I'm heartily fed up with those conservatives who believe, wrongly, that punching people is essential for a 'masculine' education. There is nothing more masculine or feminine about kids punching each other. Girls have to learn to talk - and THINK, not hit, every bit as much as boys do.
We all have aggression inside of us, both male and female; it is not a desirable quality of gender. It is something that we each of us must master in ourselves as part of growing up, it is entirely about self control, about achieving emotional maturity, and especially about mastery of our impulses. It is not that we eliminate either anger, aggression, or conflict. It is that we are better at directing it, and controlling it, and that includes when and where and how we resort to it.
What we emphatically don't need more of, and distinctly need a lot less of, is males who think they're being men because they can dominate or intimidate anyone who challenges them. Men - and women - should be challenged when and where appropriate.
THIS is the reality of what happens when we do NOT civilize (not feminize) adults as they grow up; they resort to inappropriate expressions of aggression and they fail to find other ways to deal with conflict and with their own emotions.
Consistently, those who promote resolving what they perceive as threats with fists also promote resorting to guns rather than other means to do so as well, no matter how much better alternatives are available.
An example is below; any challenge to an association which is part of a Conservative's identity will elicit a strong defensive reaction, one that is too often violent, because they feel disproportionately threatened by those challenges. Conservative thinking is typically of the us versus them, 'your either with us or against us' polarizing variety. Only two choices are possible, and the right has trouble admitting when they are wrong. They want to define every circumstance as a situation where everyone has to choose up sides rather than allowing for multiple other options - like those encompassed in problem solving and conflict resolution.
A perfect example is reported below; an 18 year old feeling tough with a gun was challenged about an aspect of his identity; he embraced the failed treason of the south in the civil war. When that was challenged, by a bunch of little kids, his 'identity' was threatened, the core of who he saw himself to be was put on the line, and the only reaction that was 'manly' was the violent one of brandishing his gun to intimidate a bunch of unarmed kids. The reality is that kind of masculinity is not strong, it is pathetic; it is not heroic, it is dangerous to everyone concerned, including the gun waving idiot.
Apparently he hasn't realized not only that the American Civil War is over, but that it was wrong, bad, and the secessionists lost. We are all better because they lost. Had the southern insurgents NOT attacked the United States with force, and instead sought other means of conflict resolution, a lot of people would not have died violently. Violent attacks, including revolutionary violence is clearly NOT written into the Constitution, prohibitions against it are. However there are numerous non-violent means of resolving conflicts and competing interests that ARE part of the Constitution.
It is an ADULT approach to government that is mirrored in what should be adult approaches to individual conflict; there is nothing gender oriented about it. But then looking at the photo, this guy doesn't look like the brightest bulb in the chandelier; perhaps he didn't do well in school, or maybe he went to one of those brutish educational institutions that stress punching rather than thinking.
This is just one more example of why immaturity and firearms don't mix.
From the Pilotonline:
By Mike Connors
The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
An 18-year-old man faces charges after police say he pointed a gun at two elementary school students Monday.
Shortly before 3 p.m., a bus was unloading students at the intersection of Brian Avenue and Rachel Street when two students told the driver that someone behind the bus had pointed a gun at them, police said in a news release. The person was in a blue pickup.
The driver returned the students to Pembroke Elementary and notified school authorities and police.
An investigation determined that a dispute had broken out between the 18-year-old and several students at a bus stop over a rebel flag in the pickup.
Police arrested Joshua P. Dalton of Virginia Beach. He is charged with two misdemeanor counts of brandishing a firearm. Dalton was released from jail on bond, according to police.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
We all have aggression inside of us, both male and female; it is not a desirable quality of gender. It is something that we each of us must master in ourselves as part of growing up, it is entirely about self control, about achieving emotional maturity, and especially about mastery of our impulses. It is not that we eliminate either anger, aggression, or conflict. It is that we are better at directing it, and controlling it, and that includes when and where and how we resort to it.
What we emphatically don't need more of, and distinctly need a lot less of, is males who think they're being men because they can dominate or intimidate anyone who challenges them. Men - and women - should be challenged when and where appropriate.
THIS is the reality of what happens when we do NOT civilize (not feminize) adults as they grow up; they resort to inappropriate expressions of aggression and they fail to find other ways to deal with conflict and with their own emotions.
Consistently, those who promote resolving what they perceive as threats with fists also promote resorting to guns rather than other means to do so as well, no matter how much better alternatives are available.
An example is below; any challenge to an association which is part of a Conservative's identity will elicit a strong defensive reaction, one that is too often violent, because they feel disproportionately threatened by those challenges. Conservative thinking is typically of the us versus them, 'your either with us or against us' polarizing variety. Only two choices are possible, and the right has trouble admitting when they are wrong. They want to define every circumstance as a situation where everyone has to choose up sides rather than allowing for multiple other options - like those encompassed in problem solving and conflict resolution.
A perfect example is reported below; an 18 year old feeling tough with a gun was challenged about an aspect of his identity; he embraced the failed treason of the south in the civil war. When that was challenged, by a bunch of little kids, his 'identity' was threatened, the core of who he saw himself to be was put on the line, and the only reaction that was 'manly' was the violent one of brandishing his gun to intimidate a bunch of unarmed kids. The reality is that kind of masculinity is not strong, it is pathetic; it is not heroic, it is dangerous to everyone concerned, including the gun waving idiot.
Apparently he hasn't realized not only that the American Civil War is over, but that it was wrong, bad, and the secessionists lost. We are all better because they lost. Had the southern insurgents NOT attacked the United States with force, and instead sought other means of conflict resolution, a lot of people would not have died violently. Violent attacks, including revolutionary violence is clearly NOT written into the Constitution, prohibitions against it are. However there are numerous non-violent means of resolving conflicts and competing interests that ARE part of the Constitution.
It is an ADULT approach to government that is mirrored in what should be adult approaches to individual conflict; there is nothing gender oriented about it. But then looking at the photo, this guy doesn't look like the brightest bulb in the chandelier; perhaps he didn't do well in school, or maybe he went to one of those brutish educational institutions that stress punching rather than thinking.
This is just one more example of why immaturity and firearms don't mix.
From the Pilotonline:
Va. Beach students say man aimed gun at them
Joshua P. Dalton, 18, is charged with two misdemeanor counts of brandishing a firearm.
The Virginian-Pilot
©
An 18-year-old man faces charges after police say he pointed a gun at two elementary school students Monday.
Shortly before 3 p.m., a bus was unloading students at the intersection of Brian Avenue and Rachel Street when two students told the driver that someone behind the bus had pointed a gun at them, police said in a news release. The person was in a blue pickup.
The driver returned the students to Pembroke Elementary and notified school authorities and police.
An investigation determined that a dispute had broken out between the 18-year-old and several students at a bus stop over a rebel flag in the pickup.
Police arrested Joshua P. Dalton of Virginia Beach. He is charged with two misdemeanor counts of brandishing a firearm. Dalton was released from jail on bond, according to police.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
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