Tuesday, June 28, 2016
An American Culture? Revision II
(Originally published in January, 2012, now with substantial new material.)
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail.
Our culture is sliced up into many
pieces or factions; so much so that the common elements are very few. Consider
the following slices and dices among many:
Rich man/ Poor man
Democrat/Republican
Democrat/Conservative
Democrat/Progressive
Liberal/Conservative
Liberal/Progressive
Republican/Conservative
Republican/Progressive
Democratic/Libertarian
Republican/Libertarian
Radical Right/Radical Left
Educated/Uneducated
White collar/Blue collar
Religion I/Religion II/Etc.
Religious/Non-religious
Christian/Atheist
Christian/Non-Christian
Truth Teller/Habitual Liar
Patriot/Non-patriot
Elite/Non-elite
Givers/Takers
Ethical/Unethical
Moral/Immoral
Cultural snob/Cultural boor
Pro-America/Anti-America
Intelligent/Unintelligent
Strong/Weak
Military Experience/No Military Experience
Pride in Birth Area 1/Pride in Area 2,3...n
Ordinary Citizen/Politician
Ordinary Citizen/Congressman
Leader/Follower
Statist/Federalist
Federated Republican/Collectivist, or Humanist, or Socialist or Communist (who
adopted the term "Progressive" to disguise their affiliation. Hillary
is a self-proclaimed Progressive Democrat!)
Management/Workers
Business Man/Others
Citizen Today/Citizen Earlier/Citizen Tomorrow
Lawyer/Citizen
Fluent in English/Not Fluent in English
Born American/Immigrant/Illegal Immigrant
And all shades in between.
It is little wonder that we
continuously have serious conflicts, clashes in beliefs, and ultimately nasty
invective between opposing views, particularly when beliefs run so strongly,
often challenging deeply held religious, emotional, inherited or reasoned beliefs!
Many times the opposition uses unfair tactics to shut the citizen up and
denigrate him, hoping to send him away.
We are a multicultural hodge-podge living our separate very
uniquely human lives, and many, many different lifestyles, but held together
socially by at least seven or so very strong beliefs and common goals: The
value of strength in numbers; the rule of law; the joys of our freedoms; the
best place to raise our children; the opportunities for betterment, a
compelling work ethic, and in the love of this country. (There are more reasons,
of course…)
All of our diverse cultural components contribute to a peculiar synthesis one
might call an “American Culture,” but if examined closely, it quickly dissolves
into some or even all of its constituent or factional parts, and even harkens
back to quite different historical origins and allegiances. I suppose that if
there must be such factions, it is a real
blessing to have so many factions that they tend to cancel each other out.
How many discussions or arguments between two people have been
completely biased by their opposing factional belief systems?
The remarkable thing is that this democratic and federated
republic form of national government, with its written Constitution as the Law
of the Land, has successfully held together for nearly 240 years, despite many
sweeping differences along the way. The differences have persisted to this day
and have again become a serious divisive force in the nation.
It is time for those who believe in America, its Constitution,
its common laws and its founding principles to stand up and fight for them!
(Originally published in January, 2012, now with substantial new material.)
Our culture is sliced up into many pieces or factions; so much so that the common elements are very few. Consider the following slices and dices among many:
Rich man/ Poor man
Democrat/Republican
Democrat/Conservative
Democrat/Progressive
Liberal/Conservative
Liberal/Progressive
Republican/Conservative
Republican/Progressive
Democratic/Libertarian
Republican/Libertarian
Educated/Uneducated
White collar/Blue collar
Religious/Non-religious
Christian/Atheist
Christian/Non-Christian
Truth Teller/Habitual Liar
Patriot/Non-patriot
Elite/Non-elite
Givers/Takers
Ethical/Unethical
Moral/Immoral
Cultural snob/Cultural boor
Pro-America/Anti-America
Intelligent/Unintelligent
Strong/Weak
Military Experience/No Military Experience
Pride in Birth Area 1/Pride in Area 2,3...n
Ordinary Citizen/Politician
Ordinary Citizen/Congressman
Leader/Follower
Statist/Federalist
Federated Republican/Collectivist, or Humanist, or Socialist or Communist (who adopted the term "Progressive" to disguise their affiliation. Hillary is a self-proclaimed Progressive Democrat!)
Management/Workers
Business Man/Others
Citizen Today/Citizen Earlier/Citizen Tomorrow
Lawyer/Citizen
Truth Teller/Habitual Liar
Patriot/Non-patriot
Elite/Non-elite
Givers/Takers
Ethical/Unethical
Moral/Immoral
Cultural snob/Cultural boor
Pro-America/Anti-America
Intelligent/Unintelligent
Strong/Weak
Military Experience/No Military Experience
Pride in Birth Area 1/Pride in Area 2,3...n
Ordinary Citizen/Politician
Ordinary Citizen/Congressman
Leader/Follower
Statist/Federalist
Federated Republican/Collectivist, or Humanist, or Socialist or Communist (who adopted the term "Progressive" to disguise their affiliation. Hillary is a self-proclaimed Progressive Democrat!)
