Re: 3/24 March to ban guns

101
Young Anti-Gun Demagogues Copy Their Elders
Hogg and the other young activists who attended demonstrations across the country on Saturday to demand legislation aimed at preventing school shootings may have energized the debate about gun control, but they certainly have not elevated it. Taking their cues from the grownups they say have failed them, Hogg and his compatriots assume their opponents are motivated by greed, cowardice, and crass political considerations—anything but honest disagreement.
There cannot be two sides. That sort of logic practically demands contempt for anyone who does not share your policy preferences, as illustrated by Hogg's comments about legislators who do not vote the way he thinks they should.
Hogg is only 17, but comments from older, supposedly wiser advocates of gun control reflect a similar attitude. "If you're a political leader doing nothing about this slaughter," Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted after the Parkland attack, "you're an accomplice."

Re: 3/24 March to ban guns

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Another take on the march.

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/4 ... the-nation
Donald Trump's name was barely mentioned on Saturday, a fact that must have painfully dented his eggshell ego, but all he represents was cast down and denounced just the same. Thanks to Mr. Trump and those who serve him, fascism and overt racism have become fashionable again. What took place in Washington this weekend was, among other things, a giant middle finger aimed directly at the white nationalism of the age. Here is a generation of young people reaching out to each other, and to us all, from the funeral shroud.

This largest generation in US history is coming into its voting rights day by passing day, a fact that should strike mortal fear into the hearts of those who enjoy things as they are. Bought-off fools with muddy wits are trying to shout down these new activists, to little effect, and those with a financial stake in the violent status quo are leaving visible puddles of desperation in their wake. For the first time in a very long time, the country is stoutly on the side of the protesters, and the protesters have no intention of letting the grass grow under their feet.
You can be for gun rights as well as support the sentiments of the students all filled with ideals of a more just and safe world. I said world, because this movement is of kids who don't yet differentiate between the US and other countries in their vision. I wouldn't dump on them even when they express their ignorance. They have not been injured enough to lose their verve and desires, are still not satisfied with merely surviving but want to live a life of meaning and purpose. Today they may be focused on school shootings and banning guns. Tomorrow they may be interested to tackle racism and end wars.

Most notable in my opinion is the lack of focus these students place on the shooter or even Turnip and what he represents. These kids are recognizing the insignificance of individuals who merely reflect the dysfunctional moment in time, are instead fixed on an ideal that they will manifest through their own hands.

If you are smart, you will work with them to teach and share your experiences. Bashing them, you will lose. Ceding their energy to the DNC and prohibitionists, you will lose. Doing nothing but complaining, the kids have more energy to mobilize and will quite simply outlive you.

But recognize that here in this moment you do have the opportunity to express your progressive ideals and bring them to fruition by recruiting the energy and drive of these student activists. What they want is the more fair, just world you always worked for. They just don't know that yet. You have to teach them.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: 3/24 March to ban guns

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BillMcD wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 6:51 pm Can someone somewhere organize a march to ban uneducated knee jerk reactions? A march for reason? Or is reason too meta a reason for marching? Wait that was the counter-trump march...
A march for reason? It's been done, twice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason_Rally

But the emphasis was on secularism and the separation of church and state.
106+ recreational uses of firearms
1 defensive use
0 people injured
0 people killed

Re: 3/24 March to ban guns

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That movement was supposed to be a show of atheists and their numbers, but it's called the reason movement? That more denotes atheists are reasonable and others are not. Maybe not their purpose, but if their purpose was simply atheists and secular people coming together, a title more apt to that purpose woulda been better.

I wouldn't mind something a little more broad. A movement of reason to stop nasty identity politics and to focus on decisions based on information and understanding, less on emotional knee-jerking and insults.

