I think of it as The Fool's Journey. I've been asked who the "fool" is. It's me, but in the classical sense of the court jester. Only the fool was allowed to tell the king of his follies. All cartoons are available as prints or originals, framed or unframed, through my website or e-mail. For mugs, t-shirts, and other products visit my gift shop at www.zazzle.com/jcrowtherart* (be sure to include the *).
Life continues to present us with the same challenges over and over, as individuals and a society, until we learn the lesson. And then we move on to the next challenge.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:21 AM
I think of it as The Fool's Journey. I've been asked who the "fool" is. It's me, but in the classical sense of the court jester. Only the fool was allowed to tell the king of his follies. All cartoons are available as prints or originals, framed or unframed, through my website or e-mail. For mugs, t-shirts, and other products visit my gift shop at www.zazzle.com/jcrowtherart* (be sure to include the *).
Artist, writer, filmmaker, actor. Wrote "The Evil That Men Do" starring Charles Bronson. "Missing in Action" starring Chuck Norris. Performed one-man play "Einstein" off-Broadway and in Europe. Tours US with "Meet Mr. Wright," his one-man play about Frank Lloyd Wright. Art exhibitions in Italy and U.S. His work as a cartoonist has been seen in MAD magazine. Illustrated the children's books "How the Waif Bunny Saved the Boy" and "The Man In the Red Bandana" about his nephew Welles Crowther, a hero of 9/11, written by his niece, Honor Crowther Fagin, Welles's sister. Author of novel "Firebase," published in UK by Constable and US by St. Martins Press. For many years an avid student and reader of Tarot. Performs weddings as a Los Angeles County Deputy Commissioner of Civil Marriage.
21 Comments:
from the NY Times:
"Virginia imposes few restrictions on the purchase of handguns and no requirement for any kind of licensing or training."
Both guns had the serial numbers filed off.... meaning the high likelihood that the guns were obtained illegally.
As a non-citizen, the gunman would not have been allowed to buy a gun legally.
I'm afraid this incident underscores the notion that tighter restrictions on guns will simply mean that only criminals will have guns. And they will still get them.
If one student on that campus had been carrying his own gun, I'll bet many fewer lives would have been lost.
That said, I feel compelled to add that I do think semiautomatic weapons SHOULD be outlawed.
I'm an unabashed liberal, and a gun owner. I too have felt that gun control just means the weapons get into the wrong hands, but I don't want to start a debate about gun laws, and whether it would have been better if students had been permitted to "pack." (There is a counter argument that allowing anyone to walk around with a gun might have pushed the death toll higher.) My concern isn't specific legislation, but deeper issues about the violent and hotly contentious culture we live in, reflected in movies, on TV, the music, the kind of cars we drive, talk radio, and so on. Pizza Hut continues to air its disgusting commercial where a guy whoops in delight because he thinks he cheated the delivery boy out of a couple of bucks. 'Nuf said.
It's BECAUSE of this kind of maniacal culture that I firmly support stronger gun laws. I have no doubt that you, John are a responsible gun owner. But when I witness the mindless disregard for human life in this country it really frightens me to think how easily one can create such carnage from the ready purchase of a deadly weapon. I love your cartoons and your erudite commentary but here I have to disagree with you. American citizens are too immature in general to bear the responsibility of such power.
At the risk of turning this into an argument about gun control, I feel compelled to point out that the gunman was NOT an American. He was South Korean. He obtained those guns illegally; something criminals will continue to do even if guns were outlawed altogether.
One of the first things my husband did when he became a citizen was buy a gun. But it is locked up, and I've never even held it. The only time I've ever held a gun was when a friend gave me a ride home, and I reached into the glove compartment of his car while helping him try to find his keys and pulled out a gun. He thought my shock at doing so was funny, and he told me his wife carried a gun in her purse. At the time I thought it bizarre, but now I wish he had been on that campus. There would not be as many people dead if he had been.
