Here are some powerful words from our niece, Ann – I was in high school when Columbine occurred in 1999.  I started college in 2001 and then 9/11 happened. The Virginia Tech shooting occurred in 2007.  A year later, there was a shooting at my husband’s school, Northern Illinois University. He was on campus on Valentine’s Day, 2008 when a shooter walked in and killed 5 people in a lecture hall. For Sandy Hook in 2012, I was a mom and have been for every school shooting since then

Clearly I don’t know the answer on how to fix the gun problem, or the mental health problem, or the hate problem, but much of it seems to be a uniquely American problem. 

Across the board our (collective American) priorities are wacked. The pressure on American families is through the roof. It’s a hustle culture with overconsumption as the fuel.  There are two working parents in most homes trying to keep up with rising costs of basic living. This has been the case for me since I married in 2008. Those with any extra disposable income are outsourced to death trying to enrich their kids with activities and sports that formerly came naturally in neighborhoods and local parks. 

People are living way beyond their means, building pressure inside the home. Parents are stressed, over worked, underpaid, sick and depressed. I hate to say it’s the breakdown of the American family because that is usually used as a politically charged statement, but … We have grown so much as a country and we now really do celebrate so many varieties of families. Unfortunately, there is little or no support for them. 

In so many ways, American life has become a joke. American healthcare (as privileged as I am to be here) is a joke; insurance is a joke; childcare is a joke; maternity leave is a joke; FMLA is a joke; gun laws are a joke; the Department of Child and Family Services is a joke; WIC is a joke.  Our public schools, our school boards and our city halls have become jokes.  Many of our churches have become jokes. As we watch on the big screen, our highest government offices in our state capitols and Washington DC are also a series of jokes. 

Some kids out there are fighting for their lives socially, emotionally and physically. It doesn’t seem to matter. To make it extra special, we give our kids the technology to access it all, and put it in their hands.  We kiss them goodbye in the morning and expect that things will work out OK. 

I hope our gun laws change in a way that will benefit our society. But I also hope our society changes fundamentally to benefit our future.  If not, what do we have?

 

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Addendum:

• Ann originally wrote this in response to a post I’d made on Facebook about the recent school shooting in Georgia. She was writing in response to the deaths at the school, but also because of the utter neglect the 14 year-old shooter had received from his family and the systems that should have been in place to help him. Her words were as powerful as anything I’ve heard in a while, particularly in comparison to the talking heads on TV from both sides. Thanks for having the courage to speak up Ann. We love you. 
• I’ve written a couple of other blog about Gun violence. You can read them here: 
  • There was no urgency to write this blog. I knew another mass shooting would happen sooner or later. I didn’t have to tie it to Buffalo or California. The next shooting would come along soon enough. I wasn’t disappointed. Texas happened this past […] Continue at: https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2022/05/29/guns-and-murica/
  • In light of the recent 4th of July mass killings in Highland Park , I’ve been rethinking Steven Stills classic song, ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’. “Find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground. Mother earth will swallow you, lay your body down” […] Continue at: https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/07/the-cost-of-freedom/
  • I was invited by the Brady Organization to speak at the End Gun Violence Rally on the National Mall yesterday. This was in conjunction with the 2022 DC March for our Lives today.  Here are my words … My Name is Max Hall. I am a graduate of West Point and Veteran of the United States Army. I would also point out that I am a gun owner […] Continue at: https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2022/06/11/speaking-out-on-gun-violence/