Management/Workers
Business Man/Others
Citizen Today/Citizen Earlier/Citizen Tomorrow
Lawyer/Citizen
Fluent in English/Not Fluent in English
Born American/Immigrant/Illegal Immigrant
It is little wonder that we
continuously have serious conflicts, clashes in beliefs, and ultimately nasty
invective between opposing views, particularly when beliefs run so strongly,
often challenging deeply held religious, emotional, inherited or reasoned beliefs!
Many times the opposition uses unfair tactics to shut the citizen up and
denigrate him, hoping to send him away.
We are a multicultural hodge-podge living our separate very
uniquely human lives, and many, many different lifestyles, but held together
socially by at least seven or so very strong beliefs and common goals: The
value of strength in numbers; the rule of law; the joys of our freedoms; the
best place to raise our children; the opportunities for betterment, a
compelling work ethic, and in the love of this country. (There are more reasons,
of course…)
All of our diverse cultural components contribute to a peculiar synthesis one might call an “American Culture,” but if examined closely, it quickly dissolves into some or even all of its constituent or factional parts, and even harkens back to quite different historical origins and allegiances. I suppose that if there must be such factions, it is a real blessing to have so many factions that they tend to cancel each other out.
All of our diverse cultural components contribute to a peculiar synthesis one might call an “American Culture,” but if examined closely, it quickly dissolves into some or even all of its constituent or factional parts, and even harkens back to quite different historical origins and allegiances. I suppose that if there must be such factions, it is a real blessing to have so many factions that they tend to cancel each other out.
How many discussions or arguments between two people have been
completely biased by their opposing factional belief systems?
The remarkable thing is that this democratic and federated
republic form of national government, with its written Constitution as the Law
of the Land, has successfully held together for nearly 240 years, despite many
sweeping differences along the way. The differences have persisted to this day
and have again become a serious divisive force in the nation.
It is time for those who believe in America, its Constitution,
its common laws and its founding principles to stand up and fight for them!
Monday, June 13, 2016
Gun Rights Revisited
I support the 2nd amendment, and both open and concealed carry as practiced by law here in Virginia. It is absolute madness to try to disarm the general public while we know the criminal element and the terrorists will find a way to arm themselves in any event. That would take away our last line of defense and leave us helpless in the event of a deadly crisis. It is well established that the police will be at least fifteen minutes away most of the time, so that period must be covered by the citizen.
Likewise, I support the public owning semi-automatic rifles and pistols, since we should be at least THAT well-armed against the intruders. This is yet another reason I will not support Clinton for President. Any terrorist or criminal should be fully aware that he will face an armed citizen most of the time if he tries to do deadly harm. It is also obvious that owners of guns have the responsibility to be trained in their use and safety, and to understand the rules of engagement in their city.
Likewise, I support the public owning semi-automatic rifles and pistols, since we should be at least THAT well-armed against the intruders. This is yet another reason I will not support Clinton for President. Any terrorist or criminal should be fully aware that he will face an armed citizen most of the time if he tries to do deadly harm. It is also obvious that owners of guns have the responsibility to be trained in their use and safety, and to understand the rules of engagement in their city.
Preventing Terrorist Attacks
One solution I ascribe to to prevent or simply to deter shooters is to place trained, legal and ordinarily dressed guards suitably armed into every medium where there is an expected crowd. Their rule of engagement is simple: See a gunner, shoot a gunner. Training comes in to prevent people having concealed carry weapons from being mistaken for terrorist gunners. These people in turn must be trained also to prevent them from mistakenly shooting a guard.
Obviously, these guards cannot be in uniform, since they would be the first a gunner would shoot. I suspect most guards would be hesitant to shoot a person displaying a gun until they actually used it, which means there would probably be at least some casualties before the gunner is taken out. But there would not be 50 or 100 casualties.
A further thought is for managers of crowded places to offer free entry to concealed carry citizens, thus potentially thwarting a shooter. Even just advertising this would have a somewhat dowsing effect on shooters.
A second line of defense is to screen people entering a crowded venues, perhaps with explosive-sniffing dogs to detect suicide bombers.
The list of crowded places is not too long: theaters; airports; bus and train terminals; stadiums; schools; marches of various kinds; night clubs; large restaurants; markets; auditoriums; demonstrations; race venues; and long outside lines to places of attraction.
Personally, I would pay an extra fee or tax to have guards at these places I might attend. I will, however, keep my concealed carry permit current!
Obviously, these guards cannot be in uniform, since they would be the first a gunner would shoot. I suspect most guards would be hesitant to shoot a person displaying a gun until they actually used it, which means there would probably be at least some casualties before the gunner is taken out. But there would not be 50 or 100 casualties.
A further thought is for managers of crowded places to offer free entry to concealed carry citizens, thus potentially thwarting a shooter. Even just advertising this would have a somewhat dowsing effect on shooters.
A second line of defense is to screen people entering a crowded venues, perhaps with explosive-sniffing dogs to detect suicide bombers.
The list of crowded places is not too long: theaters; airports; bus and train terminals; stadiums; schools; marches of various kinds; night clubs; large restaurants; markets; auditoriums; demonstrations; race venues; and long outside lines to places of attraction.
Personally, I would pay an extra fee or tax to have guards at these places I might attend. I will, however, keep my concealed carry permit current!
