An interesting little exchange my Facebook wall recently, has confirmed for me the true nature of the 'gun debate' i.e. it is 100% about stakeholder bias.
All the stuff about the carnage wrought by guns etc., is waffle and those who oppose responsible gun ownership on the grounds of concern for community/children's/women's welfare and so forth, are first magnitude hypocrites who find it easy to demand a prohibition because they have nothing to lose by doing so.
Yes, some people kill other people with guns.
Yes, we have had a few 'massacres' in this country.
Yes, women are often threatened by men wielding guns.
Yes, a gun in the wrong hands can be an awesome menace.
Yes, it can certainly be said that in Australia, at the present time, no one needs a gun per se, save those few who require them for essential purposes - farmers, police etc.
But pray tell me, who in Australia needs alcohol? Not 'wants' it, but actually needs it?
Hospitals I guess, but that alcohol can be made undrinkable.
Christians need a wee bit of vino for Chalice, but we don't otherwise need alcohol.
Yet alcohol is the single greatest contributor in cases of marital abuse, road carnage, child abuse, one-punch offences, antisocial behaviour, Cirrhosis and other costly burdens on the health system etc etc ad nauseam.
Yes, people kill people under the influence of alcohol.
Yes, we have had thousands of alcohol related deaths in this country.
Yes, women are often threatened by partners under the influence of alcohol.
Yes, a bottle of scotch in the wrong hands can be an awesome menace.
Yes, it can certainly be said that in Australia, at the present time, no one needs alcohol per se, save those few who require it for essential purposes - hospitals, churches etc.
So the solution seems simple - ban alcohol!
It's not like it's impossible. Other nations have done it.
But of course everyone (nearly) likes alcohol. They use it wisely and see no reason why they should be 'punished' just because others use it inappropriately.
Even though that inappropriate use often occasions death.
No one in Australia is going to voluntarily give up their beer, regardless of how many children it may save from abuse and neglect.
Beer is way too important to sling just to lower the road toll.
It's not like there are all that many women abused by drunken partners....I mean, why pick on everyone just because a few tens of thousands do the wrong thing every single day?
No, what we need to do is focus on is making sure that 30-odd people aren't murdered every decade or so in obscure Tasmanian tourist villages.
The thousands that die (or worse) year-in, year-out, as a result of alcohol - sad though their deaths and misery may be - cannot be permitted to impact on society's free access to a mind altering chemical we all love.
The gun debate is stakeholder driven. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the death toll and everything to do with hypocrisy, with the fact it is so damn simple to be holier than thou when one's principles cost them nothing.
But hey, I'm not the problem. I don't drink. It's you cruel piss-pots out there who refuse to bite the bullet so to speak, and "evolve" in the interests of public safety - you're the problem!
Of course while I say all that with not a little sarcasm, the fact remains that alcohol consumption is a leisure activity, even a sport for some.
As a non-drinker myself, I am forced to accept there's a chance some of you will, at random, launch 2.5 tons of projectile at me and countless others, every day, while we're minding our own business picking the kids up from school, or going to the shops.
Oddly, society thinks this abuse of trust and the many deaths that result annually are just part of the rough and tumble of life, while seeking to punish the hundreds of thousands of Australians who use guns responsibly, for the actions of the comparative few who don't.
No, it's not completely different, except perhaps in the mind of the fool and the hypocrite.
Of course while I say all that with not a little sarcasm, the fact remains that alcohol consumption is a leisure activity, even a sport for some.
As a non-drinker myself, I am forced to accept there's a chance some of you will, at random, launch 2.5 tons of projectile at me and countless others, every day, while we're minding our own business picking the kids up from school, or going to the shops.
Oddly, society thinks this abuse of trust and the many deaths that result annually are just part of the rough and tumble of life, while seeking to punish the hundreds of thousands of Australians who use guns responsibly, for the actions of the comparative few who don't.
No, it's not completely different, except perhaps in the mind of the fool and the hypocrite.
Anyway, I'll get outaya way now....
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