Why a Ukulele is Better than a Gun

20 Jul 2022 14 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

parts-of-the-ukulele

I was sitting down tonight with my spouse Karen watching YouTube videos in our Frederic living room.  After watching our usual batch of eclectic YouTube videos, we generally finish off by watching some news reports and then finally some music videos.  My wife is an avid dulcimer player and has been playing it for more than fifteen years now.  About five years ago, she decided to start playing a ukulele.  She has taken lessons for both the uke and dulcimer and plays with a dulcimer group in Tucson and a ukulele group in Centuria, Wisconsin.

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The two music groups that Karen plays in have a lot in common.  They are primarily older women players but there are some men in each group.  They practice weekly and occasionally do performances for various venues such as nursing homes, churches, county fairs and festivals.  They do not usually get paid for their performances, but the people who attend at these venues are very happy and grateful to hear the music and songs they play.  The music they perform in both the dulcimer and ukulele groups include a lot of wonderful old gospel tunes, Irish tunes, and country songs.  I have attended many of these performances with Karen.  I do not play but I help with carrying her instruments, amplifiers, and music stands.  Some of the other members call me her “roadie.”

Jake-Shimabukuro-Press-Photo-2185-1570-DPI-4267x6400-1-1080x720The ukulele is a four-stringed instrument that has its origins in Portugal but was adapted by Hawaiians in the 19th Century.  Its size can vary, with the larger instruments producing deeper tones.  Elvis Presley played a ukulele and so did Tiny Tim.  The ukulele became most popular in Hawaii but more recently with a player named Jake Shimabukuro its popularity has skyrocketed.  Karen and I have been to two of Jake’s concerts and it is beyond amazing what he can play and do on his ukulele.  He has done for the ukulele what the movie “O Brother, Where Are Thou” did for old time music.  He has created a renaissance for the ukulele with millions of people all over the world now taking up the instrument.

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Tonight, we watched some of the videos for a ukulele group that we have watched many times before.  They are called the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.  They have nearly two dozen music videos on YouTube.  There are eight members in the group.  Two women and six men.

soprano-concert-tenor-baritone-ukulele-sizes They play a variety of ukes from soprano to tenor to concert to bass ukuleles.  In addition to playing, they also sing.  They are quite innovative and creative in their adaptations of the various pieces of music that they play.  They often invite ticket holders to bring their ukuleles to the concert and play along with them.  You can find out more about this group at their site Ukulele Orchestra.  Their website includes information on where they are playing next.  They tour all over the world and will be in various parts of Europe and America over the next two years.  By the way, National Ukulele Day takes place on February 2 each year when ukulele players from around the country will strum their favorite tunes to celebrate.  But I started this blog with the admonition that ukuleles were better than guns.  Following are my ten reasons why a ukulele is better than a gun.

  1. You do not need a Concealed Carry Permit to carry a ukulele in public. 

Most people will not feel at all uncomfortable if you pass them by in a Walmart with a ukulele.  Not so true with a gun.  Few places ban ukulele players from entering.

  1. There have been very few people killed with a ukulele.

Either intentionally or unintentionally, statistics show that ukuleles are relatively safe.  They are very light weight and even if you cracked a person over the head with one, it would probably hurt your ukulele more than the other person.

  1. Ukuleles do not have to be reloaded.

Ukulele strings do not break very often, and they are pretty inexpensive to purchase compared to most bullets.  In addition, stores seldom run out of ukulele strings whereas bullets seem to fly off the shelf every time a Democrat is elected.

  1. The sound of a ukulele playing will not generally make people dash for cover and cower behind closed doors.

Ukuleles are fun to play and fun to listen to.  The music written for ukes as well as much of the music played by ukulele players is heartwarming and upbeat.

  1. Ukuleles are relatively inexpensive.

A good gun (if there is such a thing) will set you back several hundred dollars.  You can buy an excellent carbon fiber ukulele for $100 dollars.  Many people prefer a wood ukulele but carbon fiber ukes are waterproof and humidity resistant.  In addition, they have an excellent tone.  More and more acoustic instruments are being made out of carbon fiber.

  1. You do not have to lock your ukulele up to protect your children.

As a matter of fact, many parents like to encourage their children to play an instrument by leaving it around for them to pick up and experiment with.  (WARNING) You do not want to leave your gun around for your kids to play or experiment with.

  1. Ukuleles do not malfunction and blow up in your face.

Where there might be some “bad” ukes, there are no reports of any ukes blowing up or exploding and killing anyone.  Ukuleles are thus much safer to play than guns.

  1. Ukuleles are bipartisan.

You can be a Republican or a Democrat and still play a ukulele.  There are no official designations limiting who can play a ukulele.  Unlike Covid masks, playing a ukulele will not denote your political affiliation.

  1. Ukuleles can be carried on a plane and stored in the overhead bins.

The small size and light weight of most ukes make them ideal for traveling.  They will easily pass through most metal detectors and unlike guns will not sound alarms and have people scurrying for cover if you forget to mention that you have one in your luggage.

  1. They are more inclusive than guns.

When anyone draws a gun and starts firing it, most people will run away as quickly as possible from the shooter.  The exact opposite is usually true with a ukulele player.  Take out your ukulele and start playing it and people will soon come around and if you are a half-way decent player, you will have a crowd of people listening to you.  If you are really good, open your uke case and you can pick up a few bucks in tips by being a busker.  When was the last time, you saw any gun owners making money by shooting their guns in public?

So there you have it.  10 good reasons to buy a ukulele today and learn to play it.  There are oodles of free lessons on line, and it seems just about every town now has a uke club.  My wife plays weekly with a friend in Canada and her group in Centuria.  Members of uke groups are friendly and hospitable.  To date, none of the mass killers in America have been uke players.

