#GrassRootRile

[grassrootrile-blog]

Important

It’s important to remember that we aren’t experts. 

It’s important to remember that we cant possibly know someone’s intentions. 

It’s important to remember that in the end, we’re all still human. 

It’s important to remember that in the end, we all want a better world.

[grassrootrile-blog]

Making a Difference

I’ve taken notice of something that bothers me quite a bit.

As I go about my daily life trying to make a success of myself and prepare for my future, I paused a moment to look at the news, only to see people rioting again. 

Again. 

It could be over anything, from gun control, to LGBT, to Women’s rights and so on. But it seems that when people take offense or find issue with anything these days, the answer is always to riot. They always decide that the first thing to do is make signs and wave them along a road or at the White house.

What happened to actually being practical and logical? Last I checked if you want something accomplished, you take action. I know what you’re all thinking. “Peaceful riots are taking action.” They are in the defenition, an action yes, however they aren’t a practical one. 

America is about the freedom and speech and the right to have the freedom necessary for anyone to make a change. America was built on the idea that anyone could speak up and, with work, bring their ideas to fruition. With this in mind, why is it the first thing people turn to is rioting? If you take issue with something, do your research, understand your situation first and understand it from every angle. Know the truth of the situation and nothing but the truth, do not take things out of context or only see what you want to. Harsh facts are what push us to find solutions. Once you understand the issue, the next step is to help those in power understand it as well. Those who can help you make a difference. If I wanted something accomplished, I would do my research, then write up an essay, a proposal, or a bill, to present. People are allowed to go to and often take part in state meetings. Get signatures for your proposal, show that real people back your beliefs and want your ideas to flourish. If successful at getting it passed at state, you could continue on to press it at a national level, now possibly with the help of your state senate. Get more signatures, make a website. Display facts and help others understand the situation, make sound arguments based around logic and fact, not emotion.

This is how we, the people, speak. We as citizens are fully capable and are given the opportunities to make our ideas real. Yelling in a street with a sign will do nothing. And honestly rioting over ideas is so common these days, you’re more likely to be ignored for doing so. People are used to it, desensitized, and will no longer care. If you want to make a difference, then actually do something about it. Take the time and show that you have the maturity to find a real solution. The idea that someone would have enough bravery and dedication to take the proper steps in our political system would no doubt inspire others to do the same, which is what we need in America. We need people to be examples of what we want for this country. Open minded, confident, humble, logical but sympathetic, and goal oriented on creating a better future for the people that come after us. 

Thats my advice, and some food for thought. 

[grassrootrile-blog]

Gun Control

What a great way to start out my tumblr politics career. With a topic I know will rile up the crowd. But hey thats why its in my username. 

(For this purpose alone I will state I am American. And focus mostly on its politics.)

Tragically, in the past few years it feels like school shootings and gun violence has been at an all time high. Kids from school march in Washington and many give heartbreaking testimonies of what went down in whichever horrible situation they were unfortunate enough to be involved with. Their solution to these issues is to immediately look to the tool used to create these tragedies. They turn to gun control. 

There is no denying that guns give people the ability to kill at a far more efficient rate and are dangerous in the hands of the wrong people, however the statement I just made creates another point. In the hands of the wrong people. I am a strong believer in our constitution and look firstly to our second amendment rights. One of the beliefs america was founded on was the idea that people had the right to bear arms to protect themselves and their families. 

At this point you’ll assume i’m entirely against gun control, but this isn’t the case. I do believe in our right to bear arms, however the guns used in those shootings are often machine guns or weaponry that should only be available to our military. No one needs these kinds of firearms and I agree there should be a ban on these types of guns to the general public. That being said I still believe that basic firearms such as pistols, rifles, and shotguns should still be within legal permit to own. 

Why do I support this? Its for a few reasons that most of you will likely recognize and consider to be conservative views. While I can never truly imagine what it would be like to be in such a horrid situation as these kids have been put through, to the best of my ability, when I imagine being in their situation, the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that for miles, the only person with a weapon is the attacker. I am defenseless. And while people may scream for gun control, the fact is the black market exists. If you want to take away guns all together, bad people will still get them illegally. After doing some research I found that in many other cases of attempted shootings, they were often put to rest with little to no casualties when there was someone else wielding a firearm of their own. Usually an officer or someone trained and with a permit to carry a firearm concealed. These stories wont make the news due to the fact there was no tragedy and no chaos, which the media thrives off of. In the end I would much rather be prepared to fight back, then be stripped of my best defense. Because face it, the police only usually arrive after the crime is done, and by then, its too late.

This leads to my next point. I mentioned earlier that guns were the tools used when in the hand of the wrong people. I dont believe gun control to fully be the solution (Refer to my statement above about banning certain firearms). I believe a better solution lies in bettering the mental health of those in America and putting effort towards better prevention. While some are just mentally ill and cannot be reasoned with, a great number of shooters often take action based upon things like revenge. They are always trying to make some kind of desperate statement. 

How exactly do I propose we do this? It relies on a few factors.

First and foremost, people. The FBI and the Police cannot be everywhere at once and cannot monitor everything. Its up to people to report to them when we believe there is a possibility of a person being a danger to themselves or others. In today’s society political correctness often keeps people from doing such actions in fear people will chew them out for labeling others or mistaking one thing for another. People dont seem to remember that its okay to make mistakes, and its better to be safe then sorry.

Second. I hope to be teacher one day and i’m pursuing a career to do so. Its my firm belief that teachers play a far more important role then people understand. In middle school through highschool, which is one of the most developmental points in a person’s life, students will spend as much time if not more with their teachers as they would their parents. While there are some incredible teachers out there, I find the majority to be incredibly lacking, believing all they have to do is read the material, grade papers, and repeat. This is wrong. If kids spend that much time around their mentors, should it not be the responsibility of the teacher to get involved with their students? To take some time out to talk to them, get to know them, possibly help them with homework. While kids love their parents, assuming they are responsible ones, it can still be very hard to go to parents with a hard situation or openly admit to having an issue. A teacher has an obligation to be a role model, someone students can also look to for advice and good behavior. And in today’s society, abusive families are, sadly, very common. Should a kid need someone to go to for help, the next available person they see on a daily basis is their teacher. I truly believe that if teachers were to be better involved in the lives of their students, that there would be far less people growing up as unstable or distraught. Someone to step in for a student could make all the difference. With someone there to walk alongside students, more would grow up to lead healthy lives instead of growing up bitter and angry due to bullying, abusive family, or other factors. 

And lastly, better standards for gun owners. Anyone who wants to own a firearm has to go through a background check. However, things can change. Someone who might’ve had a clear record when buying their gun might commit a crime later. I think it would be prudent to have gun owners go through routine background checks once every two years or so as to prevent criminals from keeping firearms. It would also help to require background checks just to buy bullets. While it may cause someone an extra thirty minute wait, it would be well worth it to prevent bad people from getting ammunition. While i’ll admit i’ve not done my research on laws in regards to age and firearms, I think that it should be illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to own a firearm. Anyone under the age may use a firearm owned by their legal guardian under the agreement they will be supervised by said guardian or teacher.

These are my thoughts on gun control and what could possibly be done to prevent gun violence and the abuse of firearms. My final thought before closing this discussion is that a gun is an inanimate object. It cannot fire itself. Guns do not kill people, people kill people. So lets create better people.