Kids.
We forced masks on them for “grandma’s protection” but we can’t lock the doors to their schools.
My children are the most important thing to me. One day, of course, they will move out, get a job, have a life of their own and mostly forget to call unless they need a loan. Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure keeps the kids close.
Should Ben or Andrew choose to have kids, I have no doubt that their own kids will be the most important thing to them, too. They will drive all over town for sports, sit with them doing homework, watch the Battle of Alberta in the playoffs and play Risk until someone ultimately invades Ukraine and a temper tantrum ensues whereby the board is flipped and the game is pronounced over (I was frustrated…. Why me!?! Go attack your brother in Africa!)
One year after I played the junior squash world championships in Egypt and took a week with my best friend to explore the Nile and history of Egypt, 62 people were killed at the temple of Hatshepsut. We spent half a day at that temple and have pictures of the two of us inside, where the tourists were trapped and killed. I remember feeling lucky the junior boy’s played the world’s in the even years because 1996 was a much better year to visit than 1997, as it turned out.
My son played hockey near Columbine High School. I was only a few years removed from High School when the 12 students and one teacher were killed by their classmates in 1999.
I lived in Colorado when the Aurora theatre shooting happened. I was seriously excited about seeing ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and had I been in town, I would have been one of the first to see it. 12 people were killed.
Later that year, in December, my kids were 7 and 5 and in school the day the Sandy Hook shooting happened. Adam Lanza shot his mother using the guns she had bought legally and drove to the school. Of the 27 killed, 20 were children who were 6 and 7. I hugged Ben and Andrew very tightly that night and grieved for the parents who didn’t get to do the same.
We sold a large part of OneEnergy to Franklin Mountain in 2018, which is owned by philanthropist Paul Foster from El Paso. I was working for him when the WalMart shooting happened in 2019 and 23 were killed.
One of my best friends is from Uvalde, Texas. Salvador Ramos shot his grandmother after a fight before heading to the school. Of the 21 killed at Robb Elementary, 19 were 10 and 11 years old.
In 2020, 480,000 Americans died from smoking related illness and another 300,000 died from obesity related complications. I don’t recall cries to ban McDonald’s and I know I can still buy cigarettes even though my tax dollars pay for your bad choices. False equivalency no doubt. Hamburgers don’t kill other people and we have laws to minimize the impacts of second hand smoking. Ok.
There were 38,824 deaths from motor vehicle accidents in a country with 287 million vehicles. 9 people were killed, including the 13 year old driver in a head on collision that killed 6 members of the University of the Southwest golf team and their coach. 16 hockey players from the Humbolt Broncos were killed on their team bus when the driver of a semi failed to yield at an intersection. I don’t remember any cries to ban cars which caused twice as many deaths as the 19,384 homicides, including gang violence and murder, as guns (the oft quoted 45,000 gun related deaths includes suicide).
Americans purchase 20 million guns a year and it is estimated that there are a total of 400 million guns around the country. You don’t have to like guns. You don’t have to own guns. But guns are not going anywhere. Political agendas, talking points and thoughts and prayers don’t change the mental health crisis we have in this country, exacerbated by the COVID reaction.
The discretionary budget per year of the Department of Homeland Security is $52 billion, which includes the TSA. We are spending $40 billion on a funding effort for a proxy war in Ukraine with no debate or oversight. The infrastructure bill included $65 billion in “net zero” power grid investments, $7.5 billion for EV chargers and $66 billion for Amtrak. California spends $100,000 per homeless person per year and less than $10,000 on students. This isn’t about guns. This is about priorities. You can’t get on a hotel elevator without a key card. You can’t get on an airplane without going through a metal detector and baggage scan.
Kids are the future. Society failed them during COVID. When it comes to mental health and security, it’s about time we debate real action and I’m sorry Greta, but your childhood was not stolen. Those kids in Uvalde? At Sandy Hook? At Columbine? Those kids childhood’s were stolen. It’s time we get our priorities straight.
I remember in the 80’s when boys drove pickups with a gun in the gun rack. There were no mass shootings or rarely any shootings. We need to evaluate what’s changed - it’s not the guns.
Very well written and great point about Greta. She held the spotlight with her narrative for a long time…but this is what we should all be talking about.