“What the world needs are more ukuleles and fewer guns.”  — Socrates, 457 BCE

“Sir, I have had new thoughts on the Second Amendment.  I believe we should change it as follows:  ‘A well-disciplined ukulele band, being necessary to the peace and harmony of a free State, the right of the people to keep and play ukuleles, shall not be infringed.’”  Thomas Jefferson, 1789 CE

A good uke site if you are interested in getting started:

https://www.beginnerukuleles.com/favorite-ukulele-sites/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Forgotten Native American

12 Jul 2022 10 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

I think it is fair to say that Ti-bish-ko-gi-jik or Father Philip B. Gordon of the Ojibwe tribe in Northern Wisconsin was not forgotten since he was never really remembered.  I have lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota since 1965 and I never heard of the first North American Catholic priest who was also a Native American.  A friend of mine told me about the attached article which is a compilation of stories and a short biography of Reverend Gordon written by Paula Delfeld in 1977.  I am always amazed by the lack of history for Black Americans but it is probably true that Native Americans are equally forgotten in our American educational system.  Call me naïve but I always thought history was supposed to be unbiased and objective and inclusive.  I am still waking up to the fact that it never was.  The following link includes some interesting pictures and some excerpts from old newspapers which are well worth reading to find out more about Father Gordon.  

http://riowang.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-indian-in-subotica.html

On first thought, one might assume that Father Gordon was a sellout to his Indian heritage.  An Indian who adopts the Catholic religion to preach to his tribal members.  However, as this article makes clear, the good reverend stood up for native rights and fought the good fight against a system that was bent on appropriating as much as they could of Indian land and destroying their culture.  

“He built missions, organized the life of the local communities, actively fought for their rights against the authorities and the private companies who wanted to expropriate the lands and forests of the Indians. He became member, and then president of the Society of American Indians which fought for the emancipation and rights of the Native Americans. By denouncing the burning crosses as defamation of religion, he successfully defied the Ku-Klux-Klan; thanks to his perseverance, the sheriffs and other official persons, and even Baptist preachers who were members of the Klan, were dismissed or moved, so that the Klan could never put root in Wisconsin. He carried out a great missionary work not only among the Ojibwe, but also among their ancient enemies, the Sioux; it was his merit that the two people finally made peace with each other.”

Take the time to review this article, then share it with others.  It is way past time to include heroic Native Americans in our history books.  The first part was written in 1912 so you might excuse the pejorative stereotypes of Native Americans held by the author.  The second part covers an article written later in which the original article was used as background.  

First Part written in 1912

Bácsmegyei Napló, 4 January 1912
A Native American seminarist in Szabadka

“Yesterday afternoon an interesting young man walked about the streets of Szabadka. His clothing was the blue cassock of the Catholic seminarists, so he was not conspicuous for anybody.  This seminarist is a red-skinned Native Indian from America.  He is called Philip Gordon, and came from the state of Minnesota in Northern America. His grandfather may have hunted for scalps, his father was perhaps still a nomad roaming the endless American plains, and the son will probably become a bishop. Philip Gordon was baptized, and took a liking to the priestly career. Now he sailed across the ocean to the Old World, and will go to Innsbruck to learn theology. He got to Szabadka by having got acquainted with a seminarist from the village of Bajmok, Ernő Rickert, and he invited him now to us. The Native American speaks in English, French and some German as well. Whatever he has hitherto seen from Hungary was very pleasant to him, and he feels quite well here.  Philip Gordon remains in Bajmok only a few days, and then he goes to Innsbruck. And a few years later he will  spread Christianity among his red-skinned siblings.”

This Second part was written in 2013 by Paula Delfeld and is excerpted from her book. 

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The Indian Priest
Father Philip B. Gordon
1885-1948
Chapter 1 – The Indian Priest Reminisces

  
 
 

“The aging Indian priest sat, as his ancestors had, beside the war drum. A stiff breeze whistled through the tops of the tall pines, but beneath their sheltering branches, the eagle feathers in his war bonnet were barely ruffled. Although the priest was a Chippewa, the headdress he often wore was Sioux; he received it while he was doing mission work in the western states. Along the sandy river bank a campfire, adding its glow and warmth to the cool June evening in the north woods, accentuated the priest’s Indian features and his ample figure. Around him sat twenty St. Paul, Minnesota, Boy Scouts, eagerly waiting for the proceedings to begin. Friends of the scouts and the priest had gathered at the camp the scouts called Neibel to witness the presentation of the Chippewa war drum and peace pipe to the troop by Reverend Philip Gordon (Ti-bish-ko-gi-jik). The Calumet or peace pipe had always been sacred to the Indians, and like the drum, its presentation was attended by strict ceremony. Among the spectators was Luther Youngdahl, Minnesota’s governor and a friend of Father Gordon. He had invited the priest to drum out a song.  For forty years the drum had been used for tribal ceremonies and it was said that on a calm night it could be heard for ten miles. But now the sound reverberated through the dense woods, one of the few stands of virgin timber remaining in the once heavily forested area.” 

“Philip B. Gordon was born on March 31, 1885 as one of fourteen siblings in Wisconsin, the Great Lakes region, in a commercial station called Gordon, which was founded and named after their family by his uncle. Both of his parents belonged to the Ojibwe (Chippewa) tribe, but in both lineages there was also a French ancestor. Hence they inherited the name Gaudin, which was anglicized for Gordon by his uncle. Philip, who at birth received the name Ti-bish-ko-gi-jik, “Heaven Viewer”, still grew up in the traditional Native American culture, but he also fluently spoke in French and English. The railway arrived to the Great Lakes region in Philip’s childhood, and Philip witnessed the radical changes it had brought: the clearance of the forests and the destruction of the traditional Indian way of life. Depression, alcoholism and suicide rapidly spread among the Indians deprived of their living space and livelihood.” 

“Philip, who first went to a military college, felt obliged to devote his life to his Native American brothers, thus after two years he went over to the seminary of the local Franciscan mission. There he excelled with his intelligence, physical and rhetorical skills, and so after the first year he was sent to the American College in Rome. From there he went to the theology of Innsbruck, where he remained for two years, until finishing his studies. This is the period when he also came to Szabadka. Philip enjoyed traveling and spent two summer vacation periods in France, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium and made one trip to England. Some of these were walking tours. In the land of his French ancestors, he learned to speak the language fluently and spent much of his time in the French department of Loir-et-Cher. Besides English and French, he spoke fluent German, Italian and numerous Indian dialects.”

