One thing I'm learning is that there are some Internet spaces that are not healthy for me. They're announcing a certain reality, but it's not one I want to live in. And they're only partly true because here, in my community, in NYC where I visit often, I still see lots of dignity and human connection. I'm not advocating burying one's head in the sand, but--at least for me--my life is immeasurably improved by the avoidance of certain cesspools of discourse. Good luck out there, and I agree with Nadia. Stay safe.
Hello. Thank you for learning and sharing the best truth you can too. Please see/share our research from Captain Rob Balsamo, Captain Dan Hanley, Amber Quitno, Prof. Graeme MacQueen, Scott Hagen, Prof. Tony Martin, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, and others and help us improve it if you can. Thank you!
I stepped back from the news during the first time "he who shall not be named" was in office. I have since stopped all social media interactions except Substack. My nervous system couldn't handle the barrage and I found that important news trickled down.
I can only imagine what it feels like to be a black man in this America. As a white woman, I am offered certain privileges, but I have a gay, trans son and I worry about him. He's at an incredibly liberal and supportive college, but still.
Guns scare me. I have experience shooting, my dad taught me with a BB gun as a child. But hitting a target and hitting a person are so different. Arming people isn't the answer, in my mind. I also believe in love over hate and "othering." This country will not change until the current administration is replaced by a decent human being who actually cares about the people in this country.
My heart breaks for our country every day. It's hard to be a deeply feeling human in today's world. We need to stick together.
My boyfriend, sweet pacifist he is, has also been contemplating buying a gun. It's a hard thing to even think about, but this is the violent reality we find ourselves in. I am glad to have found you in the sea of sorrow as a voice speaking towards compassion and how we don't have to be cruel toward one another. We rise together. May it be in peace.
I have never wished death or harm to a group of people. I have prayed for the natural death of only one individual. He has lived long enough and inflicted enough harm and division. In my 60 years, I have never hated anyone until now. I'm sad to admit this truth.
Honestly though, his death would not change what has been awakened in all of us.
Thank you for writing this. I needed to read it. And you are absolutely right - we do need to blame ourselves.
I have honestly thought about getting a gun myself for the first time in my life. The only time I've been near a gun was when I held a friend's antique pistol in my hand for about 3 second when I was an undergrad. Even unloaded, the power of the this beautifully wrought little piece of metal scared the hell out of me. But somehow, it feels like maybe it would be foolish not to get one. What a world we live in.
Hello. People know why. Thank you for learning and sharing the best truth you can too. Please see/share our research from Captain Rob Balsamo, Captain Dan Hanley, Amber Quitno, Prof. Graeme MacQueen, Scott Hagen, Prof. Tony Martin, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, and others and help us improve it if you can. Thank you!
This essay is heartbreaking and urgently necessary. I’m sorry that you’ve had to endure the horrors of gun violence, and I hope that you have healed over time. Similarly, I have conflicting thoughts and mixed feelings about people owning guns. Likewise, when reading the daily onslaught of terrifying national news, I’m scared senseless too. It scares me that the far right bigots and ruthless white supremacists are using the US military to attack our own people. It’s like a horror film made real, my worst nightmares made flesh. I appreciate your honesty and compassion in this important essay. Stay safe my friend. In spite of everything, I’m doing my best to keep hope alive in these dark times.
I also wonder what people are so afraid of. It’s a confusing division because our country’s modern history/culture was all about individual rights, privacy, property rights, etc. Tunnel vision individualism that couldn’t be bothered with everyone else. That obviously had its downsides, but I felt there was still a value that people have the freedom to live their life however they choose and what they choose is not my problem or my business, no matter how repugnant/different. I am super confused when our society shifted to hateful collectivism and mob mentality trying to micro manage how everyone else enjoys their daily lives, individual rights and privacy decisions.
A separate comment is I think social media has played a very large part in mob mentality and pushing people to further extremes. We often have one sided algorithms, sometimes even in a Google search. We are living in different realities because much of reality is being presented to us with starkly different information. Just as if you talk to your friend about a particular toothpaste and then get an ad for exactly that, I have had a challenging conversation from a different viewpoint to mine on religion/politics and seen my algorithm even out and sprinkle in that different side too. And that was very eye opening and healthy for me.
I have also thought about buying a gun and I have never fired one or even really wanted to fire one. They seem like nothing but bad. Yet I have had thoughts of buying one. I have had thoughts of, "if civil war comes I want to take just one of those bastards down before I die." Not proud of that.
