After every mass shooting, my Facebook lights up with arguments about guns on social media.
Let's not anymore, OK?
First, and you know this: you're never going to change their mind. If a person's first response to the murder of 17 people in a high school is to defend the weapon, to "well actually" your grief and anger, to make sure you know that their right to own a gun is more sacrosanct than the lives of your kids, then that person is either too stupid or too morally bankrupt to have a conversation with. I know David Brooks disagrees with me, but he's a person whose opinion I can no longer be bothered with.
Much like Ms. It's Not Guns, It's Mental Illness. Ignore her (it's ok, she doesn't really give a shit about mental health care). She's beyond help.
There's a little dopamine rush that comes from these arguments, though. I know. I've had a million of them. And I know this is pretty rich coming from Ms. Shouting Down a Well, but I'm pretty sure Wayne LaPierre is delighted to have you expend your energy trying to expose the myriad logical fallacies coming from Mr. We Need to Arm The Teachers. Every argument you have with Ms.We Just Need To Enforce the Laws We Have, is one less argument you're having with someone who can actually do something about this.
The NRA is not powerful because of the money. Thinking that it's just the money kind of liberates us from responsibility, right? How can we, with our little incomes, hope to do battle against the billions coming from Big Gun.
But it's not the money. Big Gun isn't Big Pharma or Big Wall Street. Big Gun is successful because they've corralled a large, intractable, single-issue voting bloc. But, remember, while it is large and it is loud, there are more of us than there are of Mr. What's Next? Outlawing Cars.
So stop arguing with people on Facebook or Twitter. Rather, spend that energy letting your congressperson (via CALLING) know that you will never again vote for anyone who has more than an F rating from the NRA. I'm going to do it, and my senators and congresspeople already DO have F ratings from the NRA.
I'm not here to lambaste social media. I love social media. Keep on sharing great pieces like this or this. Follow, post, and retweet those amazing kids like Emma Gonzales who are ready to fight. Keep talking about the racial disparities in reporting on these things. Social media is a powerful organizing force. But it is not a place where minds are changed.
Look, you don't think Mr. But Chicago isn't calling Ted Cruz when the devils at the NRA gin him up about losing his guns? He is. And, you guys, I haaaaaaaate Mr. But Chicago. You have no idea the force of will it takes for me not to argue with Mr. But Chicago. But, I'm not gonna. Instead, I'll let some poor staffer for Dick Durbin know that this is the issue I care about this the most.
Hey! Did you guys know that the NRA PAC website has voter registration and polling place info on its front damn page.
Call your congress member and senators and ignore Mr. Good Guy With a Gun. And if you want that dopamine rush, remember this, ignoring that guy is going to irritate and frustrate him way more than any response you can give him. And that's fun!
Also, give money to Everytown, if you've got some.
