most bombastic headline to catch the most readers. And, more often
than not, that’s where the reader stops. They read the headline, become angry,
and thus, are ignorant of the facts.
This is why
Anger is a two-way street. Anyone can be angry. It doesn’t matter which side of
the political or religious spectrum you fall on. Extremists are extremists. But
we cannot condone the ignorant and horrific actions of extremists by
automatically laying blame on the opposition. The blame lies solely on the
shoulders of the perpetrators of these actions. It was they who allowed
themselves to be worked into a frenzy of fear and rage and confusion. They
alone made the decisions they did, regardless of how misguided their actions
were based on the information they chose to accept as “true.”
Now, we are
left standing over the corpses of rational ideas, trampled to death when we
shoved them out of the way in order to be the first and the loudest to
complain. Immigrants. Guns. Money. Race. These are not the issues. They are the
CAUSE of the issue. They’re just umbrella categories that you can stick almost
anything under.
The ISSUE isn’t
immigrants; it’s How do we handle the influx while still treating them as human
beings?
The ISSUE isn’t
guns; it’s Where is the common ground between safety/recreation and “It’s my
right/I’m allowed to have one”?
The ISSUE isn’t
money; it’s Why is the cost of living so high?
The ISSUE isn’t
race; it’s How do we lessen the impact of inequality in our society (because we’re
never going to get rid of it)?
And this all
boils down to the all-or-nothing mentality of our leaders. This “my way, or the
highway” attitude is what is killing America, not people of the same gender who
lover each other, not a video game that tells a violent narrative, not an
abandonment of God. Politicians love to write legislation they know the
opposition will rebuke, that way then can shrug their shoulders and say they
tried. But they never intended to meet in the middle.
This isn’t
governing, it’s a hostage negotiation. We, the people, are trapped. And people
can do some pretty crazy things when they feel trapped. Anything to escape.
When a person
goes on a murderous rampage, lets mourn the dead and vilify the deviant. Don’t
respond to one attack with another, that will do nothing but incite still more
attacks of one kind or another. Let’s not stand around and agree that “something”
must be done, let’s come up with ideas for that “something.” For instance,
instead of saying that “something must be done” about gun violence, how about
starting a plan to end it. And don’t just dive into the deep end right away,
because you know the other side will shut you down right away. If your goal is
to ban the sale of assault weapons to private citizens in the United States,
then maybe start with proposing legislation to tax the sale of weapons, or,
better yet, the ammunition. It isn’t infringing on the Second Amendment if you
make the weapons/ammunition ridiculously expensive. Or institute a special
property tax on designated firearms deemed to be dangerous. Some may deem these measures to be “extreme,”
but so is the idea that any one should be able to own any gun they chose just
because they’re “allowed” to. Yet that doesn’t seem to be the way the majority
of pro-Second Amendment advocates feel. So, why is that all we seem to hear?
Again, lets
look at Ignorance.
Why is it
that those in favor of legislation to hinder the ability someone from
purchasing a firearm are denounced as wanting to abolish all guns? I’m sure
there are those who do wish for such a thing, but it is far from even being
close to a large number. Similarly, why is it that when someone argues for their
right to bare arms, they are immediately accused of wanting to hand out guns
like Halloween candy? Again, I’m sure those people exist, but we are talking
about the smallest fraction of a single percentage.
So, why?
Because those
are the opinions we are shown most frequently. Media personalities on Fox News
love to claim that all Democrats are “coming for your guns, America.”
Conversely, the folks over at CNN love to show clips of these demonstrative
individuals at the height of their mania and use it as proof that all Republicans
want everyone to be armed to the teeth.
None of these
things are true, but we are presented with these views as if it were the truth,
disguised as information.
The same
thing can be said about abortion or immigration or race. The media only provides
us with the most extreme voices as a representation of the whole. So, is the
media to blame for all of this?
Not at all.
We are.
We, the
people of the United States of America, are to blame because we have let
ourselves reach a place where we are so divisive that there is no longer common
ground on which to stand on any issue. And this stems from Ignorance.
And the ignorant
are quick to anger.