“On December 8, 1913, the feast of the Immaculate Conception he was ordained a priest in Wisconsin. His Czech bishop, Koudelka wanted to send him to an urban parish, but he successfully begged to be left among his Ojibwe brothers. In the coming decades he accomplished a huge organizational work. He built missions, organized the life of the local communities, actively fought for their rights against the authorities and the private companies who wanted to expropriate the lands and forests of the Indians. He became member, and then president of the Society of American Indians which fought for the emancipation and rights of the Native Americans. By denouncing the burning crosses as defamation of religion, he successfully defied the Ku-Klux-Klan; thanks to his perseverance, the sheriffs and other official persons, and even Baptist preachers who were members of the Klan, were dismissed or moved, so that the Klan could neve put root in Wisconsin.”

“He carried out a great missionary work not only among the Ojibwe, but also among their ancient enemies, the Sioux; it was his merit that the two people finally made peace with each other. He was an exceptional organizer, an excellent orator, and, moreover, “a charming personality, highly educated and possessing a natural humor which made his remarks very entertaining as well as interesting and instructive.”

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“Philip Gordon died in 1948, after thirty years of intensive work, and two years of serious illness. With the last of his strength he organized the Ojibwe Inter-Tribal Organization, which claimed hundreds of millions of dollars against the government for the lands taken away from the Indians. He was buried in his native village Gordon. His tomb is still highly respected, and, as the Indian Country News writes, it is an obligatory element of every documentary on the Native Americans of the region.”

I hope you are inspired by this story of a man who deserves to be remembered not only by Native Americans but by all Americans.

Why Gun Control is Not Enough!

06 Jul 2022 14 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Good Guy with a Gun Myth

Gun control is only a first step.  Some of the Second Amendment advocates are right about one thing.  There are some of us who want to take their guns away.  Not all of their guns, but some of their guns.  Licensing, background checks, restrictions on types of firearms, restrictions on clip size, none of these will stop the mass killings in America.  There is a simple reason for this.  There are too many guns in America available.  Look at it this way.

Assume that there were 100,000 cars in a given area.  Assume that for every 100,000 cars there would be an average of 100 accidents per year.  This assumption can be verified by statistical analysis of car accidents in a given area.  Some places will have more accidents than other places, but all places with cars will have some accidents. 

There are many factors governing who will have an accident, when they will have an accident and where they will have an accident.  No amount of statistical analysis can precisely predict when, where or who will be connected with an accident.  We use licensing, registrations, vehicle checks, drivers tests and still we have a current death rate in 2020 of 12.9 deaths per 100,000 vehicles.  This is a 58% improvement from the motor-vehicle death rate in 1937 with 30.8 deaths per 100,000 population.  Cars have become safer with airbags, better brakes, seat belts and other safety devices.  Yet we still cannot prevent an accident from happening.  —Historical Fatality Trends

Now if we increase the number of cars from 100,000 to 1 million and assuming all other variables stay equal, than we can assume that there will be ten times more accidents or that we will go from 100 car accidents per year to 1000 car accidents per year.  Or with a death rate of 12. 9 deaths per 100,000 vehicles, we will now have a total of 129 deaths per year.  Applying this same logic to firearms explains why the number of mass murders and firearm fatalities is increasing.  However, the statistics are more difficult.  Part of this has to do with the congressional oversight protecting the gun industry in the USA. 

Let us assume that for every 7500 guns in America that there will be 1-gun related fatality.  This statistic is derived from the fact that in 2020, there was a total of 45,222 deaths related to firearms in America.  The number of guns in America is estimated at about 340,000,000.  (The wide variances in registered guns by state, the lack of information on unregistered guns, the extreme variability in guns per capita make a definitive statistic nearly impossible.)  Dividing the total number of guns (a rough estimate) by the number of gun related deaths gives us 1 fatality for approximately every 7500 guns.  

“A new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions analyzes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention firearm fatality data for 2020—a year that saw the highest number of gun-related deaths ever recorded by the CDC and a sharp increase in gun homicides.  Among other things, the report concludes that states with the most robust gun laws have lower gun-related death rates.  The Center for Gun Violence Solutions is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.” —- John Hopkins School of Public Health

Applying the same car logic to guns in America, if we have 1 death per every 7500 firearms available then increasing the number of firearms will increase the number of deaths and injuries.  However, we already know that increasing the number of firearms has increased the number of deaths and injuries.  Three hundred and forty million firearms are now causing over 45,000 deaths per year.  Double the number of firearms and we can have nearly 100,000 deaths per year.  Of course, we could do the opposite of what we did with cars and make firearms even more lethal.  (Something that many gun owners relish).  Making guns more lethal would up the death toll.  Bumper stocks was one example of this increasing lethality.

Conversely, if the logic holds, decreasing firearm lethality should decrease both deaths and serious injuries.  But an even better strategy would be to decrease the number of guns in America.  The logic here is that there is no way that we will be able to prevent the carnage that is happening daily with background checks, mental health clinics, psych screenings or any other suggestions that have been offered.  As long as we have 340 million guns available to any individual that suddenly loses his or her sanity, there is going to continue to be daily incidents of mass gun violence. Given the right circumstances, we all can become potentially bad guys.

Increase the number of guns or the lethality of guns and you will increase the number of people who die from firearms. 

Decrease the number of guns in America or decrease the lethality of guns and you will decrease the number of people who die from firearm deaths. 

Its that simple folks.  But the difficult part is developing the will to fight a battle against a mindset driven by fear to buy ever more guns and an industry bent on selling ever more guns.

More guns = more deaths.  No amount of “GOOD GUYS” with a gun is going to change this fact.

What Writers Can Learn from Music

30 Jun 2022 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

I have always liked to use some musical links in my writing. Many of my writings deal with songs that have inspired me over the years. (Where Have All My Young Friends Gone?) A few years ago, I started wondering what I could learn from music that might infuse my writing with more elegance and passion. I tried my hand at a “musical composition.” I am not sure that it came out very well but if you are interested, you can read my piece at: ON WRITING, MUSIC, CHOREOGRAPHY, THE SEASONS AND LOVE.

Recently, in our writing class, I gave my students the assignment to come up with a 100 word writing piece that used some elements of music in their writing or that writes about the use of music in writing. It was an odd assignment made more difficult because my instructions were pretty vague. The following week students brought in their writings and shared them in class.

