America, Terror, and Orlando

I had to think a bit about the horror in Orlando before writing. The entire incident is just weird. Something is missing from the narrative we are being given. Oh well, more and more, I get the feeling that we are not being told even a fraction of the whole story.

Let's start with the killer's job, security. Those guys are supposed to be carefully screened and in his case, he had worked for a pretty high level company. Well, being questioned twice by the FBI should have showed up on his background check and raised a caution flag, but I guess not. Second, what kind of security did this club have? In this day and age I am afraid all clubs are going to need professional, armed security. Sorry, that's just the way things are now. Third, how can 1 person, even armed, subdue 300. I know that among the folks I have known, if it seemed likely that we were about to get shot, we would have moved on the guy. Yes, some would still get shot but they were anyway. If a lot of people move at the shooter from all directions, some will get through and be able to subdue him (you can't shoot in 3 directions at once). Fewer would have died.

But, all that aside, let's talk about how to prevent future such events. Some say gun control. Let's be clear. You will never eliminate guns in our society. They are now an ingrained part of American society. There are just too many of them. Any idea that everybody will turn theirs in is foolish and any thought of the Government confiscating them is dangerous since many gun owners will use those guns to keep them. Make them illegal and people will simply find illegal sources, like they do with drugs (we all know how well that war on drugs has gone).

Tolerance of those who differ from the norm would be useful and there is some movement in that direction. That is a very good thing but such change is slow. That's just the way humans are and it is not helped when you have people clinging to archaic belief systems. The killer seems to have deliberately targeted a gay club. Well, the kind of extreme Islamic beliefs he chose to follow teaches that gays should be killed, but, lest anyone lay this solely at the feet of Islam, let me remind one and all that there are still a few extreme Christian sects who feel the same way, thankfully fewer all the time but, still some.

William Burroughs said that by the time a situation had become a problem, there was no good solution, you just had to let the scenario play itself out. Maybe he was right. All I can suggest is that everyone use a bit of caution. Watch your surroundings, learn a few ways of defending yourself, and be ready  to call authorities any time you see something weird going on. That sounds really lame. It is, but for the life of me, I cannot come up with anything better, in the short run.

In the long run? We need to examine the 'whys' behind terrorism. Not the politics, but the mind set that seems to keep turning out these terrorists. That's what the next post will deal with. I think I have an idea that may be worth considering.