#Bang Bang
2 messages in this thread
it's interesting..I think back to the revolutionary war and the development of
our country which probably never would have happened if people here weren't
allowed to bear arms..throughout the 1800's I doubt there were very many homes
that didn't have at least one firearm.
I'm sure there were crimes commited back then as well but nothing like today.
To blame this on the gun is a bit odd. In a culture like ours that in many
ways stresses the importance of "get as much as you can with as little work as
you can" is asking for trouble. The work ethic has slacked and the average
teen-ager has the mores..or perhaps I should say doesn't have the mores that
established this country.
Every day we see more examples of parents not wanting to take responsibility
for their children. Kids are being fed breakfast at school because the parents
are too busy or don't have the resources to care for their children. Who is
supposed to teach the children correct behavior? The teachers? In a classroom
with 40-60 kids when they arn't allowed to discuss God or moral behavior. Gone
is the days when we expected things from children..I had a middle school
principle tell my wife (a teacher) when she went to work there that there job
was to make the social transition into high school easier..ICK!
For the last 20 or so years society has been proclaiming total individual
freedom..Respect your elders was not part of the vocabulary. So now we have
thousands of street gangs banded together for mutual respect, support, and
"love" because that is the only place they can find it.
Only recently have sociologists started emphasising the importance of spending
time with your children and how the break-down of the family was distroying
society. I heard a quote recently..William Adams (I think it was William) the
grandson of Pres. Adams (2nd pres. of US) who was a Senetor, a laywer..a busy
successful man, spent a day fishing with his son. He wrote in his journal
"Spent day fishing with my son…Wasted day". His son, Brooks Adams, wrote in
his journal for the same day "Went fishing with my dad. The most wonderful day
ever".
If everything is going to h***, quit trying to blame it on a gun. Take a look
at the PEOPLE around you and see consider their behavior as the possible cause.
Alex (Jim, this is not necessarily TO you..I had just read too much shuffling
of blame and decided to respond)
That's great; I agree with everything you say. Half of my b*ing about this
stuff is letting off steam so I can concentrate on living. And, you're
right. A guy I work with takes a great interest and involvement with the
raising of his kids, and I encourage him as much as I can because I know
how important it is. And you hit the nail on the head when you say there's
too much shuffling of blame in this country anymore. The word "honor" is
either almost forgotten in this society, or been distorted into a
meaningless joke. Yet men risked their lives and did what couldn't have
been possible for the sake of honour.
In a little valley in Greece, there's a plaque I wish to see someday. On
it is engraved, in Greek (I assume), "Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that
here, obedient to their law, we lie". 300 men held off 10,000 in that
little valley of Thermopylae, and died rather than abandon the body of
their king, whom they were sworn ("honor") to protect. This isn't a fairy
story; that noble point of view was once *everyday* common sense.
Sometimes it was called "manhood" (before that fell into disrepute); a man
doesn't run, doesn't lie, doesn't back out when he's given his word, and
takes care of himself and his own or he's not a man but some crawling
creature in mannish form. The Romans of the Republic had a word for it;
veritas (virtue). It is not easy or fun, or even very rewarding. Simply
necessary for a society to thrive.
Get AutoPilot, or get lost!
Eet