JUST some well written thoughts from Michael Moore on Christmas Eve 2012
After watching the deranged, delusional National Rifle Association
press conference on Friday, it was clear that the Mayan prophecy had
come true. Except the only world that was ending was the NRA’s. Their
bullying power to set gun policy in this country is over. The nation is
repulsed by the massacre in Connecticut, and the signs are everywhere:
a basketball coach at a post-game press conference;
the Republican Joe Scarborough;
a pawn shop owner in Florida;
a gun buy-back program in New Jersey;
a singing contest show on TV, and
the conservative gun-owning judge who sentenced Jared Loughner.
So here’s my little bit of holiday cheer for you:
These gun massacres aren’t going to end any time soon.
I’m sorry to say this. But deep down we both know it’s true. That
doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep pushing forward – after all, the momentum
is on our side. I know all of us – including me – would love to see the
president and Congress enact stronger gun laws. We need a ban on
automatic AND semiautomatic weapons and magazine clips that hold more
than 7 bullets. We need better background checks and more mental health
services. We need to regulate the ammo, too.
But, friends, I would like to propose that while all of the above
will certainly reduce gun deaths (ask Mayor Bloomberg – it is virtually
impossible to buy a handgun in New York City and the result is the
number of murders per year has gone from 2,200 to under 400), it won’t
really bring about an end to these mass slayings and it will not address
the core problem we have. Connecticut had one of the strongest gun laws
in the country. That did nothing to prevent the murders of 20 small
children on December 14th.
In fact, let’s be clear about Newtown: the killer had no criminal
record so he would never have shown up on a background check. All of the
guns he used were legally purchased. None fit the legal description of
an "assault" weapon. The killer seemed to have mental problems and his
mother had him seek help, but that was worthless. As for security
measures, the Sandy Hook school was locked down and buttoned up BEFORE
the killer showed up that morning. Drills had been held for just such an
incident. A lot of good that did.
And here’s the dirty little fact none of us liberals want to discuss:
The killer only ceased his slaughter when he saw that cops were
swarming onto the school grounds – i.e, the men with the guns. When he
saw the guns a-coming, he stopped the bloodshed and killed himself. Guns
on police officers prevented another 20 or 40 or 100 deaths from
happening. Guns sometimes work. (Then again, there was an armed deputy
sheriff at Columbine High School the day of that massacre and he
couldn’t/didn’t stop it.)
I am sorry to offer this reality check on our much-needed march
toward a bunch of well-intended, necessary – but ultimately, mostly
cosmetic – changes to our gun laws. The sad facts are these: Other
countries that have guns (like Canada, which has 7 million guns – mostly
hunting guns – in their 12 million households) have a low murder rate.
Kids in Japan watch the same violent movies and kids in Australia play
the same violent video games (Grand Theft Auto was created by a British
company; the UK had 58 gun murders last year in a nation of 63 million
people). They simply don’t kill each other at the rate that we do. Why
is that? THAT is the question we should be exploring while we are
banning and restricting guns: Who
are we?
I’d like to try to answer that question.
We are a country whose leaders officially sanction and carry out acts
of violence as a means to often an immoral end. We invade countries who
didn’t attack us. We’re currently using drones in a half-dozen
countries, often killing civilians.
This probably shouldn’t come as a surprise to us as we are a nation
founded on genocide and built on the backs of slaves. We slaughtered
600,000 of each other in a civil war. We "tamed the Wild West with a
six-shooter," and we rape and beat and kill our women without mercy and
at a staggering rate: every three hours a women is murdered in the USA
(half the time by an ex or a current); every three minutes a woman is
raped in the USA; and every 15 seconds a woman is beaten in the USA.
We belong to an illustrious group of nations that still have the
death penalty (North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran). We think nothing
of letting tens of thousands of our own citizens die each year because
they are uninsured and thus don’t see a doctor until it’s too late.
