Well, that wasn't the meteor shower of the century (I hope!) but we saw seven or eight (I lost count), all traveling roughly south to north. The air was not clear closer to the horizon; we could see the Big Dipper clearly, Polaris faintly, and Cassiopeia's Chair not at all.
Let me suggest that talking about gun ownership is, like pointing the finger at racism, an intentional distraction from the real issue. If some people talk about the characteristics of the arbitrarily excluded, it is because the desire for privilege is to be overlooked. In the case of weapons, it is clear, but not significant that ownership is not the main concern. It is a given that agents of government are not to tell individual natural persons what to do--with money or anthing else. However, commerce, the buying and selling of goods, services and persons is another matter. After all, the reason there are no more slaves being purchased is because that trade has been prohibited. Ditto for CFCs, Dioxin, TNT. There is nothing to prevent the prohibition of the sale of weapons of mass destruction except public servants beholden to the commercial class. The middlemen are the problem. If we do not know that it is because chambers of commerce hve been really good at disguising their role. The gun trade is not the only example. Consider the unwarranted incrase in the price of fuel. Is anyone pointing the finger at gas stations and convenience stores whoae prices are inflated as a matter of course? No. The Chamber has a host of pundits in tow to point fingers at Putin, the virus, and fewer reserves. Supply/demand, cost/benefit, profit/loss, buyers/sellers, producers/consumers. Where is the third party interloper in these pairs? It is not systemic in the same way the justice system is biased. In this case our understanding is incomplete because some of the core players are left out. While some people are always left out (the filthy rich are never unemployed and neither are the street people), what we have here is a whole category, the traders, ignored. That was already true of the slave trade. People were taken captive in warfare and then owned. The agents of transport and marketing were anonymous. Nowadays we have rel estate agents who engineer sales of houses that people cnnot afford to keep up. So they lose them to the bank and the realators find another sucker to pony up. Who keeps realtors honest? Oh, they have their own code. The Constitution outlines the federal corporation and specifies the duties and obligations of agents. But the subsidiaries they authorize have almost no restrictions, perhaps because legislators resent the resteictions imposed on them. Regardless the reason, the growing army of middlemen is out of control and the legislators need to change that.
This seems to be aimed at young men on the economic and social fringes of society; middle class gun nuts who feed themselves a diet of Fox News, as well as “Christian” nationalists, might well be another matter. Well, a step at a time.
1:33am…
ReplyDeleteWell, that wasn't the meteor shower of the century (I hope!) but we saw seven or eight (I lost count), all traveling roughly south to north. The air was not clear closer to the horizon; we could see the Big Dipper clearly, Polaris faintly, and Cassiopeia's Chair not at all.
--Alan
Oh my goodness! I plumb forgot to look!!
DeleteLet me suggest that talking about gun ownership is, like pointing the finger at racism, an intentional distraction from the real issue. If some people talk about the characteristics of the arbitrarily excluded, it is because the desire for privilege is to be overlooked. In the case of weapons, it is clear, but not significant that ownership is not the main concern.
ReplyDeleteIt is a given that agents of government are not to tell individual natural persons what to do--with money or anthing else. However, commerce, the buying and selling of goods, services and persons is another matter. After all, the reason there are no more slaves being purchased is because that trade has been prohibited. Ditto for CFCs, Dioxin, TNT. There is nothing to prevent the prohibition of the sale of weapons of mass destruction except public servants beholden to the commercial class. The middlemen are the problem. If we do not know that it is because chambers of commerce hve been really good at disguising their role. The gun trade is not the only example. Consider the unwarranted incrase in the price of fuel. Is anyone pointing the finger at gas stations and convenience stores whoae prices are inflated as a matter of course? No. The Chamber has a host of pundits in tow to point fingers at Putin, the virus, and fewer reserves. Supply/demand, cost/benefit, profit/loss, buyers/sellers, producers/consumers. Where is the third party interloper in these pairs?
It is not systemic in the same way the justice system is biased. In this case our understanding is incomplete because some of the core players are left out.
While some people are always left out (the filthy rich are never unemployed and neither are the street people), what we have here is a whole category, the traders, ignored. That was already true of the slave trade. People were taken captive in warfare and then owned. The agents of transport and marketing were anonymous. Nowadays we have rel estate agents who engineer sales of houses that people cnnot afford to keep up. So they lose them to the bank and the realators find another sucker to pony up. Who keeps realtors honest? Oh, they have their own code.
The Constitution outlines the federal corporation and specifies the duties and obligations of agents. But the subsidiaries they authorize have almost no restrictions, perhaps because legislators resent the resteictions imposed on them.
Regardless the reason, the growing army of middlemen is out of control and the legislators need to change that.
A study gave cash and therapy to men at risk of criminal behavior. 10 years later, the results are in. [Click] “Liberia found a stunningly effective way to reduce violent crimes.” Now [Chicago] is trying a similar experiment.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be aimed at young men on the economic and social fringes of society; middle class gun nuts who feed themselves a diet of Fox News, as well as “Christian” nationalists, might well be another matter. Well, a step at a time.
—Alan
In Chicago, it is the "young men on the economic and social fringes of society" (i.e., gangbbangers) who are the major risk.
DeleteDid Joe Manchin block climate action to benefit his financial interests? [Click] Not news, certainly; but more details than usual.
ReplyDelete—Alan
America really really needs him voted out.
DeleteThe sheer size of the China trading relationship is why Australia has to share its feasts and famines with Beijing [Click] A fairly extensive list of problems China has with managing its economy. Wow.
ReplyDelete—Alan