Loosing Our Minds

Reading the morning paper today I couldn't help wondering how wisdom is so often missing from the choices we make. My heart is broken over the senseless murder of Trayvon Martin, an innocent boy who made the mistake of taking a casual walk to the corner store for some iced tea and Skittles. Visiting a "gated community" in Stanford Florida, this young black man - like so many young black men in this country - was immediately suspect. The self appointed community watchman who spotted, stalked, confronted and finally killed Trayvon was not arrested. I was surprised to learn about "Stand Your Ground", a law passed by 24 states. The law allows a person, who believes that they are under threat, to use deadly force in self-defense with no obligation to retreat from the conflict. The NRA is a major supporter of this law, lobbying and making political contributions to legislatures. In this case the shooter followed the boy and engaged in an altercation with him before shooting him dead. Trayvon was unarmed and about half the size of his assailant. For me, the biggest shock is that the killer was not arrested or taken into custody but released on his own word - that he shot in self defense. There, of course, is no way for Trayvon to rebut this version of the story but 911 calls and other witness reports evidence the stalking and the cries for help. How can this be helpful to our citizenry? Permitting people to walk around with concealed weapons and allowing them to shoot - and kill - if they feel threatened. How is this different from the way insurgents kill perceived enemies in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Another article in the paper today is about the U.S. deciding to resume arms sales to Egypt in spite of the human rights infractions that caused a ban in the first place. The argument is that the delayed sales will hurt American businesses and jobs will be lost. Companies like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics stand to loose a lot, not to mention the Obama campaign. So Secretary of State Hillary Clinton approved resuming military assistance. Senator Patrick Leahy called the decision regrettable, and the resumption of aid as "business as usual".

All of this is very sad. The Military Industrial Complex and the Gun Lobby have dangerous and powerful influence on the way we live. Whether it involves world-wide issues of conflict or simple neighborhood misunderstandings that could easily be solved with reason, we continue to support, through our laws and legislation, the unwise, deadly alternatives.