Saturday, December 15, 2012

A Tragedy Too Close to Home

                                                         December 14, 2012                                          
                                                      Newtown, Connecticut                                        

    By now, most of the English speaking world must be aware of the almost unthinkable tragedy that happened yesterday just a few towns away from where I live and work. Newtown, CT  is a fairly affluent suburban community in an affluent state of an affluent nation; the kind of town where most people would be happy, and indeed fortunate to live and raise their children. The kind of town were you would feel safe at any hour of the day or night.  My two daughters started swimming competitively in elementary school, and the team that they practiced with and swam for was in Newtown. 

    It is, of course, impossible for any normal person to understand what could prompt a human being with any conscience or moral compass to do what was done yesterday, most especially the deliberate and methodical killing of twenty very young and completely innocent young children in their school. It is equally impossible to make sense out of it, because it doesn't make sense, and it cannot. Losing a child is one of the most difficult blows for any person to withstand emotionally, and now many families and an entire community are faced with just that, to say nothing of the families, friends  and colleagues of the slain adults as well. At present, It does not appear that I knew any families directly effected by the events of yesterday, but one of my office employees has a daughter who works in another elementary school in Newtown. My older daughter's first full time teaching job was in another nearby town; the principal who hired her at that school, Dawn Hochsprung, was the principal who was shot and killed in Sandy Hook yesterday. 

    In April of 1999, our family was on vacation on Grand Cayman. While we were there, we became friendly with an older couple who owned a condo in the complex where we were staying. He had just retired as an OB-GYN, having practiced in Littleton, Colorado. While we were there, the dreadful school shooting at Columbine High School took place; he had delivered many of the high school kids who were shot that day, and it devastated him. He and his wife have kept in touch with us since then; I was never really sure why. Perhaps today I know. 

    Our hobby, harmless as it is, models conflict and war, and as the in the case of the martial arts class coeds that I related in "War College", can be seen as glorifying war, and with it death and destruction. Some of us have military experience; others may be fervent pacifists  Some indeed, might be both. Since I have been on an "old school" path recently, in this regard I think that no one has ever said it better than H.G. Wells, in his 1913 classic, Little Wars:

    " And if I might for a moment trumpet! How much better is this amiable miniature than the Real Thing! Here is a homeopathic remedy for the imaginative strategist. Here is the premeditation, the thrill, the strain of accumulating victory or disaster—and no smashed nor sanguinary bodies, no shattered fine buildings nor devastated country sides, no petty cruelties, none of that awful universal boredom and embitterment, that tiresome delay or stoppage or embarrassment of every gracious, bold, sweet, and charming thing, that we who are old enough to remember a real modern war know to be the reality of belligerence. 

    This world is for ample living; we want security and freedom; all of us in every country, except a few dull-witted, energetic bores, want to see the manhood of the world at something better than apeing the little lead toys our children buy in boxes. We want fine things made for mankind—splendid cities, open ways, more knowledge and power, and more and more and more — and so I offer my game, for a particular as well as a general end; and let us put this prancing monarch and that silly scare-monger, and these excitable “patriots,” and those adventurers, and all the practitioners of Welt Politik, into one vast Temple of War, with cork carpets everywhere, and plenty of little trees and little houses to knock down, and cities and fortresses, and unlimited soldiers—tons, cellars-full—and let them lead their own lives there away from us.

    My game is just as good as their game, and saner by reason of its size. Here is War, done down to rational proportions, and yet out of the way of mankind, even as our fathers turned human sacrifices into the eating of little images and symbolic mouthfuls."

    I trust that I might be forgiven for ending this sad topic on a somewhat political note. Granted that there is no way to completely protect yourself or those you love from the acts of a seriously deranged individual(s), we have seen far more mass shootings in this country over the years than any other developed country. While I have no interest whatsoever in hunting, I have nothing against those who enjoy it. That having been said, perhaps this time we as a nation will take some meaningful action to start to break down our "culture of the gun", and markedly restrict and control access to them, especially hand guns and assault rifles. "Guns don't kill, people do", the NRA will say. True, but it is pretty difficult to kill large numbers of random people in a short period of time with knives, bows, or what have you. The person most likely to be killed a by a gun is... the owner of that gun, whether by accident, or by another member of their own family, as was evidently the case in Newtown. Our friends in Australia have already conducted this experiment; the rate of homicides there dropped dramatically following the institution of strict gun control laws.  So as we pray for those impacted by this unthinkable tragedy, perhaps *this* might be the time that we as a nation finally might be moved to take meaningful action to reduce the ready access to firearms that exists in our country, with such gruesome and heart rending consequences.

