Burrr. We are leaving Costa Rica in the morning and returning to Arkansas. I am looking forward to getting back in my wood shop. Even though it will be very cold when we get back to Arkansas, a warm fire in the wood shop will make things just right. Did you know that the engagement of the hands is a primary means through which to sustain mental health? Ask any artist how they feel when they are engaged in their work. I can tell you from my own personal experience how it feels to be away from the shop for some time and then to feel a renewed rush of neurohormonal response. Some have called these "creative juices." And we have become idiots and psychopathic by neglecting hands on learning in our nation's schooling.
Do you think I'm kidding? Gun violence in schools has risen in direct proportion to the decline in wood shop and the arts.
And as I arrive back in he US from this peaceful haven, I come home with some anger seething. I am tired of living in a nation of idiots, and since I'm not going anywhere but home I vow my best efforts to make changes in our nation's schools.
In the meantime, one of the public responses to the killings in Arizona has been a dramatic increase in Glock sales, as that particular brand of hand gun was used to kill 6 and injure a number of others including Congresswoman Giffords. Can someone please explain to me why that should not be considered a completely morbid response? As these new Glock owners hold their weapons, do they feel some perverse connection with the killer's horrific acts? If there is one thing worse than being a nation of idiots, it just may be that a nation of angry well armed idiots takes the cake. Make, fix, create. Real men don't need firearms to prove a point.
I've always felt like its not the gun other countries have them but the culture we have developed into in which makes the difference. we live in a culture of violence. we worship the gun in some perverse cult of national identity. we have clubs dedicated to making sure everyone owns one. As a nation we have people pushing to have guns be something someone walks around with in public. Its almost like we have taken a step back towards the wild west days of the 1800s. I have no issue with people owning guns its their right to do so. However somehow we are being taught the wrong idea about them and that should change. its ingrained in our lexicon and language. I'm not sure what the answer is but I know there is something wrong.
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