The discussion that accompanied our readings was very helpful. Wilma, a writer in the class, found a good article that illustrated very well what I had been trying to say and do in terms of using music to provide creativity or at least another perspective to our writing. I am adding links to Wilma’s article which was in Medium and another that I found while perusing Medium.

The first article is by Mark Benis and is titled: “Is Writing Stories so Different from Writing Music?”

View at Medium.com

The second article is by David W. Berner and is titled: “Writing is Like Music.”

I hope you will find these articles interesting and that they will perhaps inspire some use of these ideas in your own writings.

View at Medium.com

Famous Last Words or Can Your Epitaph Change the World?

27 Jun 2022 7 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

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Once upon a time at the Frederic library, a group of people who met regularly over coffee were discussing the reported last words of Voltaire.  The  discussion soon wandered into the last words of other famous people.  Several of us could think of comments made by some well-known people on their death beds.  Many of these comments are very interesting; perhaps because you don’t think anyone is going to lie when they only have a few minutes to live.  Or perhaps, we are fascinated because of some irony that these last words provide.

Voltaire is alleged to have refused to repent his sins because “He did not want to make any more enemies before he died.”  He was referring to the fact that Satan would be upset if he now recanted on his lack of belief in religion or Christianity.  Socrates last words were:  “Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Please, don’t forget to pay the debt.”  (Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates’ last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body.) (Wikipedia reference)

Regardless of the reason for our fascination with these “last words”, there is no doubt that many of us find considerable inspiration in the last words of others.  I am going to share some that I like in my blog today.  If any of these motivate you, please feel free to send me your comments on why they inspire or excite you, or simply send me some famous last words that you like.  I may post again on this subject if you can send me enough inspiration.

  • Adams, John (1735-1826) “Thomas Jefferson–still survives…” (4 July 1826. Jefferson died on the same day.)
  • Barrymore, John (1882-1942) Die?  I should say not, dear fellow.  No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.
  • Eastman, George (1854-1932) “My work is done, why wait?” (His suicide note.)
  • Marx, Karl (1818-1883) “Go on, get out.  Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.”
  • Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973) “Drink to me.”
  • Runyon, Damon (1884-1946) “You can keep the things of bronze and stone and give me one man to remember me just once a year.”
  • Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946) “Just before she died she asked, `What is the answer?” No answer came.  She laughed and said, “In that case what is the question?” Then she died.”

The above list of my favorites was taken from a much more extensive list that can be found at https://www.djsmapping.com/words.shtml,   “Real Last Words from Famous People.”

As you ponder my list, will it provoke you to think the obvious or maybe not so obvious?  Is it too early to wonder or maybe even plan what you will say for your last words?  My friend Harold’s last words were, “No regrets.”  Harold was the most positive person I have ever met in my life.  Right up to the end (he died of pancreatic cancer), he truly had no regrets in his life.  I always found that unbelievable as my regrets would fill a book.

I wonder what my last words will be.  I am not anxious to find out.  At 76, I am still enjoying good health, a great spouse, and more peaceful days then when I was younger.  My last words will have to await my last breaths.  Truly, none of us will know what our last words will be until our final hours regardless of how we approach death or how we want to die.

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Nevertheless, while we may not have a choice over our last words, we can decide what we want written on our tombstone.  This is something we do have a choice over.  Do you want to leave only your name and date of death on your tomb or do you want to leave some inspiration for future cemetery wanderers?  (I am aware of those individuals who choose to be cremated, which while very cost effective and environmentally ethical is almost a boring way to leave this planet.)  One of my favorite things to do on vacations is to wander in old cemeteries in countries or places that I am visiting.  They are free to visit, and they provide an almost endless source of inspiration, wonder and even amusement.  For instance, in Boot Hill cemetery in Tombstone, Arizona, one of the tombstones reads as follows:

“Here lies Lester Moore.  Four slugs from a 44, no Les, no more.”

What would you like written on your tombstone?  What do you want the world to remember you for or think of you as they pass by your resting place.  This can be a fun and thought-provoking activity.  Here are some thoughts I have for my epitaph.

john tombstone 3

  • I searched for the truth but never found it.
  • Why?  Why?  Why?
  • The more I learned, the less I knew, until I knew everything about nothing

Feel free to send me your epitaph or post it in the comments section.  I will look forward to being inspired. 

What Does Summer Mean to You?

23 Jun 2022 6 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: ,

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Well, I suppose I should have been blogging about summer two days ago.  I could make the excuse that it is better late than never, but in truth, I am doing everything much slower these days.  That goes for summer to.  We have lots to do this summer with selling our Wisconsin house and moving permanently down to Arizona.  Don’t know what permanently means, but for now it means leaving many old memories behind and embarking on new memories.  We are going to the “land of endless summer” for what just may be the rest of our lives.  Who knows.

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“Summertime, when the living is easy.” That line from the musical “Porgy and Bess” by G. Gershwin seems to always resonate in my mind when the warm breezes start blowing the cold weather away in Wisconsin.  We all love summer.  For many of us, it is a time of vacations and connotations of freedom from school and work.  However, why does the song say the living is easy?  I think it is because summer seems to bring that association to mind despite the fact that it is not now nor probably ever was easy.  Nevertheless, we think of the lushness of fresh fruit, vegetables, the farmers market and long days and nights.  It does not matter that we may work all summer, the dream is still there of “easy living.”

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As we get older, most of us will think back to our childhoods with fond summer memories of doing nothing but kicking rocks, jumping rope, fishing, swimming off of the old bridge, camping with our friends or weekends at the cabin with our family. Perhaps these are more traditional Midwest memories but no matter where you live, you will have your own memories associated with summer time.  All over the world, people are in vacation mode during the summertime.  Maybe you will spend your summer traveling to exotic destinations or simply taking a short trip to visit relatives.  Summer brings a longing for what we want life to have in store for us as we age.  Summer is a time of psychological retirement years before any of us will ever retire.

What are your best summer memories?  What did you once do each summer that is now simply a memory?  What summer traditions do you still celebrate?  What do you hope your future summers will have in store for you?  Are you living your dreams now or waiting?

