March for Our Lives

[Amy0204]

Several survivors of the Parkland FL shooting are calling for a national march on March 24 to demand action from lawmakers. I applaud these kids. To have such presence at age 16 and to have the courage to speak out and the willingness and leadership to organize a massive undertaking like this leaves me more hopeful for the future. But I also can’t help but feel that we have failed our children. We have been unable to make them feel safe in our world which, I believe is an important role of a parent. Their need to to take action is a condemnation of the adults in this country and our inability to rise above partisan politics and do something about this senseless killing. I for one am feeling depressed and guilty this weekend. I have the deepest respect and admiration for these kids and nothing but disgust and loathing but those who keep standing in the way of taking action. And I guess there’s some self-loathing as well, but I…we…should have done better. All this crap about when life begins occupies so much time and energy and what does it matter if we’re not going to respect those lives and nurture them and protect them and give them opportunities to learn and grow in a safe place? We’ve failed our children. Here are links that provide background info.

Florida shooting survivors announce national march against gun violence

Florida teen shooting survivors announce 'March for Our Lives' demonstration in...

UPDATE: March For Our Lives, MARCH 24th

MarchForOurLives.com
Twitter: @March4OurLives
Facebook: @MarchForOurLives
Hashtag: #MarchForOurLives

Matt - sorry for not using the etherpad but I just couldn’t hold back on this until tomorrow; it’s deeply affecting me and this is a safe community in which to express myself and share information.
Thank you for that!

[Jim]

I applaud the initiative that American students are taking to stand up for their lives. If I were living in the USA I would be home-schooling my kids now. So many kids have died and your politicians are doing nothing, it seems. Every time I hear someone say “now is not the time to talk about gun control” I hear: “I am supported by the NRA”. Every time I hear “guns don’t kill, people do”, I hear: “my fondness for my guns is more important to me than America’s children”.
People who think they can defend themselves by keeping a gun in their purse or glove-compartment don’t understand that the bad guy always shoots first.
Do these folks also think they should be putting hand guns into their kids’ school bags so they can defend themselves at school? Is this the mark if a civil society?
There is no justification for assault rifles being in the hands of the general public. They are not hunting weapons, they are for killing people.
The second amendment was devised for the purpose of organising militia when required, manned by members of the general public. This was so that the new nation of America would not need to pay for a standing army. Clearly, things have changed since then.
The time to start talking about gun control was 20 years ago. It should have been achieved by now.
But while your electoral process is delivering you leaders like Trump, and your media and your politicians are influenced by the NRA (and the oil industry, and the Russians), the only thing you can do is protest.
I hope that the spectacle of having children march to the Whitehouse will shame some of your leaders into opening their ears and eyes to what is really important.

[elaphe]

Of course, you’re “preaching to the choir” on this forum. I’m tired of hearing “2nd Amendment rights”…the times have changed and the guns have changed (understatement!), we’re LONG overdue for changes to our laws.

[Jim]

Yes - sorry I realise I’m preaching to the choir. I just had to get it out. I promise I won’t mention it again

[elaphe]

Oh, I didn’t mean it that way at all…this is exactly the place to get it all out. No one’s holding you to your “promise”, lol. And after we practice “getting it all out” here, we need to transplant it to our “deaf & dumb” representatives until it sinks in and they act responsibly, instead of being NRA puppets.

[Jim]

Yes that’s right - that’s also the hard part. How do people like us get through to people like them? Apart from just getting a lot us saying the same thing over and over again until we get listened to. How does the NRA do it? We don’t really know how many members they have right? They say 4.5 million but is that true? Anyway that’s not the point: the point is that they are organised and they have money. There must be more than 4.5 million Americans who would like their kids to be safe at school. Could that group get organised and acquire sufficient financial backing to out-play the NRA?

[elaphe]

How does the NRA do it?

This is how (and this influence-buying needs to be illegal & terminated); notice the difference between all the Republicans on the take from the NRA, & the scarcity of Democrats…& notice the amounts!

