The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    David Seaton's picture

    Freedom in America: as plain as the nose on your face

    By David Seaton on Wed, 01/19/2011 - 3:37pm |

    The most obvious things are often the hardest to see: for example, without a mirror it is impossible to see the nose on your face... unless of course you suffer from severe concomitant esotropia, in which case you hardly see anything else but the nose on your face.  Much of American political discourse is victim to both mirrorlessness and mental esotropia.

    Although the Tucson shooter had no known political affiliation, because a congresswoman was attacked, the Tucson massacre is being treated as a political act. In a sense I think it is it is one, but only for what it reveals about the contradictory pull of the American reality on the America's subconscious.


    Some might say that, since the perpetrator of the massacre is insane, his act has no meaning in itself, simply the "tale told by an idiot". This would be missing the point. Insane people's acts do have meaning, but the meanings are private, dark, obscure and must be read as metaphors, as in the interpretation of dreams.  They live in their dream world and perhaps their dream world is not so different from ours, differing mostly in that we only visit that world in our sleep or under the influence of drugs and they spend their tortured lives inhabiting it.  Their life is a "daymare", so to speak. Perhaps we could learn about our own hidden darkness by studying his visible darkness. 


    Violent fantasies spring from the frustration of powerlessness. 


    Jared Loughner  dreamed of the power of a gun, he dreamed of killing, the ultimate power:  darkened living rooms and movie theaters all over America are filled with men, women and even children, who dream the same violent dreams, every day, for hours on end... The difference: Jared Loughner's dream came true.


    As insane as Jared Loughner is, there are hundreds of people in Tucson even crazier than he is... the thousands of people who went to the "Cross Roads of the West" gun show in Tucson the Saturday after the massacre... business was brisk. That is what is unique... not the killings themselves.


    The United States is not alone among developed nations in having an occasional citizen run amok with a gun. Just the other day in the Catalonian town of Olot, here in Spain,  we had such an incident.


    An older man was about to lose his job and have the bank foreclose on him, (sound familiar?) So he took his rabbit gun, loaded it with buckshot, went into a cafe and shot his boss and his boss's adult son dead, then got into his car and drove to the bank, where he shot dead the bank manager and an employee that he found there, and then he calmly went to the police station and turned himself in. He will now be lodged and fed by the Spanish taxpayer. None of his neighbors ever considered the killer crazy, but all were in agreement that he had always been a mean and nasty son of a bitch... America has no monopoly of those.


    What makes American gun violence rather unique is the type and free availability of the weapons we employ when we run amok and more unique than that is the wide public demand that military grade weapons be kept available to all, despite frequent massacres.
     

    It is hard to carry out a massacre on the order of Tucson or Virginia Tech with only a double barreled shotgun.  Glock  automatics and assault rifles are not freely available in Spain and  I don't think very many Spanish people would like them to be. They do not feel that their "freedom" is endangered by not being allowed to own automatic pistols and assault rifles. 


    More than examining the fevered brain of Jared Loughner, I am interested in examining why so many Americans feel they need to carry such deadly weapons in order to be "free". Of what? From what? For what? Are they right to feel threatened?  If so, why?


    Obviously they do feel their freedom is threatened and depending on how they define the word freedom, they may have reason to feel so.



    There are over 300M Americans living in a military juggernaut occupying a huge space that spans a continent: the world's most populated country after China and India.  This enormous collective is a grab bag of ethnic and religious origins and quite a few of the inhabitants are recent arrivals who have only a tenuous grasp of the official language.


    However disagreeable this might seem,  when there are so many different people, impersonal rules and laws have to govern every aspect of the relations and conflicts between total strangers. Nothing can be left to chance. The larger and more heterogeneous the collective, the greater number of rules needed and the greater the severity needed to enforce them. I have talked to Spanish bankers who have been operating banks in the USA and they are amazed at the mind boggling quantities of rules and regulations and the armies of lawyers you need to do even the simplest things. The fear of litigation is always in the room.  Nothing can be taken as "understood",  everything has to be on paper.