A few months ago I read a newspaper article about an ordinance passed in a city in Florida that allowed people to carry guns. The crime rate in that city dropped dramatically.
Just because it is legal to carry a gun does not mean that everyone WILL carry a gun. But I bet some of these lunatics that mow down groups of people might think twice before they attempted it if they thought that even ONE person might have a gun.
Criminals like that gunman prey on the weak and helpless, like the cowards that they are. I do not believe the answer is to make the masses even easier prey. I think the answer is to empower them. Cowards fear powerful people.
Good point Kate! I realize he wasn't an American citizen but he lived here long enough to be influenced by our culture. I suppose I am a coward...I fear being shot...and not just from criminals but more so by some ignorant fool that mishandles a deadly weapon. I sincerely believe the world would be a safer place without guns.
John... I have been trying to make a comment... but the program won't let me post. Maybe it was too long... Any ideas?
After Martin Bryant ploughed down 36 innocent men women and (yes) children at Port Arthur in 1996... the australian government reformed the country's gun laws... banned semi automatic weapons (hand guns were already illegal)... and brought in tough licensing laws for the few firearms that were left. Has it worked? Who knows... we haven't had another Martin Bryant come along... but who knows what the future may hold.
The really odd thing that occurred to me at the time was that with all the gun reform going on... no one even thought twice about banning restricting or sensoring video games, movies, and television shows which promote violence (some of it mass) against innocent people. On any given night of the week the collective psyche is pummelled with a plethora of blood and violence. I guess people watch it... but do we know at all exactly WHO is watching it... and what kind of desensitizing effect the constant violence is having on those of unsound mind... (and there are plenty). Violence on television is a mental health issue which isn't to my knowledge even being acknowledged let alone addressed.
It might have been a good point, thanks, but I was incorrect. He DID buy the guns legally. It seems gun legislation differs from state to state, and in Virginia as long as one is over 21, and in the country legally, it is legal to purchase a gun. And, yes, that's insane.
But I think it is an oversimplification to blame his actions on American culture.
Although I will freely acknowledge that we live in a society that glorifies violence, it is not American culture that is causing the rise in radical Islamic fundamentalism which calls for the death of all "infidels" (any non-Muslim), the genocide in Darfur, or which gave rise to Nazi Germany.
But these kinds of atrocities have occurred throughout human history. Have you ever read the violence committed by the different tribes of Barbarians; the Huns, Mongols, Vikings and Vandals, just to name a few? How in the 15th century the man whom the legends of Dracula are based on, Vladimir Dracul, impaled thousands of his enemies and left them hanging, no doubt to intimidate his people. The lucky ones were impaled through the stomach and chest, and died within a few hours, but his worst enemies, the Saxons, were impaled through the rectum; a death that took several days as the weight of the body slowly caused the descent through the vital organs. But even that was a more rapid death than that of the captives who were forced to build his castle. They worked so hard that their clothes literally fell off of them, and they worked naked until they dropped dead from exposure.
It may not be a cheerful view, but I think violence is inherent in humans. Perhaps it is a result of an evolutionary survival response, perhaps it is what Christians refer to as "original sin".
Whatever it is, I'm a firm believe in the Latin proverb which comes from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius. "Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." If you want peace, prepare for war.
John, this illustration made me weep with sorrow. Thank you for being so sensitive about this situation. Are we reaping what we sowed as parents that forgot to teach our children values and taught them that "the most important person in the whole wide world is me" instead? When do we get back to honor, being our brothers' keeper, the golden rule? Or is this an impossibility? Have we become so PC that we can never find the way back to common decency. My heart bleeds for the families that lost their children yesterday; for the bright promises that will not be fulfilled by these people,young and older; for the parents of the monster they bore. One self involved act has destroyed many lives. When will we as the 'so-called civilized animals' learn that every life is precious and every person is the most important person in the world?
