“Positive thinking is a much derided concept, only because if it is not followed by positive action it leads to nothing.”—Aaron A. Fimister
By now, I am sure that you have heard about the tragic shooting of 20 small children and 7 adults by, Adam Lanza, a deranged 20 year old in Connecticut, USA. It has been the lead on all news shows and many entertainment shows since it happened.
In the early hours of December 14, 2012, a deadly shooting took place in Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown. The scale of the tragedy and the age of the victims shocked a country that has seen many mass shootings. From the media and political establishment, there is an effort to prevent any discussion of the social and political background to the tragedy, the latest in a long series of similar incidents.
In the commotion, the pictures of the event for at least a day, make forget children, women and men massacred by drones steered from some small town maybe not far from Newtown and similar to it, or by soldiers of the imperialist countries and their mercenaries, in Afghanistan, in Syria, in dozens of other countries in Asia, Africa and other continents, and those physically, morally or intellectually mangled by everyday relations of misery, of misdeeds and degradation in the imperialist metropolis.
Many, including national organisations, have been pushing hard for the adoption of more gun control policies. But it’s not the guns; it’s the sick culture. The US is a war mongering culture that has been involved in continuous wars and genocides along its entire history. There is too much violence in the American nation and it’s the most violent nation on earth. It’s an epidemic, a disease. Treating the symptoms never cures the disease. The US has a long held love affair with the gun, and they have been a part of that country since its inception. Mass murder is being taught to children on the movie screens every day. Hollywood glorifies and teaches the youth that this is normal daily life. To quote the great philosopher Perry Farrell, “The gangs and the government are no different.”
Many across the nation cried. ‘Did people in Chicago and Oakland cry for the children in Newtown? Did people in Iraq cry for the children in Newtown?’ Under the Clinton administration, Madeleine Albright had even said that sanctions, which killed many children, were worth it. When Bush started the insane war with Iraq many children died but some said it was worth it for US freedom. Where are the tears for them?
“We can’t tolerate this anymore, these tragedies must end,” Obama told an interfaith vigil. “And to end them we must change.” Perhaps you can mandate an end to the American culture of violence, Mr. President! If Americans really think that killing is wrong, they must change a lot more than gun control laws. You must stop, think, and remember that indiscriminate violence made America what it is today.
But why should we, rightly, mourn the senseless murder of schoolchildren in Newtown, but don’t seem to give a wit about children in other nations being killed by drones? It is wrong and horrible and it’s being done every day. The sins of the Nation befall on the children.
When you preach and export violence, what do you expect in return? Who was it who had said, “The one who lives by the sword dies by the sword”?
It’s American militarism, endless multiple wars, out-of-control police violence and murders, the drugging of untold numbers of children and teenagers, and the overall grotesque debasement of human values and positive culture that are the primary causes of this continuing horror.
But why not stop whining about a culture that has and continues to slaughter masses every year, including thousands of children, in the Middle East without shedding a tear, but loses it when 27 people are killed in Connecticut?
Certainly the suffering caused by the gunman in Connecticut is similar to the suffering faced by the families that lose their children due to drone strikes or civilians that get targeted during terrorist attacks. Why is it that we accept those deaths as norm and yet something similar makes headlines across the globe? Why is it that those massacres are usually greeted with satisfaction yet this brings gloom? Is the blood that goes down the drain in Pakistan less holy? Or are the children of Gaza the children of a lesser God?
Lanza was no worse than the drone operators and soldiers who act on government orders. The only difference is that they have permission from the state and approval of the populace to kill at will. Had Adam Lanza been wearing a soldier’s uniform, he could have killed anyone he wanted without fear of punishment.
For whom will the bell next toll?
“If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, ‘We see;’ therefore your sin remaineth”
Speaking at a vigil for the 27 victims of the shootings at the Connecticut elementary school, US President Barack Obama says that the US must do more to protect children. As he stood before his podium, he appeared to fight back tears while yet requesting drone bombings on the US stated enemies to eliminate them or, in error, killing 29 innocents at a wedding celebration. Considering that he has ordered attacks which have killed children, could this only be seen as a ploy by a highly skilled manipulator to keep the public off balance?
Mr. President, you must realise that you can do anything, but not everything, but at least you can do something. It is not only possible, but imperative that you remember all of the child victims in your country’s history. What if children mattered no matter where they lived—and died?
