First of all, this week’s Musing is not very amusing; quite the contrary I must say. It’s about the senseless violence that’s going on all around us.
Take for instance the attempted assassination of a former president. Whether you like him or not, it’s still senseless. We’re coming upon the one-year anniversary of the Aug. 22, 2023, shooting of Laura Ann Carleton, who was killed over the display of a Pride flag outside her Cedar Glen clothing boutique.
These examples are just reminders that, while America may be the land of the free and the home of the brave, it is also one of the most violent societies on the planet. Americans have a long, proud history of violence against others. This country was conceived in violence. Want proof? One need look no further than the genocide perpetrated upon the Native Americans.
We regale in violence. Why, we even have a battle hymn for our national anthem. As morally bankrupt as the wholesale violence against those so-called “pesky Indians” was, some would argue it was violence with a purpose, that it was necessary in order to clear out and pave over our fruited plains so Americans could someday enjoy their TV dinners by the pool.
TV dinner by the pool. I’m so glad I finished school. (“Brown Shoes Don’t Make It” – Frank Zappa – 1966)
The Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol by dissidents who apparently wanted to take over the government, and the recent rioting in the streets and on college campuses over the so-called Israel-Hamas War, are further examples of senseless violence. Speaking of riots, what about the so-called “Riot on the Sunset Strip” back in 1967? Cop cars in flames, billy clubs upside the head – now that was a riot! I know because I was there, not as a participant, mind you, but as a mild-mannered reporter for my college radio station. They even made a movie about it. That, too, was also senseless violence. But I digress. So, who is to blame? Is it us, all of us? Well, no, not all of us. Some, like myself, didn’t buy their kids war toys or let them watch violent movies like Natural Born Killers or Dead Reckoning or play violent video games like Grand Theft Auto, where the player gets to have sex with hookers and snuff and then unleash a barrage of lead from automatic weapons aimed at cops. This kind of entertainment for kids is sick and so are parents who allow their kids to indulge in it.
As a former teacher of gangbangers, wannabe gangbangers and other homicidal maniacs in San Bernardino, I can personally attest to the countless wasted lives I have seen pass through the so-called “alternative education” program, only to grow into a life of welfare, crime and violence that leads directly to prison or an early grave. Come on people, now, you can do better than this.
Love is but a song we sing and fear’s the way we die. You can make the mountains sing or make the angels cry. Come on people now, smile at your brother, everybody get together, love one another right now. (“Get Together” – Jessie Colin Young – 1967) End of rant…Peace out!
Keep it flyin’,
Uncle Mott
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