One thing I'm learning is that there are some Internet spaces that are not healthy for me. They're announcing a certain reality, but it's not one I want to live in. And they're only partly true because here, in my community, in NYC where I visit often, I still see lots of dignity and human connection. I'm not advocating burying one's head in the sand, but--at least for me--my life is immeasurably improved by the avoidance of certain cesspools of discourse. Good luck out there, and I agree with Nadia. Stay safe.
Isabel,
Hello. Thank you for learning and sharing the best truth you can too. Please see/share our research from Captain Rob Balsamo, Captain Dan Hanley, Amber Quitno, Prof. Graeme MacQueen, Scott Hagen, Prof. Tony Martin, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, and others and help us improve it if you can. Thank you!
https://michaelatkinson.substack.com/
Sincerely,
Michael
🦖
I stepped back from the news during the first time "he who shall not be named" was in office. I have since stopped all social media interactions except Substack. My nervous system couldn't handle the barrage and I found that important news trickled down.
I can only imagine what it feels like to be a black man in this America. As a white woman, I am offered certain privileges, but I have a gay, trans son and I worry about him. He's at an incredibly liberal and supportive college, but still.
Guns scare me. I have experience shooting, my dad taught me with a BB gun as a child. But hitting a target and hitting a person are so different. Arming people isn't the answer, in my mind. I also believe in love over hate and "othering." This country will not change until the current administration is replaced by a decent human being who actually cares about the people in this country.
My heart breaks for our country every day. It's hard to be a deeply feeling human in today's world. We need to stick together.
I hear you friend. It's awful here, I can imagine even more so in the US. Please be safe. Sending love!
My boyfriend, sweet pacifist he is, has also been contemplating buying a gun. It's a hard thing to even think about, but this is the violent reality we find ourselves in. I am glad to have found you in the sea of sorrow as a voice speaking towards compassion and how we don't have to be cruel toward one another. We rise together. May it be in peace.
I have never wished death or harm to a group of people. I have prayed for the natural death of only one individual. He has lived long enough and inflicted enough harm and division. In my 60 years, I have never hated anyone until now. I'm sad to admit this truth.
Honestly though, his death would not change what has been awakened in all of us.
Thank you for writing this. I needed to read it. And you are absolutely right - we do need to blame ourselves.
I have honestly thought about getting a gun myself for the first time in my life. The only time I've been near a gun was when I held a friend's antique pistol in my hand for about 3 second when I was an undergrad. Even unloaded, the power of the this beautifully wrought little piece of metal scared the hell out of me. But somehow, it feels like maybe it would be foolish not to get one. What a world we live in.
Stanley, Reginald P., Kristen Jeffers, and all,
Hello. People know why. Thank you for learning and sharing the best truth you can too. Please see/share our research from Captain Rob Balsamo, Captain Dan Hanley, Amber Quitno, Prof. Graeme MacQueen, Scott Hagen, Prof. Tony Martin, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, and others and help us improve it if you can. Thank you!
https://michaelatkinson.substack.com/
Sincerely,
Michael
🦖
This essay is heartbreaking and urgently necessary. I’m sorry that you’ve had to endure the horrors of gun violence, and I hope that you have healed over time. Similarly, I have conflicting thoughts and mixed feelings about people owning guns. Likewise, when reading the daily onslaught of terrifying national news, I’m scared senseless too. It scares me that the far right bigots and ruthless white supremacists are using the US military to attack our own people. It’s like a horror film made real, my worst nightmares made flesh. I appreciate your honesty and compassion in this important essay. Stay safe my friend. In spite of everything, I’m doing my best to keep hope alive in these dark times.
I also wonder what people are so afraid of. It’s a confusing division because our country’s modern history/culture was all about individual rights, privacy, property rights, etc. Tunnel vision individualism that couldn’t be bothered with everyone else. That obviously had its downsides, but I felt there was still a value that people have the freedom to live their life however they choose and what they choose is not my problem or my business, no matter how repugnant/different. I am super confused when our society shifted to hateful collectivism and mob mentality trying to micro manage how everyone else enjoys their daily lives, individual rights and privacy decisions.
A separate comment is I think social media has played a very large part in mob mentality and pushing people to further extremes. We often have one sided algorithms, sometimes even in a Google search. We are living in different realities because much of reality is being presented to us with starkly different information. Just as if you talk to your friend about a particular toothpaste and then get an ad for exactly that, I have had a challenging conversation from a different viewpoint to mine on religion/politics and seen my algorithm even out and sprinkle in that different side too. And that was very eye opening and healthy for me.
I have also thought about buying a gun and I have never fired one or even really wanted to fire one. They seem like nothing but bad. Yet I have had thoughts of buying one. I have had thoughts of, "if civil war comes I want to take just one of those bastards down before I die." Not proud of that.