When Countries Are Diseased And People In Power Deny You The Medicine

Yesterday (May 25th, 2022) was my birthday, but it was just another dark day for humanity. A day that doesn’t need to be celebrated at all and the dark memories of which are now permanently part of the collective human psyche.

If you don’t already know, on that day, yesterday, 19 kids and 2 of their teachers lost their lives as victims of the second deadliest school shooting in American history.

For me, May 25th ceased to be a day I fully celebrate as my birthday because it was also when George Floyd was killed.

Something about his death in 2020 has stuck with me since as a reminder of the long way that we have to go in the various aspects of human relationships such as race relations, gender relations, mental health, and everything that constitutes a fair use of civil liberties.

So, no, I do not celebrate this day. If anything, I just use it to keep track of my age. This day holds no celebratory relevance as it is better suited for deep reflections on authority, justice, and humane governance not just in the U.S but the world at large.

At some point, you must understand that what happened in Uvalde on May 25, 2022, was not a result of a mental health issue. It was a result of people in positions of governance failing to pass laws that protect those who trusted them to do so.

A senator who has over $13m in NRA donations will of course not admit the fact that stricter regulations need to be put around guns. Instead, he, and other beneficiaries like him will keep blaming these shootings on mental health.

Isn’t this the same person who was running for POTUS in 2012, the year of the deadliest school shooting in the United States so far?

The Uvalde shooting had many of these types of senators sending their hearts out to the victims’ families yet they are the same people who not only ignore the talks about gun control but also actively suppress them with diversions while they de-regulate parts of the already existing controls.

How can 50 people reject the needs of 90% of Americans surrounding gun control?

Also, the U.S’ position at the top of the current world order means that the actions within do not just affect the U.S alone but are also exported to other nations as acceptable ways of life.

The only problem is that, unlike the U.S, most of these other countries do not even have a slight consideration of having organized controls surrounding their adopted realities.

When you are in some of these countries, you can see and feel the effects of such realities.

When I was growing up in one of these countries, I never saw guns on the streets. People did not just carry around guns that way. But now, there is a growing number of guns here and whoever holds one equally shows the authority that he or she wields.

These people walk on the streets like they are gods. They stop traffic with one hand on the trigger and a death stare at the driver. This is their way of asking to cross the road. They take jaywalking to the next level.

But it doesn’t stop at jaywalking. Because of these new realities, assassinations in the country have spiked, and these people are also broke and poorly paid.

What happens when you give a gun to a broke and poorly paid person in desperate need of money to take care of his family? Armed robberies and general insecurity.

Assasins and arsonists are on the rise. Guns are still not common among teens so school shootings aren’t a thing. But what is common here is school arson.

Suicide bombers are also on the rise with some events recorded last year.

The guns and imported bombs and many other weapons used to terrorize the people in these countries are mostly American or Russian made, the ideas that make it seem ok to parade these things on the streets like toys are also American ideas.

When some U.S senators use the disguise of the second amendment to profit from the gun market, it is not only the well-meaning Americans who buy into the idea that their right to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. It is everybody who tries to take advantage of that to hurt people. Whether that person is American or not. This is expected as a natural result of being the most influential country on the planet.

If you think gun control laws don’t work, look at this chart and notice that the countries that have the most deaths are those that have a lot of guns but hardly have any gun control laws.

There is a reason why the most dangerous countries in the world are also the ones that have the highest gun ownership in the world but hardly any gun control measures.

The only reason the U.S hasn’t made the list yet is simply because it has some significant gun control measures. But what it has is not enough and not only that, but politicians in states like Texas threaten the existing controls with the de-regulation in gun acquisition.

I used to think that from 2020 moving forward, May 25th would be a day that reminds me of the long way we need to go in terms of racial harmony, but to that, we can add the fact that we still have a long way if people making the laws that can prioritize profits over kid’s lives.

With senators like Mitt Romney and everyone who refuses to push for stricter gun laws, humanity takes one step back on the spectrum of safety and moral conscience.

When countries are diseased and people in power deny you the medicine, I hope you can vote them out of office and choose people who will not prioritize profits over you and your children.