A letter to my sister.
Hi Tam:
Today New Zealand voted for love, 77 to 44 in favour of same sex
marriage. Today America voted for violence, 54 to 46, against
background
checks for those wishing to buy guns. In New Zealand the gallery
spontaneously erupted into a traditional Maori love song. In the US
Senate gallery there were calls of 'Shame on you!' as the vote was
counted. To me that about sums it up. The US has lost its mind. Some
American said something about how the rest of the world looked at the US
with bewilderment - how it seemed quite crazy, this fascination with
guns and gun culture. He or she was right. Can't speak for the rest of
the world but here in Australia, the US appears as though it's gone
collectively off its rocker. Madness twinned with paranoia fueled by
testosterone and steroids. Hate fueled by fear. Why so frightened?
What is everyone afraid of? Retribution?
When Martin Bryant shot and killed 35 people and injured 21 others at
Port Arthur in Tasmania the then conservative government was galvanized
into action. In order to own a gun you had to have a license. Hundreds
of thousands of guns were surrendered (there was a recent amnesty of
unlicensed firearms in which even more guns were surrendered). The
keeping of guns in strictly regulated. Richard has (licensed) guns
which he keeps in a secure padlocked cabinet. Ammunition is kept
separately. The police have been out to check that he adheres to the
regulations. Richard is very much in favour of gun ownership but
accepts with not too much grumbling the way things are in Oz.
And then of course you get the homegrown loonies like the Boston
bomber. I suspect you are right, Tam and he or she is insane. There's a
grown man up the road. He's in his 40's and lives with his quiet and
unassuming parents. His dad is a friend of ours. When this 'boy' gets
agitated he gets scary if he's not on his medication. The neighbour brought
Richard his guns for safekeeping when the son was having an episode
(over an aged cat that desperately needed, for humane reasons, to be
euth'd). That's all it takes. The parents are rightfully frightened of
this big burly 'kid' but can't/won't have him committed. Is the bomber
such a person? There are so many 'mad' people out there. Mad people
that are afraid and therefore find reasons to hate. Hate comes from
fear, don't you think? You can't hate unless you're afraid.
It's all so sad.
One of my favourite movies is Love Actually. I'm sure you've seen it.
During the opening monologue Hugh Grant talks about how when the planes
were going down during 9/11, the passengers, knowing they were going to
die, rang their loved ones to tell them they loved them. They didn't
ring their enemies to tell them they hated them. Love is our natural
state. Despite all the madness in the world, I still believe that.
And I love you,
Holly
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