Learned helplessness and broken heart syndrome. These are terms that are being used to describe the mental and emotional state of the United States. All I can say is “Wow!” Does this sound like the lawmakers and politicians are acting in the collective’s best interest? Does it appear to you that the people who take office actually give a damn about the people who live in this country?
This country is heading into the past. How did we allow for a select few to take over and run us in the ground? All the people who have lost their lives fighting for this country only to end up like this. The recent overturn of Roe v Wade, the aversion to do anything about gun violence that plagues this country, the disinclination to recognize that mental health is just as paramount as physical health and access to it needs to be a priority, the enactment of statutes that outright discriminate against people who do not conform to the electors’ ideals, the list is endless.
When it gets to a point when parents are afraid to send their children to school, when a woman no longer has authority over her own body, when the government starts to dictate what one can say and acknowledge (look at the many recent Florida statutes for examples), it’s time to fight back.
Last week we suffered another school shooting. Another elementary school shooting! Nineteen children, all under 10 years old, lost their lives. There are certain individuals running this country who grapple for dear life to every word written in the Bill of Rights to the point we hold on to amendments that no longer serve or protect us. Yes, I am referring to the 2nd Amendment.
How after everything that has happened in this county can this amendment still stand untouched? Congress felt compelled to pass amendments and additional legislation protecting the rights of individuals based on color, race, ethnicity and sex because they couldn’t trust human beings to treat each other with respect and dignity. If we can’t as a country expect certain individuals to act decent and tolerant to one another, how is it that so much trust is placed upon individuals to act responsibly when it comes to firearms?
I am so tired of hearing the excuse firearms don’t kill humans, people do. Well, duh! I don’t think there is a real need to point out that tantalizing deduction. I believe most of us are quite aware that guns don’t pull their own triggers.
However, year after year, the American government continually places confidence in the mentality of hundreds of millions of individuals residing in this country. We are forced to live with the hope that each one of these individuals is of sound mind with enough moral alignment not to eliminate another human being’s life. We trust in such nonsense just to keep the second amendment relevant even though it defies common sense.
There are approximately 8,000 children and teens shot each year in this country from domestic violence, school violence, lack of gun safety, gang-related and suicide. As of 2021 there have been over 351 fatal school shootings since Columbine.
A few months ago, before the tragedy at Uvalde, there was a school shooting that occurred in my home state of Michigan. This time along with the teen, the parents were charged. Calling attention to another example of individuals who foolishly mishandled their parental privilege. The actions taken by these parents didn’t just destroy their own child, their stupidity was the main reason four other young souls lost their lives. An entire community will now suffer from inconsolable devastation for many years to come due to a mentally disturbed teenager, reckless parents, and our country’s constitutional right to bear arms.
The 2nd amendment was included by the framers because it was obviously a major concern back in the day, but so was the issue of slavery, yet that concern went completely untouched. Did you know the intent behind this amendment was actually referring to arms that would be handled by men who were members of the militia?
In fact, if you read the history of this amendment you will find that not much discussion at all was given to this issue. However, here we are, two and a half centuries later still debating about guns. How many more of our children have to die by gunfire before this country gets its head out of its ass. I honestly thought Sandy Hook would finally force our representatives to act, but unfortunately, an unstable 20 year old boy who walks into an elementary school to shoot and kill kindergarteners isn’t a disgusting enough massacre to at the very least modify the second amendment.
Now, we have to endure the fact that yet again, another unstable young boy has walked into an elementary classroom taking the lives of innocents that lost their opportunity to shine their light upon this world. Each tragedy offers our government the opportunity to act. Yet, nothing has been done to stop this madness.
The fear of losing an election appears to be more important than saving lives, many of whom are children. This blatant disregard for innocent life is allowed to endure decade after decade because clearly avoidance is much easier to maintain than growing a backbone.
Speaking of backbones, what the highest court in the land has just done for women’s rights is an absolute travesty. With one decision, five individuals have set back what has taken decades to accomplish. Right to life has won out over a woman’s right to her body.
I am not an unreasonable person, I understand the premise of why so many would support the right to life. Life is indeed precious. However, the question I would like to pose to these supporters is, do you truly understand what occurs in the lives of these children after birth? These children you think you’re saving…where are you after the child is born? I’ve never seen or heard any protesting for a child after their birth. It must be nice to think so optimistically and believe that every unwanted pregnancy turns out for the best.
Abortions occur because the woman is not prepared (whatever the reason, it shouldn’t matter). Not every unwanted child ends up in a picture perfect adoptive home. In the case of many of these pregnancies, the baby ends up in foster care, or within the care of biological parents ill equipped financially, mentally, and/or emotionally. Which in many these cases will ultimately result in neglect and/or abuse.
Right to life is not just about coming into this world. This child has to continue to survive, sometimes in a very precarious environment 24/7 for the next eighteen years. A comprehension of the lasting damage that can be done during this time frame needs to be accepted and understood by our politicians and the ones out there protesting that life is God’s will.
For many of these children life is a personal burden and the devastating effects remain well beyond childhood. Let’s not hide behind denial, we are all well aware that some of these children suffer horrific lives and sometimes death as a result of an action or non-action of a trusted family member. So for those of you who believe it is God’s will or have the perception that any life is better than no existence at all, I implore you to reexamine your thinking.
I personally don’t believe any higher power would allow an innocent child to endure such torment needlessly. And unless such a fate was personally experienced, none of us should possess the privilege of asserting an opinion that life in and of itself is better than no existence at all.
We now live in a reality where our government purposely ignores what it shouldn’t and interferes where it needn’t. We need to realize that there is really only a small percentage of individuals steering this ship. There are hundreds of millions of us that can flip this learned helplessness on its head. There is absolutely no reason we need to suffer from broken heart syndrome. We just have to be willing to partake in putting this political disorder and confusion in its place.