                                                       December 14, 2012                                            
                                                     Newtown, Connecticut Newt                                 

18 comments:

  1. Words just do not suffice for events like this

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    1. Exactly, Garry. There really *are* no words for it despite my temptation to try.

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    2. Coming days will be truly awful with so many funerals and so many of those children.

      A scary trend this type of tragedy and seemingly not a 'cultural' thing as recent knife attacks in Chinese schools attest (Lord knows the death tools there if they had easy access to firearms). Sadly UK has Dunblane, Hungerford and Cumbrian tragedies to add to list.

      Sadly it will all be forgotten by those not immediately affected all to quickly.

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  2. The scary thing is that it can happen anywhere, any time. New Zealand has had once such massacre (not in a school, though in my last year at high school, a school principal of a high school 10 miles from where I lived, and at which I had played in the provincial Chess teams competition, was shot by one of his pupils).

    Australia has had a couple of massacres, and you have to wonder at what to make of the Norwegian maniac who gunned down more than 70 children. His rationale was worthless.

    Of course, to the fatuous remark that 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people,' one might rejoin: 'Yeah: with guns.' I'm one of the pacific branch of wargamers - not a 'conscientious objector' withal - I can see that there are reasons to fight - but I have long felt that war, as an instrument of policy, has long since outlived its usefulness. I tend to date this from somewhere between 1789 and 1815...

    Doesn't stop me war gaming. Though I have to admit to drawing a rather fuzzy line at circa 1945...

    Events like this I feel leave a deep wound in any nation, even if it doesn't know it, and one that takes a long time to heal - if it ever does.

    All one can do is offer commiserations and best wishes,
    Ion

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    1. One can hope that this time will be different, but it is not likely.

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    2. I would agree with you overall, Ian. I have a an "anti-khaki rule", which pretty much ends my interest at about the first Bower War

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  3. I respectfully disagree with your asessment of firearms ownership; however, instead of debating the issue I will instead say a prayer for the innocent victims in CT.

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    1. Disagreement is to be expected, but I thank your for your prayers.

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  4. Any event like this is truly awful, but especially when young kids are involved. Mindless and senseless.

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  5. This is an awesome post THANK YOU

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    1. You're welcome. It is difficult to find suitable words for an event like this, because it really defies explanation.

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    1. I agree, Rafa, there are no adequate words for something like this in any language, except perhaps the language of the heart.

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  7. Thanks for such a thoughtful and thought-provoking post Peter. I thought of you when I first heard about this terrible tragedy, wondering how close (geographically) it was to you; mr google soon told me.
    The heart-felt thoughts of us all go to the families and friends of so many innocent little children and of those amazingly brave, courageous and dedicated teachers.
    I did not agree with much that Howard did as PM, but his leadership after the massacre at Port Arthur was statesman-like, especially as it went against many in the 'natural' constituency of his government.
    James

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  8. I have also felt uncomfortable about playing at war after this. As a teacher myself and a father of three - one of my girls being of the age of those who died - it has hit me pretty hard, and one naturally puts oneself into the shoes of those affected. I am not an American and would not presume to comment on the American attitude to guns, but I think we can all imagine how awful it must be for the communities involved at this time.

    Thank you for your post, and there is much sympathy for you all.

    Aaron

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    1. Thanks, Aaaron. I don't think there is an "American" attitude towards guns, as much as an array of attitudes. We certainly accept a much higher rate of private gun ownership and use than most otherwise comparable contemorary societies.

      At the time that the Constitution was established, the right to bear arms made good sense for a variety of reasons, including the frontier nature of many homes, including vulnerability to attack by Indians and beasts, the fact that hunting wasn't a hobby but necessary for many, etc. That situation no longer exists for 99.9% of the US population. There's no denying the fact that there was a political element to it as well, having just completed an armed revolt against authority (the British Crown).

      In addition to hunters and recreational shooting enthusiasts, there is also an element of our society that views the right to bear arms as an essential final guarrantee against tyranny by the Government; while a small minority, most with some degree of paranoid disorder in my opinion, they cannot be ignored either.

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