War Like a whale, is all consuming

Everything fits into its mesh mouth …

The bullet is a beast, as are we

Our invisible battles

are the hardest to win. . .

by Amanda Gorman, excerpted from her poem;  War: What, Is It Good?

from her book Call Us What We Carry

Oddly there is an uptick in gun sales reported to persons at the left of center in supposed response to the violence surrounding immigration enforcement American cities. This writer has expressed his concerns in a previous post entitled: Good and the Armed Amygdala.  Guns have a mysterious magnetism. One gun draws more guns and one shot inspires ten.  Death on either end of this undocumented “physics of death” is a tragedy. From the first shot, we begin the slide toward an urban guerrilla war.  No one wins.

Modest suggestion for Good

The most effective means of resistance we may have is, as citizens, to buy nothing but essentials and connect with neighbors to reestablish a peaceful existence. The good strategy certainly is not to buy a shiny new lethal weapon. Profits and wealth from arms sales are the opposition’s oxygen. Taking a life, any life, will change your life forever and almost certainly not for the good.  Unless you are a battle tested armed forces person, or a trained police officer you probably don’t really know what to do with a lethal weapon under stress. Commit to unarmed resistance.  Gandhi defeated the most well armed, colonial power in the world with salt strikes and steady pushback.  India’s men and women like you walked in line totally vulnerable to be beaten down with clubs or even shot until evil itself was sickened by the task of mutilating the innocent.  Please don’t feed the arms industry but rather use your resources to feed the movement to justice and peace.  That would be good.