USA – \March 07, 2015(Ammoland.com)-
“These horrifying new numbers show how America’s lax gun laws hurt black Americans,” a Violence Policy Center-inspired screed against gun rights on Vox claims.I'm pleased that David Codrea chose to address this obnoxious subject.
Because it's not 'lax gun laws' that hurt 'Black Americans'.
It's the culture which allows and accepts violent behavior which hurts Americans .. Black, or any other color!
I attempted to write in response to the original screed. I tried four times, and couldn't make the words I chose to describe the societal ills of America today.
It always came out sounding as if I blamed the race of the people involved, when I really wanted to blame the culture in which the people were raised.It's the CULTURE of poverty;
It's the 'privileged' culture of assuming that people of "certain ethnic groups{ (blacks, Chicanos, hillbillies, .. do we need more cultural labels?) cannot be expected to raise their families to be responsible members of society;
of using artificial laws to provide 'racial preference' in admission to colleges where the expectations are greater than students have learned to expect in public schools.
Generally speaking, America has decided to treat ethnic groups as 'second class citizens' because of historic "issues", and so we have a strong segment of our populations of whom we expect less than they are capable of doing.
And we are doing them a damage by asking less than they can produce.
The problem of ethnic groups is often that men and women bring children into the world in casual relationships, but then the men "move on" and fail to provide the support of the male parent for the children which they create.
Why should they not? They know that we have low expectations of them and they fulfill those low expectations. (Not a universal trait, but it happens often enough that we see too many 'single-parent' families for our society to assimilate in a wholesome manner.)
When a woman gives birth without a strong father to reinforce the rules of civilized behavior, the offspring tend to become rebellious and autocratic. It's exceedingly difficult for a single-family parent to raise a child to become a responsible citizen, when the father doesn't care enough to remain as a reinforcing example that his and her children should emulate the example provided by a caring couple.
If the "family" has no responsible couple to provide a good example, why should the children be expected to be responsible in their own private lives?
In a society ... a culture ... a family where the most successful male is the pimp/gangster/criminal is the one with the most 'disposable' income; where one's parents are more frequently un-married; where the father may or may not provide support for the family; and where the mother might introduce a new "uncle" every few months --- it's difficult for a daughter to learn to be particular about the men with whom she associates.
And where the Alpha Male in the neighborhood is a drug dealer, a pimp or a thief, it's difficult for a son to learn the value of education, making an honest living, and supporting a family.
I grew up "lucky".
My family stressed that when I was old enough to work, I would work. And I would pay for what I wanted by using the money I had earned from honest labor. I knew that it was shameful to cheat, to steal, to make promises I couldn't keep, or to take advantage of the weaker members of my community.
And I had a family that I saw frequently. Holidays would see aunts and uncles, cousins and other people who were related to me by blood. And all of them were earning an honest living.
Criminal behavior was ... not just rare, but non-existent!
If I broke the speed limit, I was expected to pay the fine and that was non-negotiable. I did it, it was my problem. I got jobs mowing yards, taking care of neighbor homes while they were on vacation.
Education was important. Assumed responsibilities were enforced; when I took up the cornet and joined the band in junior high school, my mother dinged me to practice for a half-hour every night. I was a terrible musician! I have no idea how my parents endured the agony of my nightly practice, but when we went to visit 'family' in other towns on the weekends, my mother made me practice an HOUR the night before, so I wouldn't lose trumpet-time on the nights we were away.
She cared. My father cared ... they often disagreed, but when Mom said I should do something it was fruitless of me to go to Pop for a different decision. When I asked him for a special dispensation, he would always ask:
"What does your mother say?"
and the next words out of his mouth were, invariably:
"Well, if that's what she told you, that's the way it is."
I was often disappointed, but I always knew that my parents were involved in my life, and that they cared what I did with my life.
I don't see that sort of parental involvement in the news stories I read today.
What I see now, when I read the newspapers ...
... is that parents are not only not universally involved in the children they bring into this world, but often they're not all that involved in each other.HOW DO WE FIX THIS?
Beats the hell out of me!
It would be very easy to blame "Racial Preference Quotas", but they do some good by allowing minorities to 'bootstrap' their exceptional children above the societal norm.
It would also be easy to blame "The Government" for advocating failed policies such as "No Child Left Behind" ... which looks good in print but seems to be ineffective.
Ultimately, the search for blame is worthless. The only 'fix' is for parents to take responsibility for their children, and to help them in their goal to raise their children to have a better life then they themselves had.
We can't do this by "Government Mandate"; we put too much reliance in the Government to fix our problems already.
Remember that Government is populated by people who want to be elected to High Office, because it makes them look good. And most elected people are Lawyers, so you have a major impediment to actually 'doing something' right there!
The best we can do, I think, is to expect more of our children than they think they can accomplish.
You (and I) are occasionally amazed by people who manage to exceed expectations. You can't do this as a 'third person' (or a "Government"). You can only do this by .... ?
I don't have an answer. I have a lot of questions, and a lot of complaints that the best people we have are too often "left behind" because of lost opportunities.
I suspect that private charities are a much more effective measure to improve our society; when we expect "GOVERNMENT" to "fix things", the politicians get involved and the original goal is almost invariable forgotten.
YOU, though, can help. Find a private group who seems to be dedicated to the improvement of the 'least of us', and contribute to it. I make no recommendations.
And that's all I have to say about that.
