So, I'm mad. Really, really mad. I'm mad about all these innocent people who've, yet again, been gunned down by some crazy ass dude. I'm mad because he could run out and get a gun, lickety split, no problem, because he had no "problems with the law or documented mental health issues". Wow. How'd that work out, America?
I know, I know. Right away people are going to start throwing words around like "freedom" and "right to bear arms" and all that bull shit. Tell that to the man who's baby girl was just gunned down in cold blood, because she was interested in seeing our political process in action. What? Too harsh? Too real for you? What if it was YOUR daughter, mother, sister, auntie, hell, even your next door neighbor that was so casually shot to death? Would you really care all the much about the gunman's "right to bear arms"? I doubt it. See, America is very good at pretending that we're all politically correct and that we believe all this bullshit about how we're free. In the end, though, you and I both know the truth. Freedom is an illusion and thank God that it is.
I'm not free to run down the street naked. I'm not free to drink as much as I want and then get behind the wheel of a car. I'm not free to hop onto a plane with a bomb in my purse. I'm not free to walk into a store and grab whatever I want and walk out. What? All of those things are illegal? Well, isn't that a "violation of my right to be free"? No, you say? Why? How come? When did we, as a people make that decision? Did we just wake up one day and know right from wrong? Does everyone wake up everyday and know right from wrong? Do we need guidelines to keep us in check? Or is it an ever changing climate of "right and wrong"?
My sister is a lesbian. She pays taxes. She follows our made up rules. She goes to church. She believes in God. She's loving and open and caring and lives with a wonderful woman whom she can't legally call her wife. Why? Oh, well....because someone, somewhere decided that "marriage" can only be between people of opposite sexes. Yeah, we see how well THAT'S working out. We have over a 50% divorce rate in America. I suppose that letting gay people get married might screw up our "perfect" record, huh? I digress. You see, we've decided who can and can't marry each other; we've decided who can and can't adopt children; we've decided who can and can't run for political offices in our country and I suppose that we've "decided" whom can and can't buy a gun. Funny thing is.....we're wrong. We're wrong about most of it.
Having been a victim of gun violence myself, I can tell you this, being "free" to buy a gun doesn't mean that you have the mental stability to use that gun safely. It's amazing to me how easy it is to get a gun in America. How easy it is to sneak across our borders. How easy it is to get lethal drugs. How easy it is to walk up and blow someone's head off. Yet, how hard it is to get good medical care. How difficult it is for my sister to live peacefully with her WIFE! How many people are struggling right now because we can't afford to keep our houses. Yet we still pay for a war that most people have become so desensitized to they scarcely remember how many good people we've lost or the amount of money we've used to "win" it. Few of us ever KNEW any of that to begin with. But, I know what Sarah Palin's kids look like, don't I?
We all sit back in our little "boxes" and hide away what we really feel. Most of us are too afraid to express much of an opinion one way or the other. We don't want to be seen as too much to left or right, too liberal or too conservative. In that process, I fear that we've lost our way. We've forgotten what it means to have an opinion. We can't seem to figure out how to even voice our feelings. Are they African Americans or Afro-Americans, today? Are they Latinos or Spanish Americans this week? Are you a lesbian or a female gay? I mean, I beg of you......where did we go wrong? When did we decide, as a people, that what you're "called" became more important that who you are and what you do? When did your title become more important than your integrity? When did we give each other permission to act badly because someone called you a name that you didn't like or "suppressed YOUR religious freedom" by expressing their own? Doesn't this sound like kindergarten playground drama to you? We're all content to sit back and pretend that we don't have preconceived notions about each other based on the color of our skin, how we dress, how we talk, how we smell, what kind of car we drive, where we live, how educated we are and how we walk and carry ourselves. I call bullshit.
Gang bangers dress a certain way on purpose. They want others to be afraid of them. Yet, when I see someone dressed like that and cross the street or grab my baby girls hand or lock my van door, I'm a racist, right? Huh? When you see a white person dressed in ripped clothes, with bad teeth, talking with a deep southern accent, you think "red neck" or "hill billy" right? You make a joke to your friend about how if he and his wife got divorced they'd still be brother and sister. No harm, no foul, right? You're not a racist, you're just being funny. Hm? Why does it work that way?
People can't have nativity scenes in front of a school, because "we have to separate church and state". Yet, we have to allow certain religions the right to pray, in school, several times a day. While at the same time, that same school stopped saying the pledge of allegiance because it mentions "God". What? Can you see how back-ass-ward, all of this is? Of course you can. But. You won't say anything. Out loud. Outside of your "box". Oh, you'll bitch and complain to your spouse, your kids, maybe even a close friend, but, even at that, somewhere inside, you're afraid of offending. Afraid of being seen as biased or racist or prejudiced. That word is thrown around so much, we've forgotten what it really means; to judge someone or something BEFORE knowing all the facts. So, why is it that even after I have ALL THE FACTS, I'm still not allowed to believe what I know to be true? It's simple. Fear. We're afraid of each other. Hell, we're afraid of ourselves. We're afraid to use our senses anymore, because then, we'll be labeled, too. Wow. How far we've removed ourselves from our humanity!
I'm a human. I have eyes. Our eyes are on the front of our faces because they're important. Ask any anthropologist. Why are they so important? They're important because we're meant to use them to assess danger in our environment, to see what's coming, to find a mate, basically to live life to its fullest.
I have ears, too. I hear what people say to and about each other. I also hear what they want to say and can't. What we only say to each other inside our "boxes". Now, Sarah Palin is out there. She's extreme, I'll grant you that. I like her. I like her as much as an total stranger can like someone by seeing them on TV. I can see her "good intentions". I chose to see them. Now, I'm a mom, too and I know how crazy that can make a person. I know how I say things that don't quite come out right. A lot. I feel badly for her when she says things like "Don't retreat. Reload." When she said it, I knew what she meant. I still know what she meant. But. It made me cringe. Of course, she couldn't have known that some nutter was going to go off the rails and gun down a parking lot full of people. But, it begs the question.....when it enough, enough? When are we, as a people, going to decide that the media is ruling our lives? When will we take back our own opinions? When will we really "live and let live"? When will we see that our imagined freedom is coming at too great a cost? When will compassion and reason, win out over greed and power? When will common sense and common decency prevail? When will all stop pretending and start standing up for what's real and true in this world? When we will stop living our lives by a piece of paper that was written two hundred years ago? We don't live any other aspect of our lives the same way that we did in the 1700's, why do we think that our government should?
As a whole, America controls what we watch, what we eat, what drugs we're allowed to take, when and where we're allowed to see the human form naked, how old you are when you're finally responsible enough to drink alcohol, drive, get married and die for your country, (not necessarily in that order). We suppress certain language, drugs, booze, sex and fire arms. We also have the highest alcoholic and drug addict rates in the world. We drink and drive more. We rape our women and children more. We get hopped up on drugs and do drive by's more. Our children can't spell ANYTHING, but, can shorten a paragraph into BRB POS TXTUL8R. Hm? How's THAT working out for ya America?
Maya Angelou has said, and I love it, "When you know better, you do better." Clearly, that isn't the case with America. We're too busy not retreating, but reloading. How's that working out for ya America?
Take a deep breath.......it's just another day in Perfect!!!!!
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