Tag Archives: Politics

No, it is the guns

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As most of America is still reeling from one mass murder and bracing for yet another, I find myself wanting to do little else than scream in outrage to not think at all about the epidemic of gun violence that dominates our lives. Not thinking is winning, mostly. After the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School on that crystal clear December 14th morning in 2012 I felt certain that change would come about, that we did not want to be a country where children would be valued less than profit gains for weapon’s manufactures, but as failed law after failed law dissolved into shameful inaction, part of my belief broke. Government has failed to fix this problem here in this United States of America. Thanks to the NRA and their fully weaponized lobby, much policy is run on greed by the ultra-rich who foster illusions for those they disregard. But this is old news. There is no new shaming news left for our Republican Senators to shine on us: we know them by their own voting history which has earned them high NRA ratings and burgeoning cash rewards. But there is always a new twist on who or what to blame coming from their media spots and I am sickened by the garbage they spread.

 

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Vote?

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The mid-term elections have come and gone, and even though a few votes are still being counted, most races have been definitively called. If you participated in our democratic process, then cheers to you! If not, I have to ask why? I mean this in all seriousness, because it seems to me a privilege worth engaging in, and so, I am curious why you don’t feel the same. I am of course very pleased to report that 49 percent of eligible voters did in fact recently cast their vote. Big turnouts are the new trend according to FiveThirtyEight. Long lines, curtailed polling hours and sites, endless reasons not to bother, all plague the process, however, nearly half of voters endured what they must to have their voice heard. Still, over half didn’t. Were the obstacles too great? Or was it in reaction to the unresponsiveness of government to your concerns? What halts one’s civic duty? I hope, more will cast an educated vote the next time around. This is truly one of our greatest rights as Americans. Still.

 

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O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

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This week a student mentioned that we were on the brink of civil war. Not sure what the context was, since this snippet of conversation happened in the busiest of classroom moments. In a completely other class, on an entirely different day, another student mentioned that we would be embroiled in WWIII before the month was over. There is much weight on our youth these days. My students, like all the others clear across this country, regularly practice what to do if an armed and dangerous person comes into the school to gun them down. Their last three years were interrupted by a global pandemic that has in fact infected many of them, and for some, left lingering health problems. Fear resides at the core of their being. Anxiety is discussed between them with an air of universality. They are equally troubled by what lies ahead. About our sickened planet, our dismal response to gun violence, the absence of empathy for the refugees at our border, and for the robed ones dictating over women’s bodies. They want our flag to stand for them, the queer, BIPOC, trans, questioning and demanding generation. The whole of this revolving planet is on the brink of extinction, they fear.

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