    Thinking this over, it occurred to me that the US was an extreme example of an enormous collective of unrelated strangers.  A natural candidate for being a micromanaged dictatorship. What seemed strange, when seen under this prism, was that at the same time this collective  maintains a stubborn fiction of great and untrammeled individualism and personal liberty.


    I say "fiction", because the USA is a country where you can get sixteen years in jail for stealing a candy bar, where the prisons are full of people sent there for possessing small quantities of cannabis, where the death penalty still exists... you name it. Certainly the difference in punishment for those who caused the financial crisis and those who steal candy bars, seems more in keeping with a repressive and punitive kleptocracy then a land where supposedly "all men are created equal".


    Of course if we look at that phrase, we have to remember that is was written by a man who owned African slaves and lived on land stolen from the Native-Americans, therefore it might be worth the trouble to subject it to a severe exegesis, because it is not truly clear what a person in Thomas Jefferson's position and time actually meant when he used the word, "men" or the word, "all" or the word "equal" or for that matter even what he meant when used the words "created" and "are".


    Sometimes the ringing words of classic texts are less sonorous when rendered into the common speech of today. If for example, you compare a text from the King James Bible with the same text in the New American Standard Bible, you'll get an idea of what I  am talking about.  But, more than that, under the pressures of its immense size and diversity, American English seems to have deteriorated rapidly since the end of the Second World War, until many examples of contemporary American public speech are so filled with cryptic euphemisms that they seem products of a Google translation from the Japanese. I could write an entire rant about the newly coined euphemism, "inappropriate behavior", which appears to cover everything from picking your nose to child molesting.


    Fortunately some Americans have not lost the ability to write simple, clear, declarative sentences. Here is how Paul Krugman describes the idea some Americans have of freedom:
    One side of American politics (...) believes that people have a right to keep what they earn, and that taxing them to support others, no matter how needy, amounts to theft. That’s what lies behind the modern right’s fondness for violent rhetoric: many activists on the right really do see taxes and regulation as tyrannical impositions on their liberty. Paul Krugman
    Using Krugman to help us translate the Declaration of Independence into contemporary right wing American English; the following phrase, written, signed and promulgated by slave holders, which reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", might be freely rendered in Tea Party speak as, "By God, everybody like me has certain privileges which cannot be taken away: you aren't allowed to kill us, we can do anything we want, and we are here to have a good time."


    I believe their paranoia is justified. Reality is not on their side.

    Cross posted from: http://seaton-newslinks.blogspot.com

    Comments

    I really love opossums. They are greatly misunderstood an under appreciated. They eat grubs and bugs that harm plants, and they are the only marsupial in North America. They have a 60% mortality rate in their first year, and they are so cool the way they play dead.

    If I could figure out how to do it I would post pictures of the baby I rescued last summer, and the old codger who sat there on my porch as I FImed him eating my cats's food.

    Probably not the point of. Your blog, David, but I just had to make a point about this under-appreciated critter.


    by CVille Dem on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 10:46pm

    Probably not the point of. Your blog, David

    No, it wasn't, but at least you managed to understand that much.

    by David Seaton on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 1:20am

    Hope Springs Eternal Wink


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:38am

    Kiss


    by David Seaton on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 1:21am

    Either CVille really loves possums (and how could you not; they're so damn cute) or that's the subtlest, snarkiest criticism of a post I've ever seen at dagblog. Impossible to tell which, earning it bonus points.For what it's worth, I did catch your non-possum point, David.


    by acanuck on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:41am

    Do you think she's playing Possum?

    Cute little thing, so innocent looking, but check out the nails.


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 5:06am

    Snark? Who, me? What I said about the critters is true, though. Oh. I left out that their sharp teeth are just a part if their ruse of ferociousness. Later I'll tell you all about their rat-like tails....

    by CVille Dem on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 8:31am

    I don't know if the possums are getting smarter, or what, but this year I'm certain I've seen far fewer dead possums on the side of the road than dead deer. Maybe the deer are just getting dumber (and/or more plentiful, of course).


    by Atheist (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 8:41am

    Can we use the term Road "Kill"

    Don't tell me, the possums have all disappeared....Birds and fish dying by the thousands, now there's no trace of possums?  


