July 4: Personal freedom and personal responsibility
Hello, friends. The endless debate between gun-rights advocates and the need for addressing the senseless violence in our country is a disconnect between ideas of personal freedom and personal responsibility. The violence in American streets and in our schools will not be solved by arming teachers in the classroom. The “dark allure” of safety-by-gun-ownership is part of the nation’s frontier psyche that is carried over into our 21st-century laws for political gain. What will it take to break this “circle the wagons” / “stand your ground” approach to safety in our towns? Best, Gene
News item: On February 23 2020, three white Georgia men murder Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old unarmed black man, after suspecting him of committing a series of break-ins in their Georgia neighborhood. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) arrested Gregory and Travis McMichael on May 7 and Roddie Bryan on May 21, charging them with felony murder and other crimes. – New York Times
Bella Matribus Detestata
”Mothers detest war.” – Horace, Ode 1,1, 24
We abhor school killings and slaughter in Syria,
but fail to explore the impulse to violence
in our hearts and communities.
We are embarrassed to feel the joy of bully selves
in subtle and crass ways, but we revel in the
dominance of brutal sport and war.
Wise gun laws and mental exams will help,
but politicians can’t resist NRA money
when their elections are at stake.
Destroyed young bodies lie bleeding
in battle zones, classrooms
and in the streets of Oakland and Aleppo.
We blame this mayhem on terrorists
and evil others as we enjoy violence
in our souls and entertainment,
when we take pleasure in brain injury
on the gridiron. After all, they are
paid well for dementia at 40. Isn’t that enough?
How hard it is to meditate in depth
on the poetic irony of ancient Rome:
how good and joyful it is to die for the fatherland.
We decry violence, but can’t reject its allure
even in a time of great evolutionary progress.
–Eugene C. Bianchi, March 5, 2018, Athens, Ga
