If it is a jigsaw puzzle, even a tricky one, eventually I can manage it. If it is a gadget requiring multiple steps to assemble, I may struggle unless I have expert assistance. If I must first dismantle a mechanism and then reconfigure it to make it work, it is even more difficult for me to accomplish.
Fixing something that is broken is challenging. The more complicated, the more sophisticated, the more ways in which to potentially repair what is wrong – assuming you can identify what is wrong – the more involved and time-consuming the process.
Social systems, like human beings themselves, do not come with instructions for assembly or repair.
As Americans grapple with the unfathomable news of yesterday’s killing of 20 elementary school children in a matter of minutes, we may feel at a loss for where to begin to address this country’s ills. We tell each other to hold our kids and assure them they’re safe. But I don’t feel safe. How do I reassure myself much less my children?
It is ten days before Christmas. Like millions who have been too busy to tend to holiday-related tasks, I had a long list on my plate for this weekend: shopping, cleaning, decorating, and picking out a small tree for my small home.
Today I have no interest in shopping or decorating or choosing a tree.
Like parents across this country, I ache for the families in Newtown, Connecticut as the story continues to unfold. I turn to words to somehow deal with the horror of a senseless act of violence, wondering how we ever put an end to it, knowing there are no easy answers.
I am, perhaps like you, grieving, angry, disgusted, and bewildered.
Yet surely we cannot ignore the ease with which we purchase not only handguns but assault weapons. Surely we cannot ignore the growing issues of mental health in this country. Surely we are not so naive as to think this is a one-dimensional or even two-dimensional challenge.
There are issues of greed and politics at work in the background, of course. There are issues of fundamental values that have been eroded over decades. There are priorities in a country that talks a good game about our place of moral leadership in the world, but we don’t put our money where our mouth is.
And by that I mean recognizing that guaranteeing education and a healthy environment, including accommodating the needs of mental health care, are the hallmarks of a civilized people.
There are economic issues at work as well – millions of us living on the edge of a “financial cliff” of our own, juggling multiple jobs to pay the bills. Then there are those who live in poverty, and breaking that cycle also has no easy answers.
What we see are impacts – children raised in violence and neglect; children who are not given the quality of time and attention they need; our overindulgence at times in place of common sense.
Yes, I recognize those as sweeping statements and filled with underlying judgment that reflects my own experience and values. Perhaps these words are a reminder to myself and only that, a reminder that each and every one of us is a cog in the wheel, a reminder that as part of the machinery we nonetheless own our accountability as parents, as members of communities, as voters.
We own our action and our inaction, our speaking out and our silence.
When there are no easy answers, it isn’t sufficient to lick our wounds, to offer our prayers, and to get on with our daily lives. Of course our vigils and respect are appropriate and even necessary aspects of the healing process. And heal we must, but not if we as a nation and as individuals “forget” these tragedies as the weeks go by.
I fear for our country as deeply as I love it. Perhaps those two emotions go hand in hand in contemporary culture; perhaps they coexist in every generation. But just as we love our families, our partners, our closest friends – we do not do so blindly and without confronting destructive behaviors. That means dealing with the guns – some 310 million of them in the U.S – that’s one for each and every man, woman, and child.
It’s a beginning, and one that does not negate recognition of the complex machinery that is America, even as we see the compassionate, beating, human heart that we envision our country to be.
Here are a few more statistics from CNN which I found sadly telling:
26 — Percentage of Americans who favor a handgun ban, a record low, according to a 2011 Gallup Poll.
60 — Percentage who supported a ban in 1959, the first year Gallup asked this question.
Mental health is another significant element in this picture – that goes without saying. It carries its own set of dependencies that are related to our culture, our economy, our systems of care, and yes – our willingness to pick up the tab through tax dollars.
I’ll return to data I quoted a few days ago, that the cost of one F-35 could cover four years of Reading is Fundamental for the entire country. We are as civilized as our priorities.
There are no easy answers, but perhaps some are easier than others. Nothing says we can only focus on one dimension at a time – selecting “this or that.” Nothing says that in our national grief we cannot also do the hard work of speaking out, and looking to repair what we can.
