Repost

From a comment stream on my Facebook, because it is on my heart this morning.  This comes from comments related to the recent mass shootings in CO and CA...

There are a couple of things I think you miss from, at least my comments, Dan. 

I do not think this is going to blow over. I do not think this is related to guns and gun control. The CA shooting is going to be one of two things, terrorism or mass murder. Both are perpetrated by sick people, though not necessarily in the clincial sense. 

If it is terrorism, then the reality is that gun control is of dubious impact to controlling the factors that need to be managed to control terrorism. It is a different kind of sick, with a different kind of support and characteristic. 

If it is a mass shooting, like Colorado Springs, then gun control, especially around the arena of mental health and at risk individuals may actually be very effective. 

But, it still predicates on identification and intervention. Just like terrorism, someone has to intervene, has to say something. The capacity of humans to harm humans is limitless. I can say that with absolute certainty and expertise, as my entire career has been to respond to the infinite ways in which humans can inappropriately interact with equipment and machinery. When you take that infinite capacity, and overlay it with the infinite variance of response of the humans impacted, there is no limitation on what is possible.

What is true is that we have a responsibility to do what we can, and that does not stop at new laws or legislation. We are going to have to become much more interested in the world around us, report on things that are not what we expect. We are going to have to renew our trust in law enforcement. We are going to have to demand care from medical professionals, not just treatment. We are going to have to fix our systems of service so that the cracks are not large enough to allow people to fall through them. 

And we are going to have to admit that sickness does not just happen to our respiratory or circulatory systems, but also our mental systems. We are going to have to help people, not ostracize people. We are going to have to put an end to race baiting and false alarm over futile claims. We are going to need to do these things, and do them as a whole. We are not now, and we are bleeding and dying. The instinct to gut respond is so large, and that has been our only response all along. We need to engage our intellect, our reason, and all the tools at our disposal. Because sacrificing rights and long term freedoms has never resulted in greater safety, just greater tension.

SO, those were the comments I left this morning.  I am not an expert on the statistics or the provision of mental health care.  But, I am so deeply entwined in medical care for other conditions for myself and for those so close to me, I can tell you that the medical system is a completely broken system.  In many ways it rivals law enforcement.  We have no choice but to rely upon it, but we have convinced ourselves, in large measure, that it is so deeply flawed that it is untrustworthy.

I do not think that is necessarily true.  I do not think that anyone can be what we expect from law enforcement or medical professionals.  We expect that they are flawless and wise, in all situations, free of error and bias.  That is a completely and utterly unsustainable standpoint.  These are people, in roles that interact with people.  It is multiplying infinity times infinity when you calculate outcome and potential.  When it is in the areas of safety and illness, almost all the outcomes are tinged with bad and suffering.  That is no winning combination, and we have allowed the marginal nature to destroy our faith in the systems.

The response to that, and the litigation culture that has arisen from it, just magnify the problem.  I find ambulance chaser, personal injury lawyers abhorrent, but it is not their fault.  It is our fault.  We have not stood up to the foolishness and danger, as a people.  You cannot hold a county or city responsible for the actions of a person, or we have to do that whole heartedly and hold people responsible for people too.  Parents and family members that are privvy to the state and disbalance of individuals, that do not report or act, must be liable at the same level, correct?

That is the dichotomy that is driving the wedge in our systems and responses.  There is a place for gun control that needs to be explored.  There is a place for criminal liability and complicity that needs to be explored.  There is a place for terrorism prevention and surveillance that needs to be explored.  But, we will never legislate the right response, before we train and educate the right response.

But, up front, it comes down to us, first and foremost.  Don't let people in your circle spiral into the maelstrom of their folly, without reaching out.  I am not speaking superiorly, or as one that is judging.  It has happened to me, at the closest and most personal level possible, and I did not do anything about it.  I watched it for 24 years, and never put the right information together, to draw the right conclusions, to prevent the ultimate tragedy.  And, I, and my family, pay the price for that every day.  I feel guilt for it, but, I can't take it back, change it or otherwise improve it.

There is not and will not be any action I can take now, that will change that going forward.  Most importantly, I should be doing something for others.  I am taking that learning on board, and I am working on how that looks, but this is the first step.  Look around you, learn now what are the norms and practices of those you interact with.  Major shifts or changes that occur due to stimullus and not learning require intervention.  Want to know the best law improvement we can make?

Add to our cannon of laws this simple command, love others as you would be loved.  Instead of wondering should you get involved, ask yourself if you would want someone to get involved if it was you.  If the answer to that question even feels like yes, reach out.  Don't be afraid, reaching out has never destroyed a relationship.  Inappropriately continuing to drive can be damaging, but we are going to have to start being willing to have others perturbed with us, to ensure we care for their condition.  And, if they are inappropriately enraged with you for legitimate questions and concerns, that is a huge, unmistakable clue as well.

Love does not mean accord, understanding or synchronicity, it means limitless understanding and compassion.  In that regard, sometimes it means tension and struggle.  But, I would rather have someone struggling with me, than dead.  And I would rather have tension, then a permanent silence in answer to questions that will never come.  We become offended because others express doubt as to our decisions and approach, because we have almost subsumed the idea that we are entitled to every kind of foolishness under the sun.  That is the false image of American liberty.

It is not okay to have every idea.  It is not okay to have every approach.  That is why we have a canon of laws.  But, long before laws are broken and large numbers of people are hurt, there is the moments of personal interaction.  We have failed to teach ourselves and learn the intricacies of personal interaction, so that we can accordingly act, is becoming more and more deadly as a whole.

It will never be easy or clean.  That is part of the multiplying infinity by infinity.  But, it is well worth the effort and work.  The outcome if you do not is permanent, inalterable and always damaging to everyone involved.  There are always, always better ways to deal with and work through things.  

GLYASDI