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”  — Henry James

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”  ― John Lubbock

“The library in summer is the most wonderful thing because there you get books on any subject and read them each for only as long as they hold your interest, abandoning any that don’t, halfway or a quarter of the way through if you like, and store up all that knowledge in the happy corners of your mind for your own self and not to show off how much you know or spit it back at your teacher on a test paper.”  ― Polly Horvath, My One Hundred Adventures

Persico Challenge:  Issue Number 3 – What Will Be the Impact from Increased Life Expectancies Around the World?

20 Jun 2022 8 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Life_Expectancy_Graphic.R-848x585

This is the third of three “Challenge” questions that my friend Jane Fritz and I agreed to reply to.  We each sent three questions to the other and we had 12 months to reply to all three questions.  I answered Jane’s first question on Feb 19th of this year.  (American Exceptionalism).  I answered her second question on April 3rd (How Can We Save the Environment)  This is Jane’s 3rd and final question followed by my reply.  I think Jane “cheated” a little on this one since you may notice that there are actually several questions connected to the issue that Jane describes.

Jane’s Third and Final Question:

Life expectancy around the world has increased 10-30 years from 1950 alone, depending on the country.  People born in developed and many developing countries in 2020 can expect to live – on average – to be at least 80 years old.  At the same time, the birthrate is decreasing around the world even faster than was projected.  India’s recent news of its birth rate falling below replacement levels is a case in point.  What will such significant changes in population demographics have on people 30 years from now, when the baby boomers still alive will be 85-105 years old?  What will the impact be on children?  On young adults?  On mid-career adults?  On retirees?  When will people be able to retire when 30% or more of the population is over 65?  Any position(s) on any part of this question is acceptable!

There are several curious things about the issues that Jane raises.  Let me state them as a sort of preamble to my answer.

  1. Much of the increased longevity is due to falling infant mortality which raises the overall average longevity. Looking at a research study that examined people over age of sixty-five found that longevity has continued to increase even when isolating the more elderly.

“The researchers looked at birth and death data for people above age 65 from 1960-2010. They found that the average age of death in those who live to be older than 65 increased by three years in every 25-year period, which means that people can expect to live about six years longer than their grandparents, on average.”   — Lifespan is continuing to increase regardless of socioeconomic factors, Stanford researchers find

  1. Much of the reason for falling birth rates is correlated with increased incomes throughout the world. Data shows that:

“Countries that experience a decline in their birth rate sometimes realize a demographic dividend, an economic boost that can last years or even decades.  Improving health care and boosting literacy have been shown to break the cycle of extreme poverty and extreme fertility.”  — The Relationship Between Fertility and National Income

There are many exceptions to the above finding.  In addition, the age distribution of the population also plays a role in the wealth of a country.  By and large, countries with more elderly people tend to have higher average incomes than those with younger people.

  1. Happiness does not seem to be correlated with higher incomes.

“The results were almost universally consistent across the United States and much of the world,” Aaker says.  “Among low-income people, having a sense of meaning in one’s life is more closely associated with overall happiness.” — A Global Look at the Connections Between Happiness, Income, and Meaning

  1. Several studies I have recently seen show that income inequality leads to lower levels of reported happiness. The greater the income inequality, the less happy people are.

“While happiness did track the level of economic development across these 16 advanced nations, the results changed when inequality was added to the equation.  Higher levels of inequality led to lower levels of happiness, even in the most economically advanced nations. In fact, the researchers found that the percentage of respondents who said they were very happy was inversely correlated with income inequality (with a negative correlation of −.618).” — Income Inequality Leads to Less Happy People

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Demographics is an extremely important element of social change.  I bring up some of the above points because the questions that Jane raises are quite involved.  Economics, wealth, social justice, politics, technology, environmental factors, and a universal desire for happiness all play a role in social change that in many cases are just as important as demographics.

Experts also attribute social change to ideological factors and the “great man/woman” theory.  This latter theory posits that social changes are more impacted by leadership issues than any other factors.  We can certainly find evidence to support any one of these theories.  My raising these issues is from a belief that we cannot understand the world by simply looking at any one set of factors.  The world is much more complex than humans or even computer models are able to portray.

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So, without any more “excuses”, how will the world change as birth rates fall?  I think the major impacts will be due to a rising standard of living.  The evidence seems to show that standards of living the world over are rising.  In addition, media and technology link the world in a mutual bond that is tighter than any that ever existed in history.  This will mean rising expectations for a better life for many formerly poor and impoverished people.  My caveat here is that with the environment changing more rapidly than was predicted by climate models, I am unsure how rising incomes will help anyone escape the ever more extreme weather events that beset us daily.  In the past, the rich were always more shielded from such events than the poor.  The poor lived in the valleys while the rich lived in the mountain tops.

A rising standard of living is not necessarily  a panacea or a pathway to happiness as I have shown above with the research on happiness.  If ideology is such that people expect more than they will get, rising standards of living could lead to more of the type of dysfunctions that we see in the USA.  Despite some of the highest income levels in the world, the USA does very poorly on a number of social indicators.  In terms of health, the USA shows very poorly:

  • The United States ranks No. 33 out of 36 OECD countries in infant mortality
  • Among the 33 OECD countries with self-reported obesity data available, the United States ranks last
  • The U.S. life expectancy at birth of 78.6 years ranks No. 28 out of the 36 OECD countries

2019 Annual Report

Health is a major factor affecting the quality of life we live, and how happy we are.  Incomes and affluence have not been distributed equally in the USA where income inequality is some of the highest in the world.  It would seem that not only does income inequality lead to less happiness but it also impacts health outcomes.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the United States’ Gini coefficient was 48.9% in 2020. This ranks as the country’s highest Gini in at least the past 50 years.  The U.S. also has the highest Gini coefficient among the G7 nations. The top 1% of earners in the United States earn about 40 times more than the bottom 90% of earners, and roughly 33 million U.S. workers earn less than $10 per hour, placing a family of four below the poverty line.

The Gini coefficient, or Gini index, is a statistical measure of income inequality developed by Italian statistician Corrado Gini in 1912.  There are several caveats and limitations to the Gini coefficient and if you are interested you can find more detail about the coefficient and its limitations at:  World Population Review.

