BAT-RABBIT @bat-rabbit - Tumblr Blog

if u want a neutered, moralistic, traditionalist, pure pride, free from deviants or unsavory sexuality, may i suggest going to the bank of america and quietly observing one of the rainbow flags they put in the window for the month?

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the gun violence debate in america is probably the most annoying topic in current political discourse because even the most “progressive” voices you are able to hear in the mainstream are incredibly reactionary and short sighted.

first and foremost, everyday violence is a function of poverty, patriarchy, and bigotry. which makes it uniquely capitalist. the popular form of physical violence in the united states happens to be guns. they’re loud and messy and difficult to ignore, but at best, removing guns from the equation would only change the form which the violence takes, and at worst it would create more structural forms of violence.

the line that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” is 100% correct. to direct your entire focus on a symptom of the violence and to disregard the question of “why are so many poor people, women, and people of color in america killed” is irresponsible. it also works to obscure the forms of institutional violence which are even more omnipresent in american life. how many poor people, women, and people of color face the violence of a broken and prejudiced healthcare system, or school system, or work force? very real violence can sometimes be silent, and to completely ignore how violence is directed along the lines of marginalized identities in national debates about violence is insulting.

the other major problem with attempting to solve gun violence with legislation is with the bigoted law enforcement and justice system. gun laws are already unfairly enforced upon black and brown communities. poc are slapped with ridiculous sentences for having an unregistered glock so they don’t get shot going to get groceries. meanwhile the white suburbanites with an arsenal of assault weapons and a 20 year old kid who is currently writing a manifesto about starting a race war are family friends with half of the police department. especially if your focus is on school shootings, where 99% of the time the perp is seen as a “quiet, soft spoken white boy who got good grades”, you would be a fool to think that the police are in any way willing or capable of enforcing laws upon them.

violence is always and everywhere an exertion of power and domination. in a capitalist system where power is massively unequally distributed, violence, in many different forms, is an inevitable and constant force upon certain populations. if your critique of gun violence does not include a comprehensive critique of capitalist modes of organization then it is worthless.