jeudi 6 mars 2008

More of the same



As the world knows, shooting sprees are rather common in the US. So far, 5 occurrences since the beginning of the year. It's none of my business to have a say on that matter of course, though I'm a little surprised by the arguments advanced by those among the Americans who advocate that:

1°) It's part of America's history and culture. Like maintaining a pattern of social relationships from the time of the colonists is something positive per se. Well, all right, this is none of my business, once again.

2°) More surprising, those people say that the best way to prevent these killings is to provide more guns and rifles to everybody so that would-be killers would think twice before attacking or could be shot before they cause too much havoc. Hmmm... Well, maybe is this argument valid in the end, what do I know?

But why not apply this very same logic to nuclear weapons? The more H bombs there will be, the safer the world also will be, won't it? So why did the US and the Ussr negotiate for years during the cold war in order to diminish the overall number of each other's nuclear warheads? Weren't these negotiations held in the name of peace? These talks even led to international disarmament treaties.

And following the same argument of providing weapons to everybody to secure everybody's security, why wouldn't the Iranians be allowed to get their nuclear bomb then? Are certain weapons the exclusive privilege of those who already possess them? Like "I have a gun and I don't want you to have one because it puts me in a superiority position I don't want to lose".

But wait... isn't that the mindset of thugs and criminals who indulge in mass killings?

Did I miss some part of the reasoning here?


8 commentaires:

Anonyme a dit…

Oc course, those who are in favor of the "more guns" policy would also argue that they are not in favor of giving them to criminals, therefore they wouldn't be in favor of giving nukes to Iran.

Then you could ask them why then wouldn't they be in favor of nukes to everybody else (Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Columbia, you know, your good neighbors so that the neighborhood will be much safer...) and then enjoy the long silence that's sure to follow the suggestion... ;)

Flocon a dit…

"they are not in favor of giving them to criminals"

Another flaw in the reasonning of the "more guns" policy crowd: How do they know someone is a criminal before he uses the guns?

So far, what qualifies Iran as a criminal? Which country did it invade and occupy recently? I mean in the last 5 centuries at least? :lol:

Anonyme a dit…

Well, there's of course the hostage crisis, which is still the foundation of the relations between the 2 countries.

Then there's also Iran's financing of Hezbollah and Hamas.

But your point about not knowing in advance whether someone is a criminal is still well taken. That's certainly true if you want to arm an entire population.

As for countries. Well, today, Columbia is a friend. Tomorrow?

Flocon a dit…

"the hostage crisis, which is still the foundation of the relations between the 2 countries."

From the American point of view probably but the Iranians certainly remember the Operation Ajax, 28 years before, which may well be their starting point re the relations between the two...

Ned Ludd a dit…

The Christian Coalition has come out in favor of allowing people to carry guns into churches.

That begs the question: What Gun Would Jesus Carry - WGWJC?

According to this video, Jesus would prefer a Smith&Wesson.

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=pe-er9FqhYA

Ned Ludd a dit…

Very sad breaking news, two women college students have been murdered by guns. Does the American right - and NRA - really think these women could have saved themselves if they had been armed?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/06/eve-carson-unc-chapel-hi_n_90286.html

Flocon a dit…

Ned,

I've watched the video but I can't understand the lyrics... :-(

How you know all these links exist will remain a mystery to me... lol

Ned Ludd a dit…

Maybe you can find the lyrics at the links the poster has on the right.

Basically, it says that Jesus would only drive a Ford Pickup, drink Jack Daniels, and "he taught them a lesson with his own Smith&Wesson because that's what Jesus would shoot".

"He'd buy American like you're supposed to do".

Also his "crown of thorns would bleed red, white, and blue".