As recently as 2007, 48% of Republicans and GOP leaners said it was
more important to control gun ownership, while 47% said it was more
important to protect gun rights.
That's a good chunk of the GOP, along with an overwhelming majority of the rest, in favor of controlling gun ownership. Until 2007.
So, was there anything in particular that happened in 2008 for the GOP folks to become nutcase defenders of gun rights? Think about 2008. Something dramatic happened in the country, remember?
In 2008, it seemed clear that the country would vote in a Democrat to the White House, after eight long Bush years of wars and crises that were ending with the global recession. The two leading Democratic candidates belonged to demographic categories that the GOP typically does not favor: A woman and a black man.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats (64%) say there would be fewer mass
shootings in the U.S. if it were harder for people to legally obtain
guns; only about a quarter of Republicans (27%) say the same. And
Republicans are skeptical that making it harder to legally obtain guns
would have an effect on mass shootings: 54% say it would not make a
difference, while 18% think restricting access to guns would lead to
more mass shootings.
When talking with my mother, with my usual sense of awful humor, I asked her if she made sweets to celebrate Gandhi's birthday. And then on a serious note, I told her that Einstein said after Gandhi's passing that future generations might not even believe that there really was a man called Gandhi who did all those awesome things.
I was later reminded that a year ago, the local newspaper published my column that I had timed with Gandhi's birthday, in which I talked about the awful trump and his demagoguery without naming him.
All my worries--way more than this--have come true with the election of the fascist thug, thanks to the 63 million, including a couple of past commentators here. Violence. Every day, the fascist attacks somebody or the other, and his minions rejoice. He even openly threatens nuclear war with North Korea! And then the events like the one at Charlottesville. The fascist and his followers are clear evidence that neither Gandhi nor Jesus matter to the maniacs.
The United Nations marks Oct. 2 as the
“International Day of Nonviolence” for a very good reason — it is the
birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma
Gandhi.
Gandhi, who was born in 1869, led the
independence movement that, in 1947, resulted in the creation of two new
countries of India and Pakistan and, with that, the end of the British
Raj. The struggle for freedom, in which Gandhi passionately urged his
followers to observe non-violence even against the colonizer’s brutal
force, inspired many others, including Martin Luther King Jr.
Life is full of tragic ironies — Gandhi and
King, the champions of peace and nonviolence, fell to bullets aimed at
them. Unlike Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1948, King had not lived
long enough to live in the promised land of freedom.
Albert Einstein summed it up best for all
of us when he wrote about Gandhi that “generations to come, it may well
be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and
blood walked upon this Earth.” On Gandhi’s birthday, it certainly will
help us all to be reminded, as the U.N. puts it, of the human desire for
“a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence.”
In the contemporary United States, any talk
in the public space about peace and nonviolence is rare. Politicians of
all stripes want to prove how much tougher they are than the other, out
of a fear of being labeled a wimp. This has been especially the case
since the fateful events on Sept. 11, 2001. At the national level, the
“tough” ones smell blood when an opponent does not talk of war. At this
rate, even those running for the office of dogcatcher will have to prove
their toughness.
Of course, violence is more than merely
engaging in war. The political rhetoric during the past year seems to
have been anything but peaceful and nonviolent. A new day begins with
attacks on yet another person or group of people, based on whatever
cultural trait is deemed to be the “wrong” one for the moment. Even I,
as insignificant as one can be in the political landscape, have been a
target for those who are seemingly at ease with offensive words and
rhetoric.
While words, unlike sticks and stones, do
not break bones, the violence conveyed through words causes plenty of
harm. In the noise and confusion of the violent rhetoric that surrounds
us in the real and cyber worlds, we seem to have lost a fundamental
understanding of what it means to be human.
One of Gandhi’s favorite prayers says it
all about being human: It is to “feel the pain of others, help those who
are in misery.” Unfortunately, the rhetoric and practice these days is
far from that interpretation of humanity.
When it comes to the terrible humanitarian
crises, like the situation in Aleppo, Syria, it is depressing and
shocking to see how quickly we closed ourselves off from the “pain of
others” and how easily we refuse to “help those who are in misery.” We
have refused to budge even when the screens all around us flashed the
images of Aylan Kurdi — the toddler who was found dead, face down, on a
beach — or the five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, whose dust- and
blood-covered face looked dazed and confused.
