Monks Jazz Club
Not So Different After All
RECEIVED Tue., Dec. 22, 2015
Dear Editor,
I found the contrast between the cover article on guns [“Let's Go Gun Crazy,” News, Dec. 18] and the article criticizing Acevedo, "Don't Be Getting Publicly Intoxicated" [News, Dec. 15]. And it struck me how alike the left and right can be.
The common ground is simple. Everything happens for exactly one reason, and if you find it, you need not look for more. Sandy Hook happened when an insane guy wreaked havoc with guns. The NRA is quick to point out that if we only properly dealt with mental illness, this never would have happened. So there is no need for gun control. Never mind that there are millions of mentally ill people and we can't even find all of them.
On the other side, we have a simple solution to the rape problem – men shouldn't rape women. So when Art Acevedo makes the point that women should acknowledge that we do not live in a perfect world – and never will – and should not make themselves an easy target, he is attacked.
Some years ago, I was in Quito, Ecuador, and wandered out of the area the police protected. I got mugged. Whose fault was it? Certainly the muggers bear responsibility. But so do I. The blame is not always limited to one person.
It is considered rape if a man has sex with a woman too intoxicated to consent. And it is. However, that does not make her not foolish. Only by acknowledging our own weaknesses can we make life better.
I found the contrast between the cover article on guns [“Let's Go Gun Crazy,” News, Dec. 18] and the article criticizing Acevedo, "Don't Be Getting Publicly Intoxicated" [News, Dec. 15]. And it struck me how alike the left and right can be.
The common ground is simple. Everything happens for exactly one reason, and if you find it, you need not look for more. Sandy Hook happened when an insane guy wreaked havoc with guns. The NRA is quick to point out that if we only properly dealt with mental illness, this never would have happened. So there is no need for gun control. Never mind that there are millions of mentally ill people and we can't even find all of them.
On the other side, we have a simple solution to the rape problem – men shouldn't rape women. So when Art Acevedo makes the point that women should acknowledge that we do not