Reviloja753 about what, exactly?
Ohmachi i understand this is a very personal and horrifying issue; however, i was simply commenting on the lens in which we view these atrocities. at the end of the day, democratic politicking hasn't met anyones needs, and the democratic party is right-of-center at best. to consolidate the breadth of societal ills at play, and reduce the issue to "The current Republican controlled, house, senate, presidency, and judiciary", does no service to those who have been slain.
the purpose of the linked article was to demonstrate the milquetoast actions of the beloved democratic party, something a lot of liberals still cling onto. i want to push the conversation outward, to escape bipartisan distractions.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...parkland-students-manifesto-americas-gun-laws
take a look at mainstream gun control activists: the parkland survivors. I'll be the first to admit that I was incredibly supportive of the students at first. it's amazing to see fellow youth, a demographic that is dismissed as politically incompetent and idealistic, galvanize a polity that has been long overdue for change. that being said, however, I cannot support much what is written here. just because the organizers are young doesn't mean that they can shirk accountability. this manifesto outlines practices which are actively harmful to both students, especially of color, and the public at large. an increased security force and bloated surveillance through a database are both remarkably dangerous policies. not to mention the conflation of mental health and violence.
gun violence has created generational trauma and created so much emotion and trauma. when i posted abt political parties, and my critique of the parkland students -- it isn't meant to throw the baby out with the bath water. i am not attacking you, the students, or anyone involved. we need to simply learn, understand, and compassionately move toward how to make life safer for everyone. right now, that's not the case. intersectionality.
whiteness doesn't even have compassion for its offspring when juxtaposed to the profits of guns and capitalism. what does this mean, then? how do we approach these structural systems that create the millieu for school schooters? incels?
in many ways, too, mainstream gun control frames state intervention as a necessity to curtail interpersonal violence, instead of interrogating how the state bolsters interpersonal violence. the school to prison pipeline, economic inequities, sexist tools of policing and regulations.
and there lies the question: why are the most marginalized folks not committing these crimes? what does this say about white male rage and masculinity?
i resonated very much so with these words:
http://racebaitr.com/2018/04/10/why-they-shoot-us-at-home-black-people-have-no-safe-places/
"Taking away guns from civilians and police in the United States is not a solution to protecting Black lives, though it will make it more difficult for us to be killed in our homes, cars, and schools by police or others. It will not instantaneously create a paradigm shift where Black lives suddenly matter. However, drawing attention to the reality that the fault lies with the government paves the way for more substantial ideas and the possibility to imagine completely new alternatives. Alternatives with the basis of valuing Black human life as a requisite to valuing all human life."
and that poses the questions: how do you get there? to what extent do you give credence to working within the political system? how do you pressure it? whose leadership do you value? who is being ignored in the conversation? who is mainstream? why?