Last Monday, Hell came to Connecticut. On a quiet street in a quiet subdivision of a quiet town, the boundary was crossed between civilization and anarchy.
Two Devils came through the basement doors at 3:00 AM and wreaked havoc. We all know by now what was done to that upstanding family by the agents of Darkness.
Like many of us, I've been trying to make some sense of these events, and to figure out some way to keep the same thing from happening to my family. But we have a problem. We have developed a veneer of civilization. We try to teach our kids to "be nice." We try to behave ourselves. We cross with the light. We pay our insurance. We get our teeth cleaned. Somehow, we think we will live long and productive lives.
There is no protection against chaos.
We don't even know what might constitute protection against chaos.
Except maybe guns. Big guns. Problem there is, are we too civilized to use them? With guns, if you hesitate, the bad guy grabs it, and you are up the creek without a paddle. Or, in this case, without a gun.
What I'm trying to ask is, have we lost the primitive instinct that enables us to strike first in time of danger? Or do we hesitate, not really believing the two cretins who have crawled into our house and threatened dire consequences really mean it. We hesitate to dial 911, even, let alone get the gun in time and fire it in time. That moment of hesitation is our undoing.
I guess what I'm trying to say, in my usual erudite manner, is we are no longer savages, so when savagery enters our lives, we have no defense. It seems that our choices are to eliminate savagery in our society, or to revive it within ourselves.
So which is the lesser of the two evils?
I've thought about this before Ronni. I think that brief moment when the civilized person pauses... just briefly, to think "this can't be happening"... that's all it takes. Don't know the answer (as usual).
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I've been thinking.
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if a year of military training for everyone on graduation from high school might be a good thing. I always hated the idea of a draft, but that was back when Viet Nam was at the end of it.
Switzerland does that, and they don't fight.
Well Ronni our generation was brought up to be nice. If we weren't we had the fear of GOD and dad's belt put into us. the goverment has taken away the right to control our children..there is no fear in most young adults these days, and absoulutly no respect for thier elders. our society has spawned the devil's seeds..and this is the kind of things that happen because there is no control.and when there is no fear in these people, you simply cannot protect yourself..they have never been punished and they are fearless which makes them all the more dangerous. and as far as guns go? the problem there is if you don't learn how to use it well, it's sensless because the person attacking you could get it and use it against you..if you get one you must be prepared to USE it not just show it..most decent people will hesitate.. I don't think we've lost the primitive instinct..it was bred OUT of our generation..problem is our kids have reverted to the primitiveness of neanderthals! I'm sorry if i sound cynical, but i've just seen to much crap lately.. our eighteen year old told his father the other day and i qoute "what i do is none of your (@#&%#&$@&^@!&!&!^@& ) business,i'm eighteen and i can do what ever i want now!" Now mind you this is an honor student, top 10 in his class,and highest average in "social studies" straight A kid...and he lives off us! in OUR home still paying no rent and running the streets now..he NEVER did this kind of stuff till he turned eighteen go figure!..and the funny thing is we trusted him and gave him a lot of freedom..not TOO much mind you but as long as we knew where he was, we would even let him go to parties we knew might serve liquor and just asked that IF he imbibed please call us!..of course funny thing is i think that actually kept him from drinking we took the fun out of it! lol..he doesn't drink or smoke either..so tell me why has he grown into such a nasty young man now???..(there's more but i digress)I guess my point is no matter how hard we try once they know they can get away with stuff they turn..goodness my father would have backhanded me!..and i wouldn't have thought of it as abuse...hell no i would have deserved it!..and maybe your right about military school..but then agian the things they teach them can turn a bad kid into a really good killer..so i guess it could be good or bad. I just want to throw my hands up and run away to the mountains somewhere and never see anyone again go live on my own!..i'm so tired of having to deal with sensless crap..this world just isn't the same anymore..
ReplyDeleteoh yeah and by the way...I do own a gun and i have used it..grew up surrounded by them,(police and FBI in my family and i KNOW they would be mad to see me post this! lol)and have a healthy fear of guns,but not in the way you would think lol..the problem is i WOULD use it LOL. and not even be bothered if i had to kill someone to stop them from killing me or my loved ones,but i do take precautions because there is a kid in the house..i keep it locked up..and he has no idea i even have it. kids are too curious. and he is NOTHING like me..
ReplyDeleteI think we are all saying pretty much the same thing, as far as that moment of hesitation goes.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that you and I, knowing what we know, are less likely to hesitate? I've thought about it, and I believe it would depend on the circumstances. If someone were breaking into my house, obviously a "bad guy", I think (hope) there would be no quibbles. But what about at the mall, or the grocery store, or the library, etc? We've been indoctrinated for so long to be nice. I have to wonder.
ReplyDeleteI think that if you handle stress well your probably less likely to hesitate..if you were sheltered when young probably more likely to hesitate.i could be wrong,but this is only my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAs for eliminating the savagery in our society or reviving it..well if you eliminate it ( which would be next to impossible unless it was genetically bred out) would be the lesser of the two evils..reviving it would just make things worse because then we would probably fight about everything! right now our society is somewhere in the middle and for the most part i think balances itself. But after all we ARE humans, not computers,and we often do things we shouldn't, i think we all have at one time or another.
I pick reviving the savagery. If people shot criminals more often, they might think twice before breaking into peoples houses. There would at least be fewer repeat offenders. I must be uncivilized, I've never had the "this can't be happening" thought, and I've been in several situations where I likely should have. I don't know, but I keep a dagger under my pillow; if anyone comes in my window I'll stab first and ask questions later.
ReplyDeleteThat's my girl!
ReplyDeleteAll I know is, when we get our gun, and we will (along with licenses, of course), if some scum of the earth bastard breaks into my house and threatens MY family, there won't be any hesitation. I'll shoot to kill. No questions asked, no pause to think. And if the SOB is on my doorstep, I'll drag the body inside so it looks like I shot him there. This IS Texas, after all.
ReplyDeleteThat's my girl!
ReplyDelete