Re: 3/24 March to ban guns

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AndyH wrote: Mon Mar 26, 2018 4:13 pm
DispositionMatrix wrote: Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:20 am Yesterday Killer Mike expressed an opinion on whites telling blacks they should give up their guns. If you hate Noir, feel free not to watch.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/killer-mik ... -with-nra/
Rapper Killer Mike has apologized after an interview he did with NRATV was published online, saying the video was misused against the March for Our Lives. In the video, Mike talks about what it means to be a black gun owner and why he is encouraging his daughter to learn how to use a gun. NRATV is the video outlet of the pro-gun lobbying and advocacy group, the National Rifle Association.
"I sat with people I might not always agree with. ... I did an interview about black gun ownership in this era," he said. "That interview was used a week later by NRATV to disparage a very noble campaign that I actually support. ... I want to say first I'm sorry guys. I do support the March — and I support black people owning guns. It's possible to do both."
(And the video's gone from YouTube...)
...video's still up on the NRA's channel.

https://youtu.be/ZXtpUE1b2NY
The video was on Noir's channel, then it was gone, now it's back. And the full interview is up as well:

Re: 3/24 March to ban guns

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Bisbee wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 6:23 pm Another take on the march.

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/4 ... the-nation
Donald Trump's name was barely mentioned on Saturday, a fact that must have painfully dented his eggshell ego, but all he represents was cast down and denounced just the same. Thanks to Mr. Trump and those who serve him, fascism and overt racism have become fashionable again. What took place in Washington this weekend was, among other things, a giant middle finger aimed directly at the white nationalism of the age. Here is a generation of young people reaching out to each other, and to us all, from the funeral shroud.

This largest generation in US history is coming into its voting rights day by passing day, a fact that should strike mortal fear into the hearts of those who enjoy things as they are. Bought-off fools with muddy wits are trying to shout down these new activists, to little effect, and those with a financial stake in the violent status quo are leaving visible puddles of desperation in their wake. For the first time in a very long time, the country is stoutly on the side of the protesters, and the protesters have no intention of letting the grass grow under their feet.
You can be for gun rights as well as support the sentiments of the students all filled with ideals of a more just and safe world. I said world, because this movement is of kids who don't yet differentiate between the US and other countries in their vision. I wouldn't dump on them even when they express their ignorance. They have not been injured enough to lose their verve and desires, are still not satisfied with merely surviving but want to live a life of meaning and purpose. Today they may be focused on school shootings and banning guns. Tomorrow they may be interested to tackle racism and end wars.

Most notable in my opinion is the lack of focus these students place on the shooter or even Turnip and what he represents. These kids are recognizing the insignificance of individuals who merely reflect the dysfunctional moment in time, are instead fixed on an ideal that they will manifest through their own hands.

If you are smart, you will work with them to teach and share your experiences. Bashing them, you will lose. Ceding their energy to the DNC and prohibitionists, you will lose. Doing nothing but complaining, the kids have more energy to mobilize and will quite simply outlive you.

But recognize that here in this moment you do have the opportunity to express your progressive ideals and bring them to fruition by recruiting the energy and drive of these student activists. What they want is the more fair, just world you always worked for. They just don't know that yet. You have to teach them.
Damn, Bisbee!! That was like a breath of fresh air in all this lunacy. Thank you.
"Being Republican is more than a difference of opinion - it's a character flaw." "COVID can fix STUPID!"
The greatest, most aggrieved mistake EVER made in USA was electing DJT as POTUS.

Re: 3/24 March to ban guns

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I am sure there are many survivors of violence that prefer a different dialogue than these students. I was abducted at knifepoint when I was about the same age; it was a case of mistaken identity and I listened as my abductors talked about where they would kill me and dump my body. I escaped through dumb luck, as many survivors do. If I had a carry piece on me -- illegal on many levels in Illinois at the time -- I would have shot them until I tired of it. Successful self-defense may be statistically unlikely in many cases, but I still feel that the opportunity to present such a defense is a human right, and one is rightfully guaranteed through our Constitution. This is the conversation our side should be demanding, but we are failing and flailing about uselessly. As much as they are despised by progressive gun right's activists, the NRA is still a much more powerful entity, despite the beating they are currently taking. I wish we had a better voice, a better public face, but we don't. Not now, perhaps not ever.

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