Volume 6, Issue 8
Why?
Because we focus only on identities and not national identity.
Governance has never been easy. There has never been a time in history when there wasn’t conflict and concern about priorities of, and participation in, the power of government. Yet, throughout history, the success or failure of any kingdom, government, or republic depended upon at least minimal agreement, by the people governed, on a common identity. Compromise and progress was achieved at times through sacrifice to maintain principles of our common uniqueness. It is one thing to stand on principle in reference to one’s personal identity. And it is quite another to exploit that same principle in disrespect of common cultural identity.
Los Angeles is a distinctly representative city of diverse identities. Fifty percent of the residents are immigrants or the children of first generation immigrants. This population encompasses over thirty nations. Its history includes horrid urban riots. Assimilation of races has followed the path of incursion.
Yet today, Los Angeles survives with economic hope. Part of this prosperity is a result of its deep-water port and the water borne imports entering the country through the L.A. harbor. Los Angeles is the port of entry to the United States from the Pacific Rim. Wealth does provide paving for the needs of a society. However, no amount of prosperity can, in and of itself, provide the ultimate solutions to the problems facing people without the respect and reference for the objective of common identity.
Eric Garcetti, the current mayor of Los Angeles, is cognizant of the desires of the immigrant mix of his city. He is quoted as saying, “People do want a national identity. We are not an ethnic nation, but a civic nation.” As a Democrat, he warns his party’s national leadership to speak more to the identity of America rather than to her identities. It’s rather ironic that one of the most diverse society of cultures, recently steeped in their own national identities, instinctively seeks an American identity as a blend.
What mistakes are continuing to be made?
Parkland, Florida High School Tragedy
Words cannot possibly describe the immeasurable loss. Young high school students, beaming with aspirations, lost in their prime in a place deemed safe. We grieve as a nation. We seek ways to support and relate to our fellow parents and citizens. We feel bereavement in our destitution for lack of a reasonable explanation. The cause, if in fact it can be quantified, is as complicated and multi-level as the disposition of the disturbed human being who perpetrated the crime. Gun control is part of the solution, but by no means is it the total solution. Mental health, isolated adolescents, and interpersonal relationships in a social media age must also be addressed.
There are levels of gun control now. The manufacture of automated weapons, available to the public, has been banned since 1984. To own a prior existing automatic weapon requires a Class 3 license. This process involves a more thorough background check, finger prints, and a passport photo. Perhaps semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 should be also restricted. Another idea is to raise the age limit on the purchase of any firearm.
Second Amendment advocates are fearful that the ultimate goal of the government is to ban the possession of all firearms. Any attempt to restrict qualified purchases and possession is feared to be just one more step to restrict Second Amendment rights. It’s important to remember that it is estimated that there are 300 million firearms in private control in the United States today. Any major changes in the laws will take at least a generation to realize the intended effect.
Recently, a United States Senator was accused by a citizen of having complicity in the murders simply because he took a campaign contribution from the National Rifle Association. The comment was devastating to him personally. Of course, emotions are raw. What is required is debate on policy which addresses the multitude of causal issues in reference to common values and historic Constitutional mandates.