Opensecrets.org|Gun Rights vs Gun Control

Many NRA members actually have no problem with background checks & some other “common sense” measures, but the NRA itself is also getting some support from Russia, not because they believe THEIR citizens should own guns (LOL) but because they love what it’s doing to OUR society…they seek to stir discord in our society to show the folly of democracy so their own subjugated people will stop longing for what they don’t have & just give up. ALSO, the NRA has some wealthy Americans who make BIG money off arms trade (etc) and they too prop up the NRA’s radical agenda. It always seems to come down to “follow the money”.

[Jim]

Wow. I see it’s an uphill battle until that kind of influence-buying is made illegal and terminated.
(BTW it is illegal here.) Are the wealthy American arms dealers also selling the bandages?

[elaphe]

It wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Historically the Republican party stood for “law & order” & conservative values: none of that’s true any longer (instead of opposing big government, they pushed thru giant tax cuts for the RICHEST & no longer oppose the enormous financial deficit they’re adding to) & many citizens are willing drink their Cool-Aid, some are more of an “end justifies the means” thing in the fog of their religious beliefs (many are racist, &/or are determined to roll back the rights of women with an anti-birth control/anti-abortion stance, also anti-science, etc). It’s truly mind-boggling what greed & the hunger for power does to some people. Just look at our fake president! The election was complicated, with some voting for trump because they’ve always identified as “conservative- Republican” and in spite of not liking all his rhetoric…some say they thought he’d “become presidential” once in office. Then when you figure in the Russian meddling, well, here we are.

[pjaustin]

Those kids in south Florida are the new American heroes. “We call BS”, indeed. They give me hope (and will very soon be voters themselves).

[Jim]

Yes indeed they are. And they need all the support then can get from people like us to make sure that what they are starting keeps going.

[Hagwind]

Don’t forget that until recently (2008), the Second Amendment was not interpreted by the courts to mean that anyone had unlimited access to firearms. Before that, the qualification about militias was taken seriously. The current interpretation was bought and paid for by the NRA and their minions.

[elaphe]

As recent as that? Thanks, I had forgotten, and we sure went downhill quickly. I feel like our government is being run by monkeys on crack.

[Joan]

Sign up for March 24 here:

Join me on March 24 as we march for our lives

[Jim]

I didn’t know that. That was a giant leap backwards.

[Hagwind]

The decision was District of Columbia v. Heller.

[Jim]

Monkeys on crack would be easier to deal with. What you have is government of the people by the rich and influential for the rich and influential.

[Amy0204]

I’m not convinced it happened that quickly. I think our lack of faith in the government started with Viet Nam. The idealistic youths of that time vowed they would create change and they did. But instead of uniting everybody, I think we wound up with a very fragmented society.

Those who escaped the draft or managed to come out of it intact became stronger, smarter, more successful and very protective of their rights, and their wealth. An entitled mindset took over and as they moved into leadership positions, they were motivated by maintaining the status quo. And then there were those who returned damaged or resolute in their desire to institute change, to ensure rights for all. Many of them were equally successful but more generous, more aware of social responsibility and more forward/ progressive thinking. But some of them have also lost that momentum and have become somewhat entitled and they’ve stalled things.

I keep wondering whether these high schoolers who are becoming activists will become a catalyst for change and if successful, will they sustain their momentum or will they realize what they have to give up to get what they want is just took much? Will they become cynical, selfish and hang tight to the status quo? And who are their parents and what kind of values have they been taught? At 18, it’s easy to be idealistic and optimistic. But real life requires compromise and if you have to compromise too many times, you get tired and cynical by the time you hit 40. By 60, you just want to kick back and enjoy the fruits of your labor and do whatever you damn please even if that means somebody else’s rights may be trampled on. I would guess that’s the mindset of many Republicans and the men with the money in the NRA.

So it might seem like it all happened swiftly but I think we’ve been evolving to where we are now over many decades.

[elaphe]

I think some complacency sneaks in there too, when things are basically going well…it’s very easy to take government by & for the people for granted & not be (or stay) involved. When good people look away, others that aren’t so good may grab the opportunity with a very different agenda.

[Pet_Proletariat]

@AlPennG Please don’t use all caps, it stifles the conversation.