Source for Gun statistics: CNN Statistics on Guns
Also of Interest
Well said. It is frightening to feel so helpless, so disgusted, so impotent. I pray that this massacre will finally motivate this country to not just have a conversation, but take action. Fast.
Unspeakable, unimaginable tragedy! My heart is going to those mothers who already prepared Christmas gifts, looked forward to happy holidays, kissed their little ones for the last time in the morning not knowing that the next hour would abruptly and violently EVERYTHING. I burst into tears when I watched late night CNN and rushed upstairs to hug my son who was peacefully asleep. I’m so happy that Canada has different laws re guns and I pray that our American friends and neighbors will change their attitude towards this dangerous, complicated and scary problem, and as you say put their money where their mouth is.
There are answers if people valued life more than greed. Mental health needs a huge infusion of money and gun lobbyists have to probably lose their children before they can see the value of scaling back on certain weapons and promoting gun sales. I am so hurt, sad and disgusted with our country.
Up until yesterday I’d always had a resigned, powerless reaction to these news of shootings. I’ve had the impression that Americans against guns are a small minority and assumed that there is nothing effective that I as a solitary citizen can do. After all, I made the choice to relocate here, moving my family from Japan, a country where guns are illegal and only 2 deaths by guns were reported nationwide in 2006. I thought, well, personal freedom and a culture of creativity and innovation outweigh the presence of guns. But no, now I’m realizing it doesn’t have to be this way, and I don’t have to accept it, and I’m *not* the only one who thinks this way. Thanks for this reminder, D. I’m going to start looking into concrete ways that I can add my voice to the crowd.
Unfortunately I don’t think the Federal or State leaders have the moral or intestinal fortitude to honestly investigate and debate/discuss the issues. This isn’t just a Federal issue but also a State issue, and an urban v. rural issue.
Think about this: What would the public response be if a Muslim terrorist did this instead of a demented white suburban kid? The politicians and general public would go completely bonkers. So why the difference?
Second: Why are there more and more attacks on children and youths, not just in the US but worldwide? Does this give us any insight?
Excellent questions, Curtis, for which I have no answers.
I do understand this isn’t just a Federal issue. Then again, I believe there are some things regulated at a state level that make no sense whatsoever.
I do not understand America’s “the right to bear arms”.
That sounds like a mantra for the strong and courageous defending their home and family.
Replace the statement with “the right to kill and maim others”.
It’s the ugly truth.
As society loses touch with the real and meaningful there becomes less to be positive about and more to live in fear of.
Take the guns away – it’s a start. How hard can that be. At this point in history – what massacre will it take to make a decision to save lives by removing these weapons. It’s a start.
I just feel completely unmoored by this tragedy. And really angry because I don’t believe that anything is going to change.
Me too. Everything you said. Thank you for posting the Kristof piece today. I am all for that and am going to get on that. Thank you for always inspiring us to right action and to leave the world a bit better than we found it – even when everything just feels totally fucked up beyond hope.
I don’t own a gun but I have gone shooting and haven’t any problem with “basic” gun ownership. In short I don’t see the need for assault weapons or automatics to be owned by “ordinary citizens.”
The guns that were used in Sandy Hook and Portland were for all intents and purposes stolen. I would like to see us use technology more effectively. Why not try to use fingerprints or some other sort of biometric device that will only allow a weapon to be used by the owner.
It won’t prevent all of the problems but it is a start and it will help. I still believe people are good and that hope outshines horror.
I believe most gun owners are responsible and that it hurts us to point fingers in either direction. I would love to see real work take place regarding mental illness. More resources could be made available, but only if we work for it.
This case is a good example of the complexities of dealing with mental illness. There seems to be much either contradictory or unsaid about his mother’s understanding and efforts to treat her son’s condition. But it is said that he very recently got worse, and she was losing hope of “reaching him”. Since he was over 18, I assume she could no longer force him to get treatment. And with many illnesses, including the one(s) I think he had, the sufferer has no objectivity about their (lack of) normality, so they have no motivation to seek treatment. This may have extended to his mother’s state of mind also.