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If the world can adapt to the coming climate changes and if the world will allow incomes and affluence to be more equitable, I think the declining birthrates may be a blessing.  In the sixties, I was part of a movement called ZPG.  This stood for Zero Population Growth.  We believed that stopping population growth was key to living within the limited resources that we thought the planet provided.  The movement was never very popular.  Those pushing for unlimited growth and unlimited development continually won battles for more development and more growth. Those that profited from this growth sold the American people that growth is essential to development and that we would all be happier with more growth.  This has been a bigger lie bought by more Americans than the election lie that Trump has tried to sell.

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Bottom line, lower birthrates may lead to increased affluence which may lead to better health care which may lead to happier people.  However, the happiness factor as well as health care factor will depend on how the affluence is distributed.  If it is distributed as it is in the USA, it will lead to increased social fractioning and decreased levels of happiness and health care.  All of this will be mitigated by more extreme and more volatile weather events.  If the “stress” level of the world increases, we will see more violence and warfare as nations fight for the level of affluence that they believe they deserve or as they try to maintain a level of affluence at the expense of nations that are trying to get their share of the affluence.

Thanks Jane for a great set of questions.  I only wish I could have done more justice to them.  I fear my answers lack the perspicacity to fully address the complexity of so many of the issues that you have raised.

A Sign of the Times: Are We Living in Heaven Or Hell?

16 Jun 2022 7 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

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Zeitgeist is a German word that roughly translates to “tempo of the times or the sign of the times.”   A sign of the times may be “ tattoos” or SUV’s, or black Fridays.   I can see a list developing here.  Some of the things I associate with the “Times” today are:

  • Greed is good
  • Shop till you drop
  • He who has the most toys wins
  • Serial killers
  • Pedophiles
  • Helicopter moms
  • Sports scholarships, sports stadiums, sports salaries
  • Astronomical college tuitions
  • Non-stop news, sports and stupid sit-coms on TV
  • Misinformation, disinformation, over information
  • Increased gas prices
  • Decreased water resources
  • Global warming, climate change, swarms, tornadoes, hurricanes, fire storms and more storms
  • Casinos, lotteries, pull tabs and scratch offs
  • Ridiculous lawsuits, ridiculous litigants, and ridiculous lawyers
  • Celebrities, royal moms, TV Stars, Movie Stars and more celebrities
  • Smart phones, Facebook, LinkedIn and IPads
  • Travel leagues, T-ball, gonzo fans, gonzo coaches and gonzo parents
  • Crooked politicians, stupid politicians, partisan politicians, despicable politicians
  • Outsourcing, offshoring, insourcing, global competition
  • Designer jeans, designer dogs, designer homes, designer weddings, designer funerals, designer people
  • Aging, retiring, and dying baby-boomers
  • Non-stop Covid variants

A “sign of the times” may be the poor attitudes of teenagers today.  But wait, wasn’t that a sign of the times during the days of Socrates?  A quote attributed to Socrates holds that:

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

Perhaps a sign of the times is the “great recession” that we are either coming out of or going back into.  Maybe a sign of the times is the “war on drugs” or maybe the increased road rage or maybe our attack on immigrants and immigration.  Maybe it is our shift to the political right and the increased influence of evangelicals and Republicans.  A sign of the times is an expression used to denote something that seems symbolic or emblematic of the era we are living in.  “Sign of the times” was a phrase strongly related to Roman Catholicism in the era of the Second Vatican Council.  It was taken to mean that the Church should listen to, and learn from, the world around it.” (wikipedia.org)

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The problem is we do not have any good reference points to compare our times to.  Most of us do not have a very good knowledge of history or of what happened even a few years ago.  We all tend to forget how things really were.  So, we think: crime is worse today, teenagers are worse today, life is harder today, etc. Then we say: “it’s a sign of the times.”  However, it could easily be a sign of many times and eras gone by.  What then are the dependable and predictable signs that would allow us to say with certainty that our times are different (for better or worse) than past times?

trumpVery few things emerge that make good signs of the times.  Rising costs and rising taxes have been true forever.  War, famine, and pestilence were frequent during the days of the Pharaohs and are still with us today.  Disease kills millions yearly and people do not really seem any less or more happier than in days gone by.  Is life easier or more difficult today?  You would probably notice that it depended on who you asked.

How then can we find a true and accurate “sign of the times?”  Bottom line is you will probably not. The idea sounds good on paper, but it is just too subjective.  There are few signs that exist today that could irrefutably tell you what year or even decade it was, without the value of hindsight.  A hundred years from now, it may be possible to look back at today and say things about it with some certainty, but the present is never certain.  That is why the past cannot predict the future.

We seem to dwell on the “bad signs” but maybe you can think of some good signs of the times.  For instance, income levels are rising across the world and many diseases have now been eradicated that plagued humanity for centuries.  We should make a list of all the good signs.  I think it would probably be longer than the list of bad signs.

What do you think are the signs of the times today?  How would these compare to your signs twenty years ago?  Do you think your signs would hold up if you went back two thousand years?  Will these (my list and your list) still be signs five or ten years from now?  When do signs become obsolete?  Do your signs tell you that things are better or worse today?

Why, Why, Why Would Anyone Vote for Trump?

13 Jun 2022 12 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

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Perhaps no question in history has spawned more theories and more books to explain the “Trump Phenomenon.”  Why would anyone with one iota of decency vote for and support someone who lacked all morality and all integrity?  Trump is certainly not the first leader to lack any semblance of morality. However, given that he was elected to what some believe is the last great hope for “Democracy,” it boggles the mind that such a person could become President of the United States of America.  Trump and his supporters stand against every principle that this nation was founded on.

1_olMzFxyjypYKzro3iFezQgI have read at least a dozen books and heard a different theory each month on why Trump was elected.  From racism, to sexism, to xenophobia, to white supremacy, to rural alienation, to immigration, to abortion, to anti-immigration, to income gaps, to blue collar woes, to anti-globalism, to Christianity, to government overreach, to tax issues, to wage gaps, to inflation, to isolationism, to lack of American jobs, to anti-education, each one of these and several more have been promoted as the “reason” for Trumps support.

You can read volumes about these reasons, and you will still be looking for a reason.  None of them seem to provide the “whole” explanation and new books are pumped out daily by Trump accusers and sycophants.  These same ass-kissing, boot licking followers who now want to throw shit on Trump while exonerating their own culpability.

