Culture. Culture has become a dirty word. Rape Culture makes men who question their own actions fire off insults at women and anyone supporting #MeToo. Drug Culture has most people condemning opioids and blaming everyone from mom and pops in Middle America to Big Pharma and the government. They also feel pot is the same, if not safer than booze. Something I have always found asinine, despite my support for its legalization. Pop Culture has blown up since the advent of social media and the race to be in the know often makes some shun the hip references. Older people have no time or interest in it, even if it caters to their likes. Then there is gun culture. Which isn't actually a thing, due to the fact that guns are as American as baseball and apple pie. Unfortunately, gun deaths and mass killings are now as common as many of the things we pride ourselves on. Sadly, this has not been a deterrent for gun lovers, who blame the people with the guns, not the guns, never quite seeing the irony in blaming themselves.
The biggest culture in America, and in the world, is Fear Culture. Most, if not all, religions stemmed from fear culture. Our guns culture definitely was borne out of an open fear of retaliation from Great Britain, but if we're being honest, it was more a fear of slave uprisings and the have-nots actually wanting what The Constitution promised: Equality. Not just in opportunity, but in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We now live in a constant state of fear and we're programming out children, their parents, and their teachers to always be on their toes, straddling the fine line with giving children comfort, while preparing for the worst. It's not, and in no conceivable way, foster a healthy setting. A society, which once told time by the sun or street lamps, is now consumed with lockdown drills and questioning whether arming the instructors is a wise move. Banks no longer have bulletproof glass or armed guards, but some schools do. A few generations ago, children practiced hiding under a desk as if that would somehow stop a bomb from killing them. Now they have to know which rooms or closets only open from the inside. And one of the things most people forget when discussing this and running these drills is, there's a good chance the person you're trying to prepare for is not someone you'd view as a threat normally. It's a student or a former student, a teacher, or a family member. Someone you've seen before, and no matter how odd they may be, nothing prepares the mind to accept that someone could carry out such heinous acts. But, they do.
Yesterday, I inserted myself into a discussion between a teacher and someone who, in the event of such a situation, would be called upon to act. We all discussed the problems that arise, and while the other two viewed the problems and solutions from polar opposite directions, both agreed that these are not preventable scenarios. What I found most interesting was that my perspective agreed with neither of the other two, but both felt I was on "their side." Is there really a side? The one thing that stuck with me, and this is all due to this culture of fear, was despite nothing like this ever happening here, or anywhere close to here (to my knowledge), the other two people already had their scapegoats. One blamed politicians and gun manufacturers and the other blamed school officials, specifically the ex-principal, now superintendent. Small towns will always be rocked by tragedies like these and part of why thoughts and prayers will never work, is because we've become programmed to blame. Blame anyone we can who will give us peace of mind, while never contradicting what matters most to us. For some, it's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and for others, it's owning a gun. It's tragic, but it's true. In a country that lives in fear, the idea that someone can not only protect themselves, but fight back, means more than trying to change this culture of fear!
The biggest culture in America, and in the world, is Fear Culture. Most, if not all, religions stemmed from fear culture. Our guns culture definitely was borne out of an open fear of retaliation from Great Britain, but if we're being honest, it was more a fear of slave uprisings and the have-nots actually wanting what The Constitution promised: Equality. Not just in opportunity, but in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We now live in a constant state of fear and we're programming out children, their parents, and their teachers to always be on their toes, straddling the fine line with giving children comfort, while preparing for the worst. It's not, and in no conceivable way, foster a healthy setting. A society, which once told time by the sun or street lamps, is now consumed with lockdown drills and questioning whether arming the instructors is a wise move. Banks no longer have bulletproof glass or armed guards, but some schools do. A few generations ago, children practiced hiding under a desk as if that would somehow stop a bomb from killing them. Now they have to know which rooms or closets only open from the inside. And one of the things most people forget when discussing this and running these drills is, there's a good chance the person you're trying to prepare for is not someone you'd view as a threat normally. It's a student or a former student, a teacher, or a family member. Someone you've seen before, and no matter how odd they may be, nothing prepares the mind to accept that someone could carry out such heinous acts. But, they do.
Yesterday, I inserted myself into a discussion between a teacher and someone who, in the event of such a situation, would be called upon to act. We all discussed the problems that arise, and while the other two viewed the problems and solutions from polar opposite directions, both agreed that these are not preventable scenarios. What I found most interesting was that my perspective agreed with neither of the other two, but both felt I was on "their side." Is there really a side? The one thing that stuck with me, and this is all due to this culture of fear, was despite nothing like this ever happening here, or anywhere close to here (to my knowledge), the other two people already had their scapegoats. One blamed politicians and gun manufacturers and the other blamed school officials, specifically the ex-principal, now superintendent. Small towns will always be rocked by tragedies like these and part of why thoughts and prayers will never work, is because we've become programmed to blame. Blame anyone we can who will give us peace of mind, while never contradicting what matters most to us. For some, it's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and for others, it's owning a gun. It's tragic, but it's true. In a country that lives in fear, the idea that someone can not only protect themselves, but fight back, means more than trying to change this culture of fear!
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