Meanwhile, all around the world, the number
of people displaced from their homes continues to increase. The United
Nations estimates that by the end of 2015, the number of people who have
been forcibly displaced from their homes reached 65.3 million. The U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, noted that “at sea, a
frightening number of refugees and migrants are dying each year; on
land, people fleeing war are finding their way blocked by closed
borders. Closing borders does not solve the problem.”
As I write, peace and nonviolence seem to
be evaporating even in Gandhi’s old lands of India and Pakistan. Tension
between the two countries is at such high levels that commentators
wonder, and worry, whether the neighbors are getting ready for yet
another war. As often is the case with these sibling countries, this
time, too, the fight is over Kashmir, but with plenty of nuclear bombs
on both sides of the border.
We shall certainly overcome, in the long
run. In the meanwhile, on the International Day of Nonviolence, like the
stereotypical beauty pageant contestant, I, too, wish for world peace.
Some of us knew that it was only a matter of time. It finally happened.
We have to deal with our own crap--it is no longer somebody else's problem!
"We" as in even right here in Eugene: "On Thursday, the reverberations of China’s tough stance reached Sam Miller, owner of Lane Apex."
What does Lane Apex do? "picks up curbside commingled recyclables such as plastics, unsorted paper, cardboard and metal cans from homes in Eugene."
What has this got to do with China?
China, by far the world’s biggest importer and reprocessor of
recyclables, has put the United States on notice that this fall and
early next year, it will begin turning away all but the most pristine
used plastics and unsorted waste paper.
Of course, it is not merely Eugene:
With China’s looming ban, the entire West Coast system for sorting and
shipping off recyclables is beginning to slow down, as the industry
realizes it may not be able to get rid of the stuff
Back in 1987, when I was new to this country, one of the interesting stories for me was about the barge from New York that was on the sea and for thousands of miles--the gar-barge. The awesomely rich geographic areas have always used poorer ones as their dumping grounds. China used to be one of those poorer areas. Not anymore. It is now an economic and political power in the world. And it is no longer interested in other people's garbage.
“It could have a negative impact on recycling in general, as the system
has relied
on China for so long now,” said Brent Bell, vice president of
recycling for Waste
Management, the largest waste-service provider in the U.S. If the
Chinese market is no-longer available, some experts question whether
U.S. municipal
recycling programs can remain viable, or if many of the products now
considered “recyclable”
will be reclassified as garbage bound for landfills.
How did this export of garbage to China come about?
For decades, the market for recycling exports has benefited thanks to the massive
U.S.-China trade deficit. With more container ships arriving on U.S. shores then heading
the other way, shippers were desperate for anything they could find for the return
trip.
“And the thing they chose was scrap materials,” Moore told Bloomberg BNA. “Because
of discounts the shipping companies offered, it ended up being cheaper to send that
stuff to China than to process it here.”
Let's see. China makes a whole bunch of stuff, while polluting its air, water, and land, and while treating its people like shit. We buy the stuff that we really do not need, and generate a whole lot of recyclable trash. But, we don't want to pay for the processing of the recyclables. We put them in the empty containers and sent them to China. Now, it is time to pay the piper!
Meanwhile, we have shifted to online shopping because, well, we don't have enough time to spend on Facbook and Instagram and whatever else and, therefore, we can't be bothered to go to the store round the corner to get a roll of toilet paper. We place orders online, and they are delivered with a whole lot of packing materials.
“Online retailers like Amazon still need cardboard
boxes and most comes from China,” said Jakob Rindegren, the recycling
policy adviser of the U.K. association.
One
corrugated box retailer on the online shopping site Taobao reached by
Reuters, said the price of cardboard boxes had nearly doubled since the
end of August to 8.8 yuan ($1.33) each.
I am especially drawn to issues like this because we are forced to think through the complications and question our own preferred ideas on how to make this world a better place for tomorrow. A constant examination, a Socratic questioning, in which there is no sacred cow, so to speak.
The solution to all these is simple, right? Consume less, and take care of your own shit!