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So imagine my surprise when I came across this explanation for why people followed Hitler written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  He wrote this while in jail for his resistance to Hitler’s policies.   Bonhoeffer was a famous Lutheran pastor and theologian who threw caution to the wind when he decided that he had to speak out against Hitler.  He was arrested, tried, and found guilty.  He was too well known for Hitler to immediately execute.  Hitler put Bonhoeffer in prison but on April 9th, 1945 just three weeks before he died, Hitler opted for his trademark vindictiveness and cruelty.  He ordered Bonhoeffer hung along with several other conspirators.

This writing was done while Bonhoeffer was in prison.  In a very short piece,  he sums up why anyone would support someone like Trump, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin or any other actual or would be dictator.  It explains “Why Trump” better than any of the long-winded studies I have read.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

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Bonhoeffer:  On Stupidity

Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease.

Against stupidity we are defenseless.

Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed — in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical — and when facts are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.

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For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.

If we want to know how to get the better of stupidity, we must seek to understand its nature. This much is certain, that it is in essence not an intellectual defect but a human one. There are human beings who are of remarkably agile intellect yet stupid, and others who are intellectually quite dull yet anything but stupid.

We discover this to our surprise in particular situations. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect, but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them.

We note further that people who have isolated themselves from others or who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals or groups of people inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem.

It is a particular form of the impact of historical circumstances on human beings, a psychological concomitant of certain external conditions. Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity.

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It would even seem that this is virtually a sociological-psychological law. The power of the one needs the stupidity of the other.

The process at work here is not that particular human capacities, for instance, the intellect, suddenly atrophy or fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence, and, more or less consciously, give up establishing an autonomous position toward the emerging circumstances.

The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with a person, but with slogans, catchwords and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil. This is where the danger of diabolical misuse lurks, for it is this that can once and for all destroy human beings.

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Yet at this very point it becomes quite clear that only an act of liberation, not instruction, can overcome stupidity.

Here we must come to terms with the fact that in most cases a genuine internal liberation becomes possible only when external liberation has preceded it. Until then we must abandon all attempts to convince the stupid person.

This state of affairs explains why in such circumstances our attempts to know what ‘the people’ really think are in vain and why, under these circumstances, this question is so irrelevant for the person who is thinking and acting responsibly. The word of the Bible that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom declares that the internal liberation of human beings to live the responsible life before God is the only genuine way to overcome stupidity.

But these thoughts about stupidity also offer consolation in that they utterly forbid us to consider the majority of people to be stupid in every circumstance. It really will depend on whether those in power expect more from people’s stupidity than from their inner independence and wisdom.

——————————————————————————————–

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You can keep looking for explanations.  I think there surely will be more raised.  However, I am content to stop here with Bonhoeffer’s explanation.  I may not agree with everything he says but he explains quite well why discussion and debate with these people are a total waste of time. 

Why A Gun Will Not Make You Safer!

08 Jun 2022 24 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Every gun sold in America makes you less safe than you were the minute before that gun was sold.  The gun lobbies and Second Amendment devotees want you to believe the opposite.  There are two motives for this.  One is to sell more guns.  This is a motive for the gun lobbyists, gun manufacturers and NRA.  The second motive is by the Second Amendment advocates who seriously believe that guns will protect you from “bad” guys with a gun.  This is wishful thinking which more often than not is false.  However, there are many cases on record where guns have protected people from criminals and other deviants.  Nevertheless, statistically speaking, you are not safer with more guns.  In fact, you are less safe as each gun sale adds to the growing epidemic of gun violence in USA America.  You will only be safer when there are less guns to be had for sale.  The argument I am going to present will clearly prove my point.  However, before I present it let me state the following truths.

  • I am a gun owner
  • I am a military veteran
  • I actually like guns, knives, and other weapons (nunchakus, hunting bows, etc.)
  • I have hunted moose, seal, elk, pheasant, and deer
  • I do believe that some guns should be available for hunting and sports shooting

So, why do I believe that more guns lead to more school shootings, massacres, homicides, suicides, and other violence?  Why do I think that we need to seriously dial back on the following three aspects of guns?

  • Gun availability
  • Gun lethality
  • Gun carry

To understand why more guns are dangerous, we must first start with understanding human psychology.  You will accept that anger is a normal human emotion.  Assuming a bell-shaped curve of ranges for anger, some people will get much angrier than others.  Some people will resort to violence, road rage, domestic abuse, fights, etc. when they are angry.  Let us assume that one percent of people sometimes fall into the “extreme” anger range.  Thus, out of 1,000,000 people, there will be 10,000 people who may become violently angry at some perceived slight, disrespect, or abuse.

young-girl-firing-two-gunsNext, let us establish a lethality of weapons.  I will put it thus:  fists are not as lethal as brass knuckles.  Brass knuckles are not as lethal as clubs.  Clubs are not as lethal as knives.  Knives are not as lethal as guns.  Handguns are not as lethal as rifles.  The range of lethality that I have noted is “most” often true but there are always exceptions.  Thus, I will say again, the lethality of the potential weapons structure I have described is most often the case but not always.

Now, let us assume that one percent of the people who fall into the “extreme” violent range might act out using a weapon of some sort.  That would mean that during any particular episode of extreme anger, a hundred people or one percent of 10,000 people could conceivably pick up a gun to use as a weapon.

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If we take the fact that there are 257,000,000 people over the age of 18 in the USA as of 2020 (Annie E. Casey Foundation Data Center), then extrapolating from the one million people we started with, we would have to multiply the 100 potentially violent and angry people who might use a gun by the percentage of gun owners in America who have a gun available.  According to a Pew Study, four-in-ten U.S. adults say they live in a household with a gun, including 30% who say they personally own one.

So, we need to multiply as follows:

257,000,000 million adults over the age of 18 in the USA

X

30 Percent of adults who personally own a gun in the USA

X

100 potentially very angry people per every million adults who might be tempted to use a gun

257,000,000 x .30 = 77.1 million X 100 per million = 7710

That gives us the following:  7710 potentially very angry people on any given day who might use a gun in some act of violence.  Now let’s half that number since women are not usually as violent as men and we arrive at the following figure of 3855 adult men in the USA who might go berserk, grab a gun, and enter what domestic abuse counselors call the “Cycle of Violence.”

