I woke up this morning in an odd place - metaphorically, anyway, as I was actually home in bed. There was a slight headache involved, and, most oddly, a distinct sense of fear. This is highly unusual, as (among other things) I live in a very, well, 'protected' area - last year, for example, one Saturday morning I heard fire engine sirens outside my door. Turns out that just across the street the corner of the roof of the separate garage building caught on fire - was smoldering, at least - and, I kid you not, FIVE different fire engines showed up. This is not normally a neighborhood to be nervous in. So, it wasn't external fear. I got online and found out about Dallas (having spent the previous day in disbelief about Minnesota and Baton Rouge).
And I asked - what is going on in America that these things are happening? How are police officers still (ever!) shooting non-violent... well, I can't say 'offenders', because certainly in what seems to be a disproportionately high percentage the victims gave no offense. Where were the tasers? (If they had had tasers we would definitely still be having some SERIOUS conversations, but at least so many fewer people would be dead.) How is it that snipers are targeting police officers who are supporting, literally supporting, a peaceful protest, and that people are celebrating their deaths? Who are we and how is this happening?
- Gun control: Stop it. Fix it. Now. Too many people have too many guns. A friend has been tracking on Facebook every day a child or other family member that has shot themselves or someone else because they innocently, inadvertently, got their hands on a loaded gun. He's doing it to make a point, and that point is HORRIFYING. If you cannot properly secure, care for, and keep a loaded weapon out of the hands of a child, you should not have a gun. If all gun owners could properly secure, care for, and keep a loaded weapon out of the hands of a child, kids wouldn't be accidentally killing themselves, their friends, their family members. They don't, kids are, and it has to stop. Yes, yes - you're responsible, you're educated, you're careful. Guess what - FAR too many gun owners are not. If guns were not so easily accessible (and DO NOT talk to me about laws and screening and all that crap - it is still TOO EASY) cops might not be so nervous about even routine traffic stops. Jumpy cops = bad news.
- Racism: Stop it. Fix it. Now. It just makes me want to get all swear-y to think that anyone is, consciously or unconsciously, holding the color of someone else's skin against them. Every individual on any security force ever (not to mention everyone else) should be utterly mortified and appalled that black parents are having to teach their children 'how to survive an interaction with a cop.' And racism, in jokes, behaviors, any indicators WHATSOEVER must be met with zero tolerance by every single police force EVERYWHERE. Freedom of speech, of expression, what have you, cannot be incorporated 'on the job' when that job is to protect the public. ALL of the public. Black, white, LGBT, old, young, ALL ALL ALL. Wear your damn body cameras, officers, and hold yourselves to an even higher standard than the public holds you. I am so sorry to add pressure to what is already an incredibly intense position, but there is so little public trust anymore - and that just makes everyone even more nervous. Jumpy public = bad news.
- 'All Lives Matter': Oh good grief, really?!? STOP IT. FIX IT. NOW. To anyone using that slogan/hashtag - EDUCATE YOURSELVES. You cannot call for the base standard in opposition to something that is not even meeting the base standard! When someone says 'Black Lives Matter' they are not saying 'White Lives Don't Matter' or even 'Black Lives Matter More Than Yours' - they are saying 'Fix this specific problem BECAUSE all lives matter! And black lives have not historically, and often are not presently, included in that "all"!' So recognize and support that 'Black Lives Matter' even as you are standing securely and smugly on your 'All Lives Matter' base line. Duh, idiots. Duh. Black Lives Matter. Police Lives Matter. Until everyone gets it, these have to be pulled out from 'all lives' and addressed separately. LISTEN. And also, shut up.
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One of the fearful trains of thought I circled around with this weird morning came from thinking back to Orlando, to Istanbul and Bangladesh, bombings/mass murders that are still only days old themselves. And I thought, 'I wonder what the percentage of Islamic extremists - as they seem to be responsible for all the recent horror in the Middle East - is in comparison to the percentage of incidents of police brutality and civilian shooters here in the U.S.'
There is something about 'extremism' - I don't know what it is. Is it a kind of emotional drug? Is it an adrenaline rush from holding power over someone else based on a religious or philosophical belief? Is it an overreaction to some particular fear the extremist is experiencing? Any or all of these questions could apply to the bombings, the police shootings, the sniper shootings in Dallas. Extremism is not just religious (and how 'religious' can your extremism be if it's justifying you killing other people? NOT RELIGIOUS, is the answer), it is also cultural and media-baiting.
It's as if society has become an extreme sport, as if the players feel like they're living in a video game. There's no 'reset'. There's no 'power up' or 'next level'. And they are such a small percentage of the population - and they're still ruining things for the rest of us. Don't let the bad apples win. Don't fight with people online (or in real life, heaven forbid) about current events, about politics (shudder), about any of it. Shut up and listen, really listen. Support. Donate. Give your time, your smiles, your hugs, your kind words - especially to those you might normally disagree with. It is fine to disagree - but don't let the differences drive you to extremes. We have seen, all too well, what happens there.
Watch out for falling turtles - now more than ever.
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