Last night, an unhinged neighbor wrote an irrational rant on the Nextdoor.com community site, complaining bitterly about Walmart’s decision to stop selling ammunition and claiming the move would cause her to never again shop in Waliberal (to use her term). She went on a long, irrational tirade that literally made no sense. I suspect she might have been drinking heavily when she wrote it, as it was, indeed, an illiterate screed.
I don’t know just what the company decided to stop selling; if I heard about it on the news, I listened only with half an ear and let it slip out the other half. But the rant sparked a response from me. I expressed my appreciation that a company is doing SOMETHING about gun violence while politicians are doing NOTHING, thanks to their servitude to the NRA.
This morning, I read more comments. Almost all of them were rants in support of my unhinged neighbor. Most of them expressed reverential support for the Second Amendment; their interpretation of the Second Amendment. And, it appears, most of them are extremely paranoid of the government’s intent to take their guns and turn citizens into slaves. Come to think of it, they may be right. With regard to the current government. But I digress.
Those comments prompt thoughts of moving away from this insane country. Of course, I may change my mind when traveling in the coming weeks. I may not. But I hope, during my absence, there are no more mass killings. I hope guns don’t capture the headlines while I’m away on vacation. And I hope to be able to have a respite from the news, from the madman in the White House, and from the bitter divide that is shaping my home country.
Wouldn’t it be glorious if the energy devoted to arguments about guns were directed, instead, toward solving the problems of low wages and poverty, health care, and war? Ach, but that would remove the irrational joy from the argument, wouldn’t it? I’m just tired of all the BS. I want to direct my attention to beauty and ingenuity and gratitude and things that improve the lot of humanity, in general. And so I shall. Off we go, on an adventure!