Mr. President, please keep remembering now, and hopefully you can read all this with the same feeling of sorrow and perhaps without outwardly and unashamedly crying.
Remember the children who died in Gaza from Israeli bombardments.
Remember the 168 children who have been killed by US drone attacks in Pakistan since 2006.
Remember the 231 children killed in Afghanistan in the first 6 months of last year.
Remember the 400 other children in the US under the age of 15 who die from gunshot wounds each year.
Remember the 921 children killed by US air strikes against insurgents in Iraq.
Remember the incapacitated and crippled children in Vietnam and Korea still suffering the consequences of the rampant use of the chemical warfare ‘Agent Orange.’
Remember the 1,770 US children who die each year from child abuse and maltreatment.
Remember the 16,000 children who die each day around the world from hunger.
And don’t forget the thousands and thousands of children killed, maimed for life or made orphans caused by the US’s immoral sanctions and wars throughout the globe.
Pakistan, Palestine, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia will also have to be answered for by the people of your nation.
“Killing one person is MURDER Killing 100,000 is FOREIGN POLICY”
Human life is created equal. Every child is their parents’ most loved belonging and, irrespective of race and religion, every innocent human life carries the same value. Many would judge that bringing this political agenda at these testing times is tasteless or lacks sincerity, then why not tackle a more global issue such as the killings of innocent people in Pakistan, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan?
In conclusion, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the families of those slain and the survivors. They face a lifetime of disturbed memories of that day. I also feel for the surviving members of the killer’s family and friends. Yet, I also feel the pain of those parents that see their kids blown up by a rocket from the night sky or a drone strike from across the mountains while they run across a field chasing a soccer ball.
Mr. President, besides being a president, you are also a father and I don’t have any reason to doubt the sincerity of your tears of sadness for the loss of these innocent children. However, I’m hoping against hope that my trust would not be deluded and that your words would truly be turned into action towards a real change. Only then would I have reason to believe that yours were not crocodile tears simply expressed on cue.
Violence begets Violence, Peace begets Peace.
Please Mr. President, send forth the peace makers!
“Observe the life by cause and consequence.
Explore the life by wisdom.
Treat the life by equality.
Complete the life by love.”
—Buddha
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Mr. President, remember all the children!
Posted on January 24, 2013 by Joseph M. Cachia
By now, I am sure that you have heard about the tragic shooting of 20 small children and 7 adults by, Adam Lanza, a deranged 20 year old in Connecticut, USA. It has been the lead on all news shows and many entertainment shows since it happened.
In the early hours of December 14, 2012, a deadly shooting took place in Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown. The scale of the tragedy and the age of the victims shocked a country that has seen many mass shootings. From the media and political establishment, there is an effort to prevent any discussion of the social and political background to the tragedy, the latest in a long series of similar incidents.
In the commotion, the pictures of the event for at least a day, make forget children, women and men massacred by drones steered from some small town maybe not far from Newtown and similar to it, or by soldiers of the imperialist countries and their mercenaries, in Afghanistan, in Syria, in dozens of other countries in Asia, Africa and other continents, and those physically, morally or intellectually mangled by everyday relations of misery, of misdeeds and degradation in the imperialist metropolis.
Many, including national organisations, have been pushing hard for the adoption of more gun control policies. But it’s not the guns; it’s the sick culture. The US is a war mongering culture that has been involved in continuous wars and genocides along its entire history. There is too much violence in the American nation and it’s the most violent nation on earth. It’s an epidemic, a disease. Treating the symptoms never cures the disease. The US has a long held love affair with the gun, and they have been a part of that country since its inception. Mass murder is being taught to children on the movie screens every day. Hollywood glorifies and teaches the youth that this is normal daily life. To quote the great philosopher Perry Farrell, “The gangs and the government are no different.”
Many across the nation cried. ‘Did people in Chicago and Oakland cry for the children in Newtown? Did people in Iraq cry for the children in Newtown?’ Under the Clinton administration, Madeleine Albright had even said that sanctions, which killed many children, were worth it. When Bush started the insane war with Iraq many children died but some said it was worth it for US freedom. Where are the tears for them?
“We can’t tolerate this anymore, these tragedies must end,” Obama told an interfaith vigil. “And to end them we must change.” Perhaps you can mandate an end to the American culture of violence, Mr. President! If Americans really think that killing is wrong, they must change a lot more than gun control laws. You must stop, think, and remember that indiscriminate violence made America what it is today.
