Who Knew Politics Could Be So Funny

So I came across a blog today that brought my attention to the following situation and inspired me to write this post. The blog is by "Revolt of the Imbeciles" and you can read his take on the problem here: Georia on My (and out of its) Mind (great play on words by the way, I love that song).

If I were to move anywhere in the country right now, I would move to Nelson, Georgia. Now, I don't know much of the town, but I know that their city council has an excellent sense of humor. If politics were ever to be considered funny, they hit the nail on the head. They recently passed a law (on April Fools day, my absolute favorite holiday since I am an avid prankster) REQUIRING that all households have a firearm and ammunition. They are actually not insane of course, so they made sure to cover themselves with a few exemptions.

1. If you have a physical disability (and therefore cannot actually fire a firearm)
2. If you have a mental disability (don't want unstable people milling around with weaponry...absolutely understandable)
3. If you are a pauper (I kid you not, that is in the official manuscript of the ordinance, I think that fact shows that this is supposed to be a joke. Too broke to shoot.)
4. If you've ever had a felony (no brainer)
5. If ownership of a firearm is against household's religious beliefs 

Now here is where the funny comes in. Final exemption, if you personally believe that guns are bad, you are not required to carry a firearm. Basically, if you would like to own a gun, you are required to do so (kind of. Another funny part of this law is the fact that they openly admitted that they will not be enforcing the law nor is there any penalty to said law), if not, then you do not have to have a firearm. 

So why exactly is this funny? Well the federal government has really been pushing harder than women in labor to increase gun restrictions and gun regulation laws. Although the law created in Nelson, Georgia might as well be moot, they were able to pass a law that, from the outside, deregulates and "forces" all households to have firearms. It's a complete slap in the face to everyone pushing for more gun restriction.

The funny doesn't stop there. So of course they knew that this would be grabbing national attention. So naturally they would have to make a press statement of some kind to defend this new town ordinance. So a town official went on the news and told them that the new ordinance has been put into place to hopefully deter criminals and reduce crime.

Why is that funny? Well I said I didn't know much about the town, so I did some light research (mainly to see if what the original blogger had said was even true about the law) and here is what I found:

• Nelson, Georgia has a population of under 1,500 people (tinier than most high schools in the country)
• They only have ONE POLICE OFFICER (when he is on vacation, duty falls on the nearest county sheriff)
• There hasn't been violent crime there in OVER 5 YEARS (because they have a population of less than 100,000, this is not an official claim, because they are not required to keep those kind of statistical reports, but this was claimed by their only police staff and therefore I am trusting it)

So basically they claim this law will reduce violent crime from 0 to 0. That is absolutely life saving! I wish that everyone in the country had the same sense of humor (or the ability to appreciate a good joke or jab) and find this law to be completely sarcastic, but of course I am wrong, because to draw more attention to this hilarious prank, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is suing the town for violation of the 2nd amendment. The suit claims that "the second amendment doesn't require anyone to have a gun, and government cannot require citizens to arm themselves."

What law says that government cannot require us to arm ourselves? They can require us to have manicured lawns and pay taxes and enact curfew laws, so who's to say that they cannot require us to have firearms? Especially in the name of safety! (sarcasm, in case you haven't noticed)  And besides, with the huge gap between upper and middle class, the majority of the country might as well be considered paupers and thus exempt from this law anyways.

Is gun violence bad? Of course. Is restricting firearms the answer? I personally don't think so. But the fact that the government has been trying so very hard to pass more restrictions and regulations and Nelson passes this...well for that, I give Nelson, Georgia a big round of applause. Well played Nelson, well played indeed, I see your humor and the statement you're trying to make and you have my support.

Here are links to my sources and just some general information for all you fact checkers out there:

Suing Nelson
Requiring Firearms
Nelson Might As Well Be Mayberry

Trial and Error

Whatever happened to good, old fashioned trial and error? There are so many obvious errors with this country, which honestly is fine, because we are a still a new nation, so just like any new science experiment, there are bound to be errors, it's how we learn. But why are we so wary to start a new trial then? I honestly think that it's time for a national coup d'etat. The biggest thing being protested in the country right now is gay rights and look at how that is going. Whether you are for it or against it is irrelevant, if you ask me, they are winning. The LGBT right to marriage movement is gaining more states each year. But the sad thing is, this shouldn't even have to be protested. It honestly should be a non-issue. (Let the people marry who they want and move on. Separation of church/other religious systems and state, correct?) 

The point behind that example though, is that there really are results through awareness, protest and action. Just look at any movement in this country's short history for evidence and if that isn't enough, move on to global examples, there are plenty. I'm not trying to suggest that we should overthrow Obama, just the government (and the education system, prison system, election process, professional training system, banking system, and just about any other system America has put into place. Because honestly, they are all basically failing) which just so happens to include Obama at this current time period. And by baby steps. A complete revolt (if you even want to call it that) won't happen overnight. Not in this day and age and not with the current motivation level of the people.

Which brings me to my next point. It needs to come down to the American mindset. In the past, most revolutions started with the younger generation. Well if that's the case, then I see a major problem. I am a 22 year old college student, therefore I identify myself with this younger generation. Having said that, I have, by default, high exposure to this generation. I am by no means trying to speak on behalf of my generation, just making general summations based on observation (I'm an engineering, or aspiring to be one, observation comes with the territory). An overwhelming majority of my generation lack motivation for change. Even more dangerous than that, most of my generation, to sum it up blatantly, do not care. The reasons (excuses) are all over the place, ranging from "it doesn't directly affect me" (often masked as "it's not my problem") to "someone else will fix it". I truly believe there is a much simpler, unified base reason as to why my spoiled generation does not care. I believe it's just a problem of ignorance (as in lack of knowledge, not attitude problem, although this is loosely an attitude problem as well). I believe that most of my generation believes everything is fine. I believe that they think this because they do not know what better is or what it could look like. Think about it. The Native Americans thought the bow and arrow was the best hunting tool because they didn't know what better was until someone came around and showed them.  

But what if we started proposing and then actually implementing new trials. This has been done sporadically within the education system and "unconventional"  teaching methods and structures are having great successes in boroughs and districts across the nation. This fueled a now rapidly growing demand for a better education system and an education reform movement, mainly because people started to see what better could look like. It's time to establish new conventions if the old ones are broken. Make the unconventional conventional. Or maybe the new convention is that each case should stay unconventional. A huge flaw right now is that there are almost too many rules or standards or regulations or expectations to follow to promote change. And there is such a huge fear and almost a huge punishment (for example: lost jobs for trying something new/progressive under good intentions that does not work out) for failure that people are too scared to try change. The people are too quick to pass judgement and call something a failure. And even if it is a failure (no one has a 100% success rate if they are actually trying something new) then the people are quick to criticize and belittle the revolutionary thinker. At least that person is attempting change. And of course there are also systems enacted within systems that almost have a mission to prevent change. For the education system, it's the board of education. For government, it's the politicians and lobbyists.

I think it's time to show the country what better could look like. And this needs to start with getting the people informed that there is a problem. Perhaps I am the only one who believes there is a problem. That's fine, then I guess I'll use my voice and this blog to try to convince the people otherwise (without forcing my opinions on anyone of course). Obviously opinions of this nature don't really mean anything without action, but I hope this gets people thinking, which used to lead to action. And I do plan to take action. Just planning my first step of attack. But I think this blog is a decent start.