Monday, January 19, 2004

try a little pacifism...

while today isn't really MLK's birthday, it is being observed everywhere in the country except in my office. ok, so maybe that's not entirely true, but almost. i always find myself watching a lot of television around this time of year because it's the one time (aside from black history month) when a lot of interesting documentaries, biographies, etc. come out in support of the slain black pacifist leader and i absolutely love watching them. the man intrigues me and tugs at my heart with his tireless efforts to promote non-violence, peace and all things in between.

i'm one of the most non-violent people i know... ask c, she'll tell you. her tireless efforts at trying to convince me that we need a gun in our home to protect ourselves are cute but futile. we watched bowling for columbine the other day on dvd and it was really an eye-opening experience. i mean, we all know that guns are everywhere and that america has the largest number of gun-related deaths in the WORLD. but i never, in my life, ever imagined, that you could open a bank account in michigan and get a free gun. i mean, who the hell thought of it? some idiot sat there and said "i know! let's give 'em guns!"...??? that's about as stupid as the asshole who invented the 5 day work week. i mean, c opened an account the other day and got a george foreman grill! thankfully we don't live in michigan.

i suppose the point really isn't about the availability of guns, so much as it's about what people do with them. the movie highlights the fact that in canada, 70% of all households have guns, yet several cities haven't had gun-related deaths in decades, while others can only boast about one or two. what gives?

it doesn't make any sense. none of it.

what makes even less sense is charlton heston's initial response to mike moore's question about why americans are so violent. according to heston, it's because america has so many different ethnicities. go figure. why didn't i think of that one?

i wonder what kind of speech dr. king would come up with if he were alive today. not just because of the gun violence issues mentioned above, but also because of what the negrophile has adequately summed up to describe the state of black america well over 30 years after dr. king's death. it's quite disturbing to say the least.

happy birthday, dr. king.