February 18th, 2018

Personally all for waiting periods on gun purchases. And not having lay people running around public places with automatic or semi-automatic weapons. I also believe people have the right to form a militia that could actually stand up to their government. Now let me return to the liberal side of the line you have imagined in your mind as you try to figure out which side I'm on. But first let me mention I believe in circles, not lines, in upward spirals and concentric circles, nested systems and butterfly effects. And I believe police could do their job with tazers goo guns that instantly wrap those up to no good in a spider-web like substance that incapacitates them without harming them. I believe in organic, co2-sequestering farms instead of prisons for nearly all offenders. I have this idea for an organic farm that uses the type of holistic practices for getting more CO2 safely embedded in the soil that could actually address global warming better than cutting emissions (which I am all for because ew, pollution,) and far more effectively eliminating cattle (because we can do this faster if we don't ask people to give up hamburgers yet,) and this farm would be operated by people paid a living wage and would focus on hiring those either undergoing or coming out of incarceration. There would be a farm-to-table cafe operated by people with various special needs and barriers to employment and on site housing where people could get their healthcare and meeting regularly with friends, peer support and professional mentors. If someone was late for work, it would be easy to knock on their door. If something wasn't "right" with them, people close to them would know and get them help without delay. There would also be fields that would grow local sustainable fibers and a textile creation center also staffed by those who may not fit in the box. Additionally there would be a fashion boutique where designers and makers of clothing could use these local fibers to clothe people in chemical-free, locally grown attire that would be cute and filled with love. Oh, and there would be a Farmacy with evidence and indigenous-based herbal remedies and holistic health practitioners including doctors, acupuncturists, EFT practitioners and nutritional therapists. You could get chelation, detox in a natural dry sauna or take any number of movement and yoga classes, sign up for a poetry workshop, a coaching group or a potluck cohort. Because we know from the Roseto study that connection is the ultimate source of heart health, and the data showing that a sense of belonging is essential mental and emotional health, as well as immune function is without a doubt, formidable.

I am probably best described as a socialist libertarian. I think we could pretty easily create a world where not everyone has to work and the focus could be on joyful living and contribution-based sharing economies. Ubuntu Contributionism is the name for the ideal version of this reality. In the mean time, I think everyone deserves to have a roof over their head, clean drinking water, wholesome food, and the kind of healthcare designed to produce health rather than manage disease without addressing root causes. Of course sick people deserve the care they need. That goes without saying. Except that I guess it doesn't since not everyone agrees. I'm just saying, a world where studies focus on what produces health rather that what makes certain companies profit is the best way to go. And the model for care delivery needs to account for human beings in context since we don't live our lives in a goddamn petri dish. I believe everyone has a right to quality education - not public brainwashing using textbooks published to create docile citizens who get used to being spoon fed "messages," rather than empowered ones who are curious, compassionate, connected and capable of simultaneous collaboration and critical thinking!  Wow! So that's the kind of socialism I'm 100% ALL FOR.

On the libertarian side, I think the only "things" that need strict regulation are the corporations and those who could potentially stand to profit by exploiting the vulnerble - in my book, all businesses ought to be accountable to society and not just shareholders. I love the idea of a triple bottom line company or a B Corp. But it doesn't go far enough. The idea of a social business is a better model.  Does the company produce a product or service that blesses all life in the way it is made, the way it is distributed and the impact it has on those who consume it? Only corporations that make their $ on doing good for people and planet ought to legally be allowed to operate in my book. But of course until human consciousness agrees uniformly with me, even if legally that were made so, those with nefarious agendas would no doubt find black markets or create them in which to exploit those with a gripe, a fear or a lust for power. Which brings me back to the issue of gun control. Let's say reasonable regulations are applied. Someone who hates the world enough to pre-plan a mass shooting will find a way around reasonable parameters. You'd have to go far into the land of burning the constitution to make it hard for them to get a shooting gun and even then, they might figure out something else. Reasonable gun control might prevent some mass killings but probably not all. Viruses evolve. If we don't address the immune system of society, at best we'll have bandaid. Which could be good if it saves student and teacher lives. And could be bad if it hides internal bleeding and makes us think we're okay when we're not. A docile, disarmed society that has not also become a critically thinking, empowered one that is educated and has a functional democracy where the will of the (critically thinking and compassionately acting) population is represented in the decisions of elected officials is a recipe for a disaster. Evidence says this is not even close to what we have now. All the futzing with elections, the corruption within both mainline parties and the allegations of collusions in nearly every regulatory agency lead me to believe that having the government take away gun rights could indeed result in a police state. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you like. I don't really care. What I care about is getting good people from all walks of life and political persuasion together around solutions that  work. This can include bipartisan political moves as well as grass roots stuff. I think the grassroots efforts are the key. Where neighbors meet and people from different walks of life realize that while we all want to be safe and happy, we also want to be free and healthy. We can be all these things if we drop our ideological commitments ask about our real goals and start brainstorming outside the conventional menu options served up by those who need for us to stay divided in order for them to control and dominate.

I've looked into 3 areas where I think liberals and conservatives could work together apart from who wins on the issue of how much gun control is the right amount:

There are three main areas: 1) people taking anti-depressants need close monitoring for side effects that can include out of control behavior, homicidal ideation and aggressiveness/hostility. 2) We need to work systemically to address those at risk for alienation/isolation/loneliness/trauma/misogyny/racism/patriarchy that could lead to feeling disenfranchised enough to hate the world and feel entitled to kill. We need to nurture the hearts of young men and give them ways to foster honor and self-worth through service 3) we need to ensure all public water supply is free of lead, which Harvard research links to murder. People write me off on this since it's not in gas anymore but our town/city found unacceptably high lead levels in the school drinking water of several of its "challenged" school districts last year. Looking at the role of over vaccination and the impacts of aluminum adjuvants would also be good to explore. I'm all for reasonable gun control, but these would address root causes with long term positive results.