Why do we do this? One theory is simply "because we can." There is a
level of arrogance in the otherwise friendly American spirit, conning
ourselves into believing there’s something exceptional about us that
separates us from all those "other" countries (there are indeed many
good things about us; the same could also be said of Belgium, New
Zealand, France, Germany, etc.). We think we’re #1 in everything when
the truth is our students are 17th in science and 25th in math, and
we’re 35th in life expectancy. We believe we have the greatest democracy
but we have the lowest voting turnout of any western democracy. We’re
biggest and the bestest at everything and we demand and take what we
want.
And sometimes we have to be violent m*****f*****s to get it. But if
one of us goes off-message and shows the utterly psychotic nature and
brutal results of violence in a Newtown or an Aurora or a Virginia Tech,
then we get all "sad" and "our hearts go out to the families" and
presidents promise to take "meaningful action." Well, maybe this
president means it this time. He’d better. An angry mob of millions is
not going to let this drop.
While we are discussing and demanding what to do, may I respectfully
ask that we stop and take a look at what I believe are the three
extenuating factors that may answer the question of why we Americans
have more violence than most anyone else:
1. POVERTY. If there’s one thing that separates us from the rest of
the developed world, it’s this. 50 million of our people live in
poverty. One in five Americans goes hungry at some point during the
year. The majority of those who aren’t poor are living from paycheck to
paycheck. There’s no doubt this creates more crime. Middle class jobs
prevent crime and violence. (If you don’t believe that, ask yourself
this: If your neighbor has a job and is making $50,000/year, what are
the chances he’s going to break into your home, shoot you and take your
TV? Nil.)
2. FEAR/RACISM. We’re an awfully fearful country considering that,
unlike most nations, we’ve never been invaded. (No, 1812 wasn’t an
invasion. We started it.) Why on earth would we need 300 million guns in
our homes? I get why the Russians might be a little spooked (over 20
million of them died in World War II). But what’s our excuse? Worried
that the Indians from the casino may go on the warpath? Concerned that
the Canadians seem to be amassing too many Tim Horton’s donut shops on
both sides of the border?
No. It’s because too many white people are afraid of black people.
Period. The vast majority of the guns in the U.S. are sold to white
people who live in the suburbs or the country. When we fantasize about
being mugged or home invaded, what’s the image of the perpetrator in our
heads? Is it the freckled-face kid from down the street – or is it
someone who is, if not black, at least poor?
I think it would be worth it to a) do our best to eradicate poverty
and re-create the middle class we used to have, and b) stop promoting
the image of the black man as the boogeyman out to hurt you. Calm down,
white people, and put away your guns.
3. THE "ME" SOCIETY. I think it’s the every-man-for-himself ethos of
this country that has put us in this mess and I believe it’s been our
undoing. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! You’re not my problem!
This is mine!
Clearly, we are no longer our brother’s and sister’s keeper. You get
sick and can’t afford the operation? Not my problem. The bank has
foreclosed on your home? Not my problem. Can’t afford to go to college?
Not my problem.
And yet, it all sooner or later becomes our problem, doesn’t it? Take
away too many safety nets and everyone starts to feel the impact. Do
you want to live in that kind of society, one where you will then have a
legitimate reason to be in fear? I don’t.
I’m not saying it’s perfect anywhere else, but I have noticed, in my
travels, that other civilized countries see a national benefit to taking
care of each other. Free medical care, free or low-cost college, mental
health help. And I wonder – why can’t
we do that? I think it’s
because in many other countries people see each other not as separate
and alone but rather together, on the path of life, with each person
existing as an integral part of the whole. And you help them when
they’re in need, not punish them because they’ve had some misfortune or
bad break. I have to believe one of the reasons gun murders in other
countries are so rare is because there’s less of the lone wolf mentality
amongst their citizens. Most are raised with a sense of connection, if
not outright solidarity. And that makes it harder to kill one another.
Well, there’s some food for thought as we head home for the holidays.
Don’t forget to say hi to your conservative brother-in-law for me. Even
he will tell you that, if you can’t nail a deer in three shots – and
claim you need a clip of 30 rounds – you’re not a hunter my friend, and
you have no business owning a gun.
Have a wonderful Christmas or a beautiful December 25th!
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@MichaelMoore.com @MMFlint MichaelMoore.com
Remember when Palin got blasted for placing gun-sight symbols on a map of targeted Democrats during the 2010 midterms? Palin doesn't.