[lit-ideas] Re: Gun control
- From: Andy Amago <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:46:29 -0400 (EDT)
I couldn't agree more. (BTW, I loved Martin Guerre. It haunted me.) It's
ironic I think that karate for children is so popular. Powerless feeling
parents sending the kids to karate so the kids will feel the power the parents
don't feel and will protect the parents; i.e., another way parents can draw
sustenance from their children, which they do all (most) of the time anyway,
when they do anything at all. There's a whole concept called "unfinished
business" which means that parents use children to fulfill their own thwarted
ambitions and desires, the flip side of which is their fears and hatreds.
Also, I want to say that my comments about fathers and fathering do NOT apply
to you, and I'm not just being civil either.
-----Original Message-----
>From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Apr 19, 2007 1:15 PM
>To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Gun control
>
>Rent the movie "the Return of Martin Guerre" and watch how the
>returning soldier enters his village. He pauses on the outskirts and
>identifies himself to people. He enters the village slowly and is soon
>surrounded by people who cluster like antibodies around this potential
>threat. There are no police to call, no authorities to protect the
>village if the stranger proves dangerous. But neither are there
>weapons beyond scythes and chains and whatever comes to hand.
>
>Fast forward to the growth of cities and the invention of police
>forces. Though there are authorities to call, people go armed, with
>knives and sticks and guns. Is this because they are "gun nuts" or
>"sword nuts"? No. It is because living with other humans is
>dangerous.
>
>Fast forward again to contemporary times, when we live in far more
>crowded circumstances, when we hope that the police will protect us,
>when we know that for all we want to blame movies and television for
>violence, some humans are better at self restraint than others. Now
>consider the alternatives at Virginia Tech.
>
>1) There could have been a total ban on guns. Then student who is
>angry to the point of insanity does what? Attacks people with a
>kitchen knife? Pours poison in a common water supply? Sets fire to
>the dorm after locking all the doors?
>
>2) Everyone is armed. Student opens fire. Those who draw their
>weapons and return fire are scared and are not very good shots. They
>kill the attacker but they also hurt one another and maybe have to go
>through life with an innocent's death on their conscience.
>
>3) Everyone is trained in a martial art. People close on the shooter
>and take him down. Fewer people are killed.
>
>I think if I were allocating resources, I'd put money on #3. The
>recurrent problem with weapons is that on the very day the giant
>finally appears, your giant killing thingy is at the cleaners.
>
>David Ritchie,
>Portland, Oregon
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------
>To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
>digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
Other related posts:
