LogFAQs > #898615865

If only the kids shut up then your liberties would be safe.

Though it is the opposition who seems to be trying to reduce the validity of the kids due to their age. As if there weren't millions of adults who share the same opinions. It's like dismissing libertarians because vlado claims he is one.

However what IS really important is that these kids were direct victims of the crisis they are arguing about. This gives them a special and unique validity that goes far beyond all the millions who have been calling for gun control for decades. I was actually going to write a big post on FB about this, but I guess I should do a test run here.

TLDR this is our generation's war on terror. Not in the sense there's a huge generation-defining crisis, because 9/11 did define our generation in that way. It's more in the sense that this is the first crisis that directly affects us, where we are ADULTS and have real agency and can make real choices regarding the future of this issue (to the extent that our totalitarian govt allows). That's what these kids are very powerfully proving with reactionary, retribution-based rhetoric ("never again").

And so the question is: will we repeat our parents' mistake and enthusiastically cheer for an invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq etc, just because we want SOMETHING to be done in retribution for our pain? Never even considering that what we're doing might actually be worse than doing nothing, and nowhere close to doing the Actually Right Thing that solves the Actual Problem (i.e. sending in a strike team to assassinate Bin Laden, or punishing the CIA/Saudi Arabia).

Our generation has always been able to blame the establishments and past generations for screwing everything up. We couldn't help that, we're just living in the broken system they left us. But with this issue, there is no scapegoat like that. The direction this issue goes is very much in our hands, and unfortunately it looks like most people are taking the reactionary Iraq War route.

As a kid and growing up, I tried to figure out why the Iraq War happened. I figured the people didn't really support it, and the government was just abusing their power to go in there, which was partially true... but now I realize that there was actually a ton of public support. Due to the exact same reactionary rhetoric and warmongering that is being used in this movement. "never again" is no different than the war on terror.

So then, can't we just learn from our immediate past and go in a better direction? Try to eliminate the actual sources of the problem. Disarm the police, fix the economy, de-radicalize the political process, etc.

Either way, the important point is that doing SOMETHING is not always better than doing nothing. We can't just do ANYTHING.
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_foolmo_
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