But why should we, rightly, mourn the senseless murder of schoolchildren in Newtown, but don’t seem to give a wit about children in other nations being killed by drones? It is wrong and horrible and it’s being done every day. The sins of the Nation befall on the children.
When you preach and export violence, what do you expect in return? Who was it who had said, “The one who lives by the sword dies by the sword”?
It’s American militarism, endless multiple wars, out-of-control police violence and murders, the drugging of untold numbers of children and teenagers, and the overall grotesque debasement of human values and positive culture that are the primary causes of this continuing horror.
But why not stop whining about a culture that has and continues to slaughter masses every year, including thousands of children, in the Middle East without shedding a tear, but loses it when 27 people are killed in Connecticut?
Certainly the suffering caused by the gunman in Connecticut is similar to the suffering faced by the families that lose their children due to drone strikes or civilians that get targeted during terrorist attacks. Why is it that we accept those deaths as norm and yet something similar makes headlines across the globe? Why is it that those massacres are usually greeted with satisfaction yet this brings gloom? Is the blood that goes down the drain in Pakistan less holy? Or are the children of Gaza the children of a lesser God?
Lanza was no worse than the drone operators and soldiers who act on government orders. The only difference is that they have permission from the state and approval of the populace to kill at will. Had Adam Lanza been wearing a soldier’s uniform, he could have killed anyone he wanted without fear of punishment.
For whom will the bell next toll?
“If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, ‘We see;’ therefore your sin remaineth”
Speaking at a vigil for the 27 victims of the shootings at the Connecticut elementary school, US President Barack Obama says that the US must do more to protect children. As he stood before his podium, he appeared to fight back tears while yet requesting drone bombings on the US stated enemies to eliminate them or, in error, killing 29 innocents at a wedding celebration. Considering that he has ordered attacks which have killed children, could this only be seen as a ploy by a highly skilled manipulator to keep the public off balance?
Mr. President, you must realise that you can do anything, but not everything, but at least you can do something. It is not only possible, but imperative that you remember all of the child victims in your country’s history. What if children mattered no matter where they lived—and died?
Mr. President, please keep remembering now, and hopefully you can read all this with the same feeling of sorrow and perhaps without outwardly and unashamedly crying.
Remember the children who died in Gaza from Israeli bombardments.
Remember the 168 children who have been killed by US drone attacks in Pakistan since 2006.
Remember the 231 children killed in Afghanistan in the first 6 months of last year.
Remember the 400 other children in the US under the age of 15 who die from gunshot wounds each year.
Remember the 921 children killed by US air strikes against insurgents in Iraq.
Remember the incapacitated and crippled children in Vietnam and Korea still suffering the consequences of the rampant use of the chemical warfare ‘Agent Orange.’
Remember the 1,770 US children who die each year from child abuse and maltreatment.
Remember the 16,000 children who die each day around the world from hunger.
And don’t forget the thousands and thousands of children killed, maimed for life or made orphans caused by the US’s immoral sanctions and wars throughout the globe.
Pakistan, Palestine, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia will also have to be answered for by the people of your nation.
“Killing one person is MURDER Killing 100,000 is FOREIGN POLICY”
Human life is created equal. Every child is their parents’ most loved belonging and, irrespective of race and religion, every innocent human life carries the same value. Many would judge that bringing this political agenda at these testing times is tasteless or lacks sincerity, then why not tackle a more global issue such as the killings of innocent people in Pakistan, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan?
In conclusion, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the families of those slain and the survivors. They face a lifetime of disturbed memories of that day. I also feel for the surviving members of the killer’s family and friends. Yet, I also feel the pain of those parents that see their kids blown up by a rocket from the night sky or a drone strike from across the mountains while they run across a field chasing a soccer ball.
Mr. President, besides being a president, you are also a father and I don’t have any reason to doubt the sincerity of your tears of sadness for the loss of these innocent children. However, I’m hoping against hope that my trust would not be deluded and that your words would truly be turned into action towards a real change. Only then would I have reason to believe that yours were not crocodile tears simply expressed on cue.
Violence begets Violence, Peace begets Peace.
Please Mr. President, send forth the peace makers!
Joseph M. Cachia resides in Vittoriosa, Malta.