fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3136 ]

[ SECRET POST #3136 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3136 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Look, if a classroom of dead 5 year olds isn't going to at least create some stricter gun laws about who and where you can buy guns, nothing is. They've tried. Believe me, many people have tried. But the NRA has deep pockets.

This is, on some level, a democracy. At the end of the day, if you trace it deep enough, it has to be regarded as an indictment of the people and the republic.

Like, it's not like it's some inescapable condition decreed by God that the NRA would have insanely deep pockets and be able to use them to decide elections. It is a result of our choices and decisions. It didn't have to be the case that we would elect the kind of people who would appoint the kind of judges who would strip back restrictions on soft money and political spending. It didn't have to be that we would give into a climate of cultural warfare. All of these things are, ultimately, no one's fault but our own. Because this is at the end of the day a democracy.

Well, more of my parents and grandparents. I mean, I've only been of voting age for 6 years. :(

Well, yeah, "the American people as a whole"

The United States government isn't considered a democracy unfortunately. So, at the end of the day it may not matter if the majority of US citizens want gun control or not.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

Democracy is not a thing in most parts of the world.

Sure, in many countries we can vote for our "representatives" but even if the elections aren't rigged, at the end of the day politicians go with whoever offers them more money (aka they follow a few rich people) and the average citizen (aka the majority) doesn't matter.

Short version: it's not just in America.

Unfortunately it's mostly America.

Well yeah. I suppose it is easier to indict an entire nation of people than to look at complicated social factors and try to understand where this stuff stems from in an effort to enact change. It feels better and makes you look cool.

But that's what the indictment is of as a sum, complicated social factors.

Not really.

Saying "we're a democracy" while ignoring the complicated factors that lead to the choices people make isn't a complete sum. You're ignoring the fact that for most of our history a huge chunk of the populace couldn't vote, that this democracy is dominated by the agendas of only two political parties, a rural/urban divide that's pretty severe, etc.

It's an indictment on a country that has these problems yes. Or do you think this is about personal blame of each and every citizen?

It honestly kind of sounds like it is, to you.

AYRT

You're reading a lot into what I'm saying but it's all good, nbd. I'm pretty grouchy today too.

I'm really not trying to indict an entire nation of people, though, nor am I trying to ignore social factors. To me, the things that I'm talking about are a part of understanding where this stuff stems from - because social factors don't come to exist in a vacuum. They are themselves the result of historical processes - specifically they are in part the result of previous political choices. And I think it's both important and useful to keep in mind that this stuff wasn't entirely imposed on us by the NRA - that this didn't spring full-formed from the brow of Charlton Heston, that in some sense it's the result of choices we made. Because to me, it both emphasizes the importance of those political choices, and it helps us to keep in mind that this is changeable. It's not some curse the gods imposed on us - we decided our way into this, so we can decide our way out of it, if we so choose.*

Now of course that should include a nuanced understanding of the specific political choices and social factors etc etc etc that lead to this point. And I'm sorry if I presented it too harshly. Because I am pretty grumpy today. But that's how I feel about it.

*To be clear here, I'm not arguing that you are denying this; I'm just saying that talking about the issue in this way is helpful because it foregrounds this element of it.

I guess my major issue is the use of the word "we." It's generalizing. But I did overreact, sorry about that.

I suppose it is easier to indict an entire nation of people than to look at complicated social factors and try to understand where this stuff stems from

You mean like Americans do to the rest of the world?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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