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 9:08am

    I see just as many live possums, just fewer dead ones. Of course, I don't see that many live possums, but I see about as many now as before. I feel like I'm seeing more dead skunks, though. Is that mentioned in Revelations? Wink


    by Atheist (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 9:26am

    That's a good one Athiest

    I was looking for the latin word for skunk. I found this though.........

     ETYMOLOGY  .....   The name Mephitis mephitis comes from the Latin word “mephit,” which means “bad odor.”  The word “skunk” comes from the Abenaki Indian word “segankw” or “segongw.” (Verts).......The city Chicago's name was adapted from the Fox Indian word meaning "the Place-of-the-Skunk," from a myth about a huge skunk that was killed on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. (Verts) 


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 9:58am

    I see, and Mephitis isn't that far removed from Mephistopheles, who (arguably) does share a place of significance in Revelations…


    by Atheist (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 10:13am

    That was an interesting observation. Thanks 

    I linked on the term, and read about how the 1980's "heavy metal music,  seemed to invoke the use of Satan and his values, the cruelty, the drugs, the violence what some are calling "Cutural Satanism"

    Aother source ...........http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invocation

    Open up the link and under the heading........“A form of possession” 

    The shooter in Tucson had a skull on the back patio, was he secretly dabbling into the occult? .....His dreams would suggest he might have been. ......Along with his violence, his depression, he withdrew becoming self-indulgent.

    What kind of music did he listen to?

    If people are going to blame the gun; ………why not the music?  .......Ever watch how people move there feet, does the music move some to do violent acts?


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:18pm

    Depending on your politics, maybe the skunks have relocated.........to D.C.


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:22pm

    Btw, what's the signficance of "(Verts)"? Teh Google, it tells me nothing…


    by Atheist (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:36pm

    Sorry Atheist .I forgot to put the link 

    http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Fall%2003%20project/stripedskunk.htm

    What are verts?


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:41pm

    All I could find was "green" or "vertical" (and variations), neither of which made sense to me in this particular context…


    by Atheist (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:46pm

    This wasn't really about possums, it was about not seeing clearly what is right in front of you. Which appears to be your problem on reading my post.

    What is my post about?

    Only that Americans like to think that they are very free and simply because of the size, complexity, history and structure of the country it is impossible that they be "free" and so of course they aren't free, anything but. So the rightwing is manipulating that contradiction to their benefit.


    by David Seaton on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 9:11am

    This wasn't really about possums, it was about not seeing clearly what is right in front of you.

     

    When I looked at your post what was right in front of me was a dead [or at least a very convincing] possum. Opassum confusion and conflation lead to some of our country's grave problems.


    by A Guy Called LULU on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 1:53pm

    I confess that I changed the possum, because the original was so cute that people who move their lips when they read, didn't bother with the text. I'll show you what I mean:


    by David Seaton on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:01pm

    Screw you, David, and the Wallaby you rode in on.

    You're just jealous because you don't get the point, so you feel left out. Gee, I even typed this without having to move my lips at all.

    Here ya go:

    baby possum.   You know what saved him?  Respect for the common good.  Oh, well.  The picture didn't work.

     


    by CVille Dem on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 4:52pm

    That was a good comeback Lulu Laughing

    Sorry Mr. Seaton ...


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:37pm

    Do you have any pictures?


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 9:18am

    Pictures of freedom?

     


    by David Seaton on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 12:44pm

    You don't see that everyday, in Cuba or China.


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:20pm

    For which the Cubans and the Chinese should be suitably grateful. Seriously, you don't see that in Britain or in Sweden or in France or in or in any other democracy either.


    by David Seaton on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:25pm

    Now tell me No animals were hurt in your picture show?

    But seriously, did France have a gun control policy before the Germans invaded , or did they think the  The Maginot Line would keep them safe?


