Propaganda that elicits indignant anger more than thoughtful conversation, because people can't look past the imagined slights on their own opinions to see the real messages.
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| In some areas of our nation, children have better access to guns than a story, toy, or treat. |
Those that know me understand that I am pro-gun rights, but advocate better gun policy. I have yet to find a compelling enough argument to turn my opinion on high capacity assault weapons, despite many discussions with MANY different people about it. But, when I say there needs to be better gun control, people tell me we may as well ban forks. *Side note: This comparison has always boggled me. When has someone's decisions regarding their own health affected the safety of their neighbors? When I ask for a compromise, I am passed off as a liberal idiot who doesn't care about the rights of my fellow citizens. The thing is: They are MY rights, too. But which is greater? Your right to arms? Or another family's right to life? What about a right to live without fear of whether or not your neighbor has an unlicensed firearm that is accessible by children, or someone with anger issues, a history of domestic violence, or a mental disorder?
The blame game is running rampant in our country. THE LEFT WING wants to take away our rights!! THE RIGHT WING doesn't care about our babies!! THE LEFT is full of hippy idiots! THE RIGHT is full of money grubbing warmongers!!
I have a news flash for you: All this flapping is getting us nowhere. What use is a single wing to a bird of prey, like our beloved American Bald Eagle? We flap and flap and flap, to our own rythms and desires, and yet the only way we can get what we need is by opening our mouths and screaming for someone to feed us, to sustain us, to take care of us and our problems, using our talons to claw at the OTHER wing to get it to do as we wish.
This isn't working. On so many levels aside from gun policy. Families are still failing to pay their mortgage; women's bodies are being subjected to the regulations of someone else's religious beliefs; our education system is getting worse, and students are noticing; our food supply is being monopolized and genetically modified by a pesticide manufacturer, small farmers are being bullied, and lawsuits threaten states that wish to give their consumers knowledge of the food they eat; parents with mentally ill children have no options for care.
Flap a little longer. Scream a little louder. But refusing to compromise or work together is only going to result in the continued degradation of our nation, our families, and our lives.
Listen to your neighbor. Learn something new. Advocate for something you believe in. Carry on a discussion with someone of a different opinion. A creature that refuses to evolve will die out... why should it be any different for a country?
