ANOTHER BIG JOB FOR
"WE THE PEOPLE"
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America" -- Preamble to the United States Constitution.
1. SYNOPSIS
On Friday, 14 December 2012, a horrendous thing happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut (Official City Website) and (Wikipedia discussion). At least 26 people, 20 of whom were children, were murdered during the innocent course of life, by a deranged, suicidal gunman.
Another senseless tragedy has befallen our complex, beloved nation -- to deeply mar the precious life experience of its people -- and to shock our world and please the enemies of humankind. Much more than a joyous holiday season was again damaged, in an instant.
- Here are some of the news stories (Google search)
- Here is what the President has said, in general (Google search)
- Here is what the President said in a general White House email -- his personal feelings and proclamation of a national day of mourning on Tuesday, 18 December. (PCJ blog article)
2. PURPOSES
This article attempts to gather, in one place, some early information which may prove useful to us in coming to grips with the awful, ugly phenomenon of school massacres -- and to ultimately and quickly wrestle it to the ground, once and for all. At least we can and MUST try -- and keep trying, till there's nothing left to do. Specifically, you will find here:
- A preliminary assessment which is offered to help get us all "on the same page," providing links to some of the current thinking on school massacre phenomena; inevitable discussions of gun control; and domestic terrorism, in general.
- A useful emailed message from WebMd, with help for us all in "finding the right words."
This article is an EARLY attempt to grapple with the issue. These are preliminary thoughts and findings which I hope to develop and mature over the coming months and beyond. This wasn't so high on my "to-do" list before, but it certainly is now.
3. RATIONALE
We need to understand why. We can't sit idly by and "let" this repulsive, destructive behavior continue without trying, our utmost, to stop it -- these acts of DOMESTIC TERRORISM. How can our nation become the best that it can be (our prime social task), if the mentally troubled can hold such arbitrary power over the rest of us? How can we fully develop the beauty of the brief life experience, which we all crave, when such ugliness is "permitted" to exist? What is wrong with our social strategy? How do we "fix" it, forever? Should we not try our utmost?
How do we explain these insane episodes to our children? Even to ourselves? Surely, all within hearing are deeply affected, when we are so brutally reminded that the world can be a fearful, hazardous, unpredictable place. Children (and, indeed, we all) need to know how to interpret these events so that our world and life views don't become distorted and lead us into error and other complications -- and so we can maximize our defenses against their recurrence.
I am dead serious in my belief that we must, can, and will fix such as this (and, I know I am far from alone in this determination) -- but it's going to take all of us working hard and smart, to figure out what to do and then to do it.
Gathering and understanding the information is a good place to start. And we must keep going back to the drawing board, until the job is done. What else can we do? Who else is there to do it, if not we citizens -- the ultimate arbiters of all things national? When, if not soon?
OUR JOB #1 is to leave this world far, far better than we found it.
4. A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT
THE PHENOMENON
Naturally, sensibly, the burning desire to "fix" our society, so that such a repulsive thing can and will never happen again, revisits the same old questions -- how do we keep guns out of the wrong hands? -- is there a way to detect/predict this behavior so as to anticipate/avoid it? -- if so, how do we avoid it? If unavoidable, is there nothing we can do to mitigate/neutralize it?
- Here is a general discussion of the phenomenon of "School Massacres," itself (Wikipedia discussion) and (Google search)
- Here is some of the cumulative thinking on "Preventing School Massacres" (Google search)
GUN CONTROL
Inevitably, the intractable topic of "GUN CONTROL" enters into the discussion. For it is obvious to all, that if the perpetrator didn't have this efficient and convenient tool on hand, it would have been far more difficult (but not impossible) to accomplish such wide destruction. Yet, this "genie" cannot and will not go back into his bottle, for many reasons. But, as always, everything gets urgent re-examination in the search for answers and solutions -- until the press of life submerges it from view, once again.
- Here is a general discussion of "Gun Control" (Wikipedia discussion) and (Google search)
- Here is a general discussion of "Gun Politics" -- World & US (Wikipedia discussion) and (Google search)
- Here is some of the cumulative thinking on "The PRO's & CONS of Gun Control" (Google search)
OTHER ASPECTS OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM
Guns are not the only efficient means of mass destruction available to the vicious
- Here is a general discussion of "Domestic Terrorism in the U.S." (Wikipedia discussion) and (Google search)
5. A HELPFUL MESSAGE FROM WebMD
WE CAN FIX THIS, FRIENDS.
WE'VE GOT TO BELIEVE THAT.
I CERTAINLY DO.
David Nelson
All Original Content © 2012 , The MENTOR Enterprises / ELMS, All Rights Reserved -- BUT, I hereby suspend those rights, to this extent: You may freely copy and pass this along, if you think it will do some good -- as long as it's free of charge, unchanged, and you include this statement.
Gun Control is not the only strategy, but, it is a good start. What really is needed is a much greater awareness of Mental Health. We also "as a nation" need to address our lack of social responsibility. Very often, neglect is the root of violence.
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