I'm grateful for a forum like this where we can all feel free to air our feelings without fear of being muzzled, derided, or denigrated. And I'm grateful to you all for participating in such a civil, intelligent way. This is the answer. This is where it starts.
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. (Matthew 26:52)
There must have been guns on that campus... but how many shots were fired other than those of the gunman? I firmly believe that the average person wouldn't have it in them to shoot anyway.
IMHumbleO guns make people more dangerous (or more vulnerable... depending on which end of the gun you're on)... but NEVER more powerful.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
Thank you, Jean!
Why would you think it wrong to be given the opportunity to have the means to protect yourself?
I have trouble swatting flies, but I assure you I would have no trouble whatsoever in stopping a gunman by shooting him. I have a friend who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He had to take several gun safety tests before he was allowed the permit. Twice he's used it in situations where he felt seriously threatened, although he's never had to shoot at anybody. Just waving the gun was enough to scare the people away.
Do you know of any statistics that show people who carry weapons have higher incidents of shooting people?
I looked, but couldn't find any. I would be grateful if you would share them. Some statistics I do know is that in The Netherlands, where guns are outlawed, crime has skyrocketed, especially home invasion.
Criminals brazenly come in to homes while the occupants are there, becasue they know there will be no repercussions.
My in-laws have their home burglarized about once a month.
And yet criminals still have guns. All they have to do is make the short trek to Belgium, where it is still legal to have guns, and carry them across the border.
The problem is never the laws, it's us. As soon as rage enters into the equation, we get into trouble. Statistics isn't the answer, if for no other reason than they can be manipulated to support the agenda of whomever falls back on them. It's really abut our own ability to look into ourselves and moderate our own feelings in a way that helps to deflate conflict rather than aggravate it. When we can do that, I think, there's a scintilla of hope for the rest of the world.
Who is the "us" in that equation?
Because there seems to be plenty of rage worldwide.
I can control myself, you can control yourself, but neither of us can control the people who can't control themselves.
There always have been, and since there really is no Utopia, there always will be a section of the population who will prey on the people whom they perceive to be weak. Why? Because they can.
Nobody ever said life was going to be easy.
It is, in fact, the "utopian" us, as in "would that it were." You're right, of course, Kate, but I do believe that I have a responsibility to live my life the way I believe one should. It may be the best I can do, but there's enormous power in it, because it spreads to those near me, and from there to those beyond. I coach the lacrosse team in a one hundred percent Latino high school. They never played the sport, nor even saw it, before this past school year, and yet they're picking it up incredibly fast. We lost all our games thus far, against experienced players, but they are improving exponentially from game to. Last evening we lost 3-6, but the boys were so proud of how well they played, and what they've accomplished, it was if they'd won. Getting them to this point, and to understand that, is my contribution to making the world a better place. It's hardly a drop in the ocean, but I'm convinced it resonates far beyond a lacrosse field on a chilly evening in East Los Angeles.
Amen John, amen! Keep up the great work! You HAVE made it a better place!
Have you read the biographies of those killed?
I have never before read of a more intelligent, hard working, talented and kinder group of people. No doubt they were a fantastic influence on those they knew. No doubt they left an indelible impression on those they met. And they are still dead; mowed down like sheep at a slaughter house.
What do I think the moral of this story is?
Watch your own back. No one is going to do it for you.
Survival is the most basic instinct, and the strongest evolutionary drive. I think we need to be aware that we can become TOO civilized, and start to lose that instinct. And there is forever someone further down on the evolutionary chain watching, and waiting for a chance to take advantage of the weak and helpless.
Bravo John! You are making a difference to the lives of those boys and like ripples in a pond the positive influence of your contribution will reverberate for a long time to come. It doesn't get much better than that! Again... a big pat on the back from way over here! :-)
Kate... yes... we should be ever vigilant... but never fearful. Fear is the objective of all forms of terrorism... even the single gunman acting alone.
Only the pigs that lived in the straw and wooden houses were afraid of the big bad wolf.
Those of us who have built brick houses have no fear!
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