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The “Cycle of Violence” can be described as follows:

“The term cycle of violence refers to repeated and dangerous acts of violence as a cyclical pattern, associated with high emotions and doctrines of retribution or revenge.  The pattern, or cycle, repeats and can happen many times during a relationship.  Each phase of the cycle may last a different length of time, and over time the level of violence may increase.  It often refers to violent behavior learned as a child, and then repeated as an adult, therefore continuing on in a perceived cycle.” — WIKI

maxresdefaultThis cycle explains quite well what happens in many cases of gun violence or other types of violent outburst.  In phase two, tensions are building up.  This could be from a variety of different causes.  It might be strains from the work place or strains from home relationships with family and children.  The strains are often cumulative particularly with people who may lack the ability or means to discharge their stress.  The stress builds up until the individual finally explodes.  The explosion could be in words or actions.  Actions might involve throwing things, punching things, hitting things or various levels of assault against things or people using a wide range of weapons.

download (1)Phase three is the incident itself.  A trigger is needed to set the individual off.  Perhaps the individual gets fired or their spouse asks for a divorce.  Maybe they have a fight with a neighbor, or a car cuts them off at an intersection.  When the trigger occurs, the individual explodes.  The explosion could involve a violent attack that might go from simple threats or curses all the way to shooting someone.  The availability of weapons will play a major role in the level of violence.  This is one reason why a “waiting period” for purchasing a firearm makes  a lot of sense.  In two recent mass shootings, there was no waiting period for the purchase of a high-powered rifle and the individuals engaged in shooting massacres within a week of buying their rifles.

Phase four is a down period or a period of extreme remorse.  The violent individual feels a deep sense of guilt or regret and longs for forgiveness and to makeup to their victim for their transgressions.  If their victim is still alive they will apologize profusely and swear to never do it again.  They will promise anything to make amends and obtain forgiveness.  Obviously, if their victim or victims are dead, one act that they can take to escape their feelings of remorse is to end their own lives.  This explains why so many of these mass shooters commit suicide before they are apprehended.

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If the violent individual makes it through phase four and is still alive, there will be a phase of calm and peacefulness.  It will seem like everything is going to be okay.  Phase one may last days or weeks but unless the individual receives some type of therapy, the tensions will inevitably build up again.  The result will be another explosion after another triggering event takes place.  This is how the cycle of violence works over and over again.

The result of this anger cycle combined with an easy access to guns is an epidemic of gun violence.  It is an epidemic that includes nearly 25,000 suicides a year and about 14,000 homicides a year.  There are clearly only two solutions to reducing this death rate.  One solution would be to reduce the potential number of people in our society who are prone to violent outbursts or what some might label as mental illness.  The second solution would be to reduce the number of guns available or at least make it more difficult to obtain a gun when someone has a violent outburst.

downloadMany anti-gun control people push the solution that more mental health is needed.  The problem with this solution is that anger and angry outbursts are as normal in the population as mom, God, and apple pie.  There is no way to treat all the people in America who might lose their temper on a given day.  There is no way to tell when or where these outbursts will take place.  Therapy for “normal” people is not on the radar.  Make no mistake, your best friend, your neighbor, your cousin just might “lose” it tomorrow and go on some type of violent jag that results in death for someone else.  It happens all the time.  The papers are full of reports of people who lose it and end up killing their loved ones and themselves.

20150404_USD000_0The other solution is to reduce the availability or the lethality of guns in society.  This solution makes the most sense.  We can somewhat reduce the availability of weapons through background checks, waiting periods, age restrictions, gun training, and reducing the ability to carry a gun in public.  We must get rid of these ridiculous concealed carry laws.  It should be illegal to carry a gun in public concealed or otherwise unless you have a permit with a valid reason for why you need to carry a gun.

1999-_Gun-related_deaths_USAWe can reduce the lethality of guns by limiting clip capacities and by eliminating rifles that were designed for military purposes and not hunting.  Why anyone would need a rifle with more than a three round capacity is beyond me.  Rifles should be for hunting or target shooting and nothing else.  Any game that you are hunting will be gone long before you can chamber and fire your third round.  A .223 caliber was first designed for the military in Vietnam.  I had to qualify on an M-16 in 1965 when they were first issued.  It was like shooting a bb gun.  Easy to shoot with a round that was designed to wound and not kill.  They said this would take two or more people out of the war instead of just one dead body.  The individual shot by a .223 would be severely wounded and would need someone to take him back to a medic or out of the war zone.  Read any of the gun magazines today and it looks like they are selling guns and accessories to someone who is going to war.  Helmets, bullet proof vests, high-capacity magazines, laser sights and guns more fit for killing humans than hunting are touted and readily available.

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I don’t deny that it would be difficult to make some distinctions between a military or assault rifle and a rifle that could be used for hunting.  It some cases it would be like trying to differentiate between tweedle dee and tweedle dum.  However difficult it might be, it could be done as long as two reasonable people could agree on the definitions.  No definition will convince or persuade everyone.  We must not let perfection stop us from trying to protect the lives of our children and our citizens.  If some mistakes are made in banning guns that are best designed for killing then so be it.  We will all be better off for it.   It is the only solution that will end the epidemic of gun violence in the USA.

PS

I think my theory above accounts for a large percentage of mass murders and some suicides. I know that a small percentage of mass murders are committed by individuals with a grudge against another group, ethnicity or race. Call them racists or ideological nut cases. I doubt they go through any “cycle of violence” such as I have described. My guess is that they develop some screwball theory and believe that their violence will help them wipeout whatever group they harbor negative attitudes against. Their hatred could be political, racial, or other wacko ideologies.

As for suicides, the major reason for suicides according to the mental health literature (retreatbehavioralhealth.com) is due to depression. Women tend to overdose with pills while men tend to use a handgun. Gun checks, gun licenses, gun waiting periods are probably not going to reduce deaths by suicide substantially since I cannot imagine how a background check or a license would stop someone who is depressed from owning a gun. Nevertheless, the easy availability of guns and their lethality does make them very dangerous for anyone suffering from depression.

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