Don’t Politicize It.
So far this year, at least at the time of my writing this, the United States has suffered 255 mass shootings, incidents in which at least four individuals, excluding the perpetrator, are shot. It is inevitable whenever one of these horrific incidents occurs that, in several forms, distractions arise to dissuade us from resolution and into acquiescence.
These distractions typically manifest through two main arguments:
1) The shooter was mentally unwell or even completely insane,
and
2) The families of the victims (and the community as a whole) are in the process of grieving, and thus it would be disrespectful to "politicize" the situation via discussing methods by which we might prevent these disasters in the future.
These views are self-defeating, ignorant of the facts available, and, at times, presented in bad faith.
Foremost, the argument that all perpetrators are mentally ill is nothing more than a scapegoat whereby the influential seek to deny culpability when their acolytes take their arguments to logically-consistent extremes.
"It's not all [...] that are the problem - just the crazy ones!"
In this recent incident in El Paso, I cannot by any means place the majority of blame on any man save the shooter himself (who I will leave unnamed), but the President’s constant "infestation" and “invasion" rhetoric, supported by the polemics of like-minded demagogues, is becoming increasingly dangerous, acting as a clear-ringing dog whistle call to violence for the zealots within his base.
“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"
Please do not take this as a suggestion that, in my frame of reference, everyone must bear the consequences of acts carried out by their followers; this conversation is very contextual, and individual cases must be dealt with carefully. As well, I do not expect gun advocates, political pundits, or lobbying groups to change their mind or cease activity in the political arena. I simply believe that for Trump and others, this should be a moment for empathy and honest self-reflection.
When you wield great power and influence within a sphere (for the President of the United States, this sphere encapsulates not only the country, but the planet), you owe it to those who live and operate within that sphere (who may or may not be a fan of yours) to choose your words with great care.
Secondarily, when, through the inaction of democratically-elected representatives, those who would seek to terrorize are so easily enabled to strip away the most basic of human rights, life, from the constituents, our fellow Americans, whom the government, by the Constitution, is honorbound to protect, then it is necessary and proper that we, by conscience and duty, seek the common good and politicize the situation to its utmost.
As well, amidst this dark time, we cannot allow ourselves to become distracted via "What-aboutism," a method of intentional obfuscation wherein someone attempts to change the conversation by downplaying the seriousness of a topic in relation to another. It is true that people die by other methods in less flashy ways, and something must be done about the more quiet societal issues we face.
However, healthcare, medical research, mental issues, etc. are not mutually exclusive with gun violence and racism. We are allowed to focus on more than one thing at a time, and the existence of other tragedy does not diminish this one.
Lastly, we must stop deluding ourselves with obtuse issues that, in reality, have no causal or correlational relationship with mass shootings. Video games are not the problem.
How can we possibly say that legislation cannot resolve this issue when we have tried nothing? In what worse way could we spit upon the graves of the fallen than by doing nothing? In what better way could we honor them than by taking a stand against the hate and tyranny that would see our democracy unravel?