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 2:31pm

    Is that a serious question?


    by David Seaton on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 3:00pm

    Actually, French gun laws don't seem that different from US gun laws, although they stand on different footing. That said, laws notwithstanding, the French don't seem to have the same relationship with guns that we do.


    by Atheist (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 3:07pm

    I'm more curious if those plucky Spaniards really think their gun control laws are keeping them safe in modern times.


    by Lazy KGB (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 8:47pm

    Oh damn ... hit post without spelling review or links (and you can't edit in lazy mode, turns out).

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/29/suspected-car-bomb-explodes-...

    http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07/30/spain.car.bomb.second/ind...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Madrid_train_bombings


    by Lazy KGB (not verified) on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 8:53pm

    You see it in Switzerland quite frequently, David. Gun shops, shooting practice, guys walking around the supermarket with their assault rifle, it's part of the national tradition here. That isn't to say that they don't get their occasional crazed rampaging gunman shooting politicians. But they don't seem as worked up about it.


    by Obey on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 8:58am

    Switzerland has a very special tradition of every adult male belonging to the Army and keeping their gear at home. Aside from that they are the most un-paranoiac, buttoned-downed people in the world. They could drive around in battle tanks and it wouldn't make any difference. They are a perfect example of a small, homogeneous collective with very strong cultural traditions ( a bit like the Japanese) where how to behave is practically engraved in the DNA. My idea is that the USA is precisely not that.


    by David Seaton on Sat, 01/22/2011 - 10:32am

    Freedom; is not being enslaved. 

    I am interested in examining why so many Americans feel they need to carry such deadly weapons in order to be "free". Of what? From what? For what? Are they right to feel threatened?  If so, why?

    Americans are enslaved to fear:

    Fear of the future, NO control

    Fear of the Government: wiretapping, IRS, Government fears WE, the people.

    The Government priorities should have served WE instead they serve US  

    President Bush, the head of our government set the tone, your either with Us or against Us. 

    WE fear Us. Who are Us?  Are the bankers Us? Are the members of the homeforeclosure regime Us? When they deny medical care, is it Us that does that, because WE wouldn't do that

    Does WE Kick people out into the streets or is it US who does that. I wouldn't do that because WE care about our nieghbors, so don't include me with Us. 

    It's now We and Them, WE feel like we are no longer United............We are divided, enslaved by Us  WE have lost control of the moral compass, It is controlled by Us.  Do we follow US, or them or do WE need to get control again?   

    Fear of the People: As more people lose their homes and begin to lose everything they have; those who have, fear the people, “the losers” in an economic system enslaved by Us. 

    Fearing the lack of priorities the government has.......Building schools and hospitals in far away places, and what is our government doing to stop the hemorrhaging of jobs here?.......Instead of kissing WE citizens with blessings, our government of the people and for the people,has been highjacked by US  kissing up to China and India, a part of Us strategy in order to break the backs of WE..

    Fearing that the Government has failed to protect WE; protection becomes the responsibility of the individual. 

    Who is WE ?  Is it people or corporations? Last time I read, uless it has been replaced by Us it  said "WE, the people"

    Americans love their Country; they fear the GOVERNMENT ………that serves them, not WE

    FEAR IS WHAT THEY SOWED, AND FEAR IS WHAT WE REAP.


    by Resistance on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 4:48am

    Not an opossum but almost as common as road kill, the poor armadillo gets no respect:


    by EmmaZahn on Mon, 01/24/2011 - 3:16pm

    I could be showing my biases, but I'm pretty sure that armadillos only merit the "almost as common [as possums]" label in Texas and (possibly) neighboring states.


    by Atheist (not verified) on Mon, 01/24/2011 - 3:20pm

    There seem to be plenty of them on I-75 and 41 in south Georgia and north Florida. So, yeah, your biases are showing.

     


    by EmmaZahn on Mon, 01/24/2011 - 3:24pm

    What, you mean Georgia and Florida don't border Texas? Wink


    by Atheist (not verified) on Mon, 01/24/2011 - 3:29pm