The Way We Were

Remember how we're when we're kids....until that age we didn't know what worry is and what it means. Everything is taken care of by parents and grandparents, we just grew up, get used to parents, home, surroundings and don't need to do anything else.

(I can only speak for myself and friends who grew up along with me in a middle class upbringing. Anybody born into poverty or a broken home, might've experienced hunger or abusive parent very early.)

As we grow up slowly we wouldn't be worried ...but we come to know what money is and that few posses it more than us and few less than us. That might be one of the important things which we discover ourselves in our lifetime. It wouldn't be an epiphany, but a slow process.

Then we would be worried about homework, exams and movies which we couldn't go even though all our friends are going. As we get into teens, it's all about impressing the opposite sex. Then for the chosen few (from Indian perspective) girlfriend or boyfriend issues. Then study abroad / job search..

Few just cruised through, few worked hard and few struggled, but I didn't experience phenomenon by name frustration. That helpless feeling that sinks in when there's so many things in this world which're unjust and we can't do anything about it.

For me I guess the first thing (apart from personal things) which got me all worked up and frustrated was Iraq war. I couldn't get my head around thought that we can go to war with less powered nation for made up reason with clever media management and a bumper sticker 'war against terrorism'.

It took me years but I made peace with it, then the financial crisis, my immigration hassles and related issues. Then right wing group, their thinly veiled racism and their aversion to science, gender equality, social safety net and rise of batshit crazy people like sarah palin, michele bachmann, allen west et al. I've grievances with liberals also.

This frustration might vary from person to person, I can see why these bother me so much. The amount of time I spend reading the news, columns, listening and sometimes writing. I've been interested in reading since I was kid, but when you're 9 year old your focus will be about how things work. My initial interests were stories, astronomy, then slowly progressed into how things work, politics, movies, technology. I was interested about politics in India also, but that never caused frustration. What was missing then...which exists right now? I guess until I came to US, I only read how things're and how things work. I might not've read why is system flawed and who is benefiting from it.

I was never frustrated about any singular thing as I'm about gun control now. Even Visa hassles which gave me so much pain, didn't make me this frustrated. I already read and heard so much about guns  and culture even before the rampage of all these shootings. So nothing is really surprising to me. But after Sandy Hook there's scrutiny of NRA's process, which was missing before. The travesty in the name of second amendment protection is sickening.

How much NRA bullied politicians, influenced Gun regulation or lack thereof is mind boggling.

Tiahrt Amendment

Ban on CDC research on Gun Violence

Restrictions on ATF

No centralized database of guns

When you walk through an airport security, a shampoo bottle bigger than 3oz or grandma's medicine is a security risk. In the same country, in almost all the cities you can walk with concealed weapon or automatic weapon with minimal restrictions. It's like we live in two parallel worlds. Any form of gun control is considered as infringement of second amendment.

After Sandy Hook, I'd a breakdown on social networks, donated money to Gun Control advocacy groups, will donate again,  But I can't go to rallies cause of work. In the past, no matter what we did, NRA got the upper hand. Because they've a product to sell...and we oppose the product. They've a monetary cause, ours is safety/survival cause. That could be the reason they're winning. Same with Arizona and other states immigration laws. Private prison lobbied for AZ law as this law will keep the inmates coming to these prisons. As a bonus conservatives can rally the extreme right voters.

That feeling of loss isn't boding well with me and I really look back at days of those blissful innocence. The more we know, the more cynical we become. Information or facts are only useful when you can use them for our advancement or society upliftment. Information might be power, but ignorance is a bliss.

Is there any reason to be optimistic? So much money poured into last election to defeat Obama. Koch brothers had spent almost 400 Million USD, Adelson spent another 100 Million and all those SuperPACs. But Obama prevailed. I'm not saying he's messiah or anything...he's just another politician. But money can't buy all the elections, that's one of the takeaways from last general election.

I hope common sense will prevail over money in Gun Control fight also. The stake are high, it's our next generation lives.