A weaponized population good or bad?

Having the experience of living societies that have more guns than needed, designated as a war zones and basically lawless, there is some insight I have on having the population being armed. Also, having the experience of living in a society that is designated as one of the most peaceful societies, I have some realistic examples of what gun control can do and not do.

There is some truth in the fact that it takes a person to operate the gun for it to do harm – so does a hammer, a sword and even a nuclear weapon. This is why the saying that it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun can hold water. In this argument we are relying on the good nature of humans to win the day. If that is the argument then we are going to always ramp up the weapons or to use an old term “an arms race”. This theory was deemed quite ridiculous in the 1980's on an international scale yet, it is still very much alive on the individual level.

If you have had the pleasure (sarcasm) of living in society that is fully weaponized your first task will be to do whatever you can to stay alive (fight/kill others). Next you will have to do whatever you can to gain leverage to exit the area and/or end the shooting (ceasefire agreements). Next, if you are lucky enough to stop the shooting you will seek to disarm as many people as possible (demobilize and disarm programs). These are three of the most notable steps in ending any war since the very first two people started throwing rocks at each other.

Within that scenario you will understand that you are in a state of perpetual shooting and weaponizing until you are not. The moment you turn that corner towards a successful ceasefire, the weapons are dropped/collected.

Then we have the argument that only bad guys will have guns if we do not allow good guys to have guns. There is some truth to that. Another truth is that the bad guys can never be relied upon to listen to the rules anyway. If everyone has a handgun, the bad guy will just throw grenades and car bombs. In effect we will just perpetuate an arms race in our own communities. Case in point is Daesh (ISIS). Sadly that will always be a reality because some people are just idiotic, selfish assholes.

Do we live in fear of such people? Some do live in fear and that is how we get an overly weaponized society. Should we live in fear of the idiotic, selfish asshole, NO. However, we live in a world that is far from perfect and this argument about gun control will walk the lines of moral rights and legal rights.

 

In such arguments we must understand that what is legal is not always peaceful. Next we have to understand that just because there are laws, it does not stop anyone from doing anything.

What does work is the collective community working together with compassion and resolve to maintain peace. We are left with the cliché that it takes a community to raise a child. The community does not wait for the shooting before something is done. Before anyone says the obvious – no this is not an easy solution. In fact it is much more difficult that having everyone own a gun – and that is the primary problem we face. Peace is too difficult. We live in a time where the quick and easy life is wanted more than the peaceful life. The irony is that too much of the quick and easy has brought many societies to destruction throughout history. It is easier to buy a gun than to care for your neighbour.

Guns are a reality. With wise ownership and good judgement, there are no problems. Unfortunately we live in a world where common sense tends to lean more towards idiocy than wisdom. There is no issue with a person who has a solid grasp of peaceful existence owning a gun. Now, if you want to give everyone a gun go live in Syria and see what life is like.

When irony meets hypocrisy

Held within the prophecy of living in interesting times is the reality that such times are not easy, are filled with drama and of course excitement. At this moment we are living in very interesting times. As we live through these moments we seek answers, solutions, reasons, causes and meaning. During such a moment a question came to mind concerning the law of physics that states – for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The question is - what is the equal reaction of peace to the destruction of war?

What is the peace equivalent of a missle strike, a mass shooting or a car bombing? How do we let off a peace bomb? What act of peace rivals what is taking place in Syria? These are the thoughts that must be explored in order to bring the world into peace. From these thoughts there must be action. Also, we must take into consideration that hatred is fueled by love. This is the ironic reality in which we struggle to understand hyprocritical action. When irony meets hypocrisy, the collision results in the birth of insanity, violence, frustration, stupidity and we experience the torment of hell. Sadly such a reality is often self inflicted and self perpetuated.

We need to know our own minds first – totally to be at complete peace. If the equation of equal reactions stands up to truth then where are the opposites of Daesh? Where are the peace bombs going off to rival the car bombs, missle strikes, mass shootings, and where are the peace camps that rival refugee camps? In some realm of thought a refugee camp is a peace camp – perhaps?

At this point, the mental capacity to carry on such a thought exercise has produced a deep sorrow for those who are suffering the brutality of war. Hopefully those who battle an internal war such as an illness or an external war, will find peace.

Build peace or wage war?

Of late, I have been doing a great deal of work on the importance of civil society in peacebuilding. One reality that came across my mind is that civil society has a tremendous role in the destruction of peace so it should have an equal role in the building of peace. As the world works, an example of just such a situation comes to the front of attention in the form of the school shooting in the RUSA, Florida.

The school shootings can be an anology of what is taking place in Syria. Although the scale of destruction is different, the sparks that ignite violence can be seen as similar in each circumstance. We can see the personal path of groups like Daesh as similar to that of the person who opens fire on a school. We see the isolation of the other, the internal conversation that festers within the closed group or mind, the need to lash out, the need to get revenge, the need to feel some control and the “insanity of their words and actions”.

Then we have the outside group or civil society. These are the people who see the destructive behaviour taking place. Often the destruction takes place slowly and society can brush it off, even though it is the destruction of society we are witness to. Such situations are not comfortable for many of us. This is true for every single person in society. Since there are a great many factors swirling around in this situation, the scope of the equation can be overwhelming.

What is meant by the scope of the equation is this:

A personal problem manifests itself and that person gives warning signs. When or if those signs are noticed something must be done. What needs to be done, do you have the capacity to do anything and of course there is the decision - are you willing to get involved? Each and everyone of us faces these situations everyday. We see people struggle with life everyday and we make snap decisions.

As we deal with these situations we must take into consideration the reality that we may never really know the impact we make when acting in a peaceful manner. It is easy to look back as ask why something was not done. The only reasonable answers is that no one really thought their actions would make much difference and that nothing bad was going to happen by ignoring the warning signs. Those thoughts are the most basic issue of why peace efforts are such a difficult reality for many to grasp onto.

We know the impact of a bullet, a bomb or a missle. It is difficult to truly know the impact of giving your time to help another. It is even more difficult to help those that are already understood as worthless, troublesome, weird or out of touch with reality. However these are the links in the chain of peace that will break if left alone.

Peace is a continous task filled with moments of struggles to help eachother. Also, we must keep in mind that we have to take care of our own internal peace. Each of us must seek out healthy methods to vent frustrations as well. As we go about such tasks we find that it takes greater courage to be a peaceful person that it does to be a violent, destructive and harmful person.

As we go about our day, each of us carries a responsibility to ensure civil society either builds peace or wages war.