My newsfeed came alive last night as I was making my way to pick up the Beats from school. Sitting in the car, I scrolled through the updates: 17 dead, suspect is known. All this morning, the newspapers are picking apart every detail about the 30th school shooting in 2018. The 10th deadliest mass murder in US history.
I wish shock and horror were emotions I could feel over such news that has become normal. That I didn't have to have discussions with my kids about lock-down protocols.
Like Juilette Kayyem, I'm tired of all of this. I'm tired of the fact that nothing is being done by our leaders to address a glaring problem.
But then again, our current leadership has made it clear they are only interested in themselves and their wallets. A generation of sociopaths at the helm who aren't able to turn the tide as it's completely against how they've lived their lives.
That's the thing with change: those that resist it tend to lose when the pain of not doing so becomes unbearable. Holding back the tidal wave becomes impossible. My hope is that tidal wave is coming, growing in strength and fierceness with each incident, lie and exposure. A hope that people will decide they've had enough, wanting to rebuild the bridges that were destroyed.
For now, all I can muster is sadness and numbness with the knowledge that we are now up to 30. And the empty words from those who are suppose to be doing something are falling on deaf ears.
You know the really sad part? Mostly I just feel like 'of course this happened'. Because time and time again, politicians have shown that they can't (or won't) do anything substantive to address these issues.
ReplyDeleteI really hope that the tidal wave is coming but these days, I find myself losing faith in that too.
There really are no words. Each time this happens, there are fewer words that mean anything. The shooter, how can someone feel so disconnected from others?
ReplyDeleteI get so discouraged when these things just keep on happening in the States, when they just don't happen in other countries where there are stricter gun control laws. I have to admit, though, those kids that I've seen on TV & on Twitter the last few days, are AMAZING, calling out the politicians' BS for what it is. And with all the shootings that keep happening there, there are going to be more & more pissed off survivors, as well as casualties. These kids are going to be voting soon. They will make their voices heard. They do give me hope.
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