Sta.sh
Draw my Naruto OC Manku Urakami. It's can be all thet u want, fan art, face screenshots, couple art or else.
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When you look at the social, financial, and political problems facing the nation, improving gun control seems a) daunting, in the face of NRA power, and b) just another of the many straws breaking the camel's back. The enormity of the issues facing America and the world can easily take the wind out of one's sails. Reproductive rights. Terrorism. Israel/Palestine/Syria/the Larger Middle East. Militarization. Global warming. Financial reforms. Employment. Rising health costs. Political polarization. Defense of Constitutional freedoms. Immigration reform. Shrinking energy resources (and growing needs). Food and clean water shortages. Internet freedom, access, and equality. AIDS. Etc, etc. In some ways it all makes the Cold War era challenges look simplistic.
I've struggled with where to apply my activism energies in such a way as to effect maximum impact. When you just focus on one issue, say like gun control, it's too easy to get distracted by all the other waving tendrils of danger and dysfunction throughout the rest of society. Plus the issue is so polarized that real solutions become almost impossible. So I've decided to try and side step those symptoms and focus myself on the cause: the very unglamorous issue of campaign finance reform.
Almost all of the issues facing us today seem intractable because of the power of money in the political process. And the primary reason money holds such sway is because elections/re-elections are increasing expensive propositions. That matter was only made worse by the US Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Until the power of money in our political process can be mitigated, matters will simply be resolved in favor of the highest bidder.
So, I'm greatly disheartened and frustrated by this weekend's shootings in Wisconsin, but it's resulted in a kind of political action clarity for me. A focus on treating the problem and not the many, many symptoms. Additionally (the unglamorous issue of) campaign finance reform isn't a party-specific issue. The problem extends to all citizens whose voice is not being heard over the flood of coin from interests like the NRA. That leads to a little more unity and clarity as to the desired end game.
All this said, what I REALLY wanted to write about (before ugly reality reared its head) was how cool it was to watch Curiosity's landing on Mars and how impressively flawless the mission has been so far. And, of course, to point you to some great arts you might have missed on DA. And those are...
Where do they did these people up? Are there websites called 'Future President Most Likely to be Revealed as a Serial Killing Psycho'. Sheesh!
You can't say that cigarette smoke causes lung cancer, but (I'm not checking the data before typing) something like 70% of cases affect smokers. So, a wise advice in case you don't want to end your life in an horrible way is (like good old Yul Brynner used to say): "Don't smoke".
Does it make sense?
It's always easier to judge, looking from the outside, in. You and I know that
So as non-gun owners it's easy for us to just say "Madness!". But at the same time I can relate to some of the allure. It's a bit like my fascination with military aircraft. I don't endorse it's primary function, but I can appreciate it's cutting edge design and engineering.
Also I think there are different reasons that people buy guns, and I find some easier to swallow than others. I fully understand collectors as they're a kind of "hardware historian". I intellectually understand hunters... and they're generally using rifles, which pose a different threat from a concealable handgun. But the folks who say that they own a gun to protect themselves from the government strike me as scary and unrealistic. Face it, if the government wants you, they'll send a SWAT team and your collection of firearms is only going to hold them off so long. That and unless you ARE breaking the law, the whole "government's coming to get me" thing is pretty paranoid.
It's always easier to judge, looking from the outside, in. You and I know that
Being the son of a smoker Dad, I know what you mean. Nevertheless, my Dad gained at least 20 years of good life quality in the exact moment when he decided to quit. It's never too late for changing..
I was the same as you regarding the fascination about weapons, when I was a kid. Growing older, this feeling has abandoned me. I can't help but see them only as instruments of death, now.
But I don't claim that absolute truth is on my side.
>I intellectually understand hunters<
I don't, probably because by now hunters in my country - having exterminated every single species of huntable prey for decades - can only shoot small birds and raissed pheasants (or shoot thmselves, sometimes).
But this is obviously another very personal point of view.
I'm with you about all the other things you say.
Then a maladjusted, child-hating loner ran amok at a school in a place called Dunblane. Our political lords and masters decide to "do something to make society safe" and basically made it illegal for people to have firearms in our country. My friend was forced to give up his guns... No matter that he wasn't metally imbalanced and had no criminal record, he had to turn them in.
So... Guns were made illegal. The only way to get a gun was to use the black market. But 'honest, decent people' had nothing to worry about -- only bad people want to have guns, after all...
I'm sure that has been of great comfort to the families of people shot dead by disaffected youths who think that being feared equals being 'respected' by those they intimidate.
Sorry if that's a bit of a rant, but the (ultimately) useless political meddling in such a touchy issue isn't just confined to the United States. A lot of hot air, TV exposure, hand-wringing... and nothing much gets done.
There just seems to be a pervasive attitude of "do as we tell you, don't do as we do" here in the UK when it comes to certain criminal issues. Far easier to harrass "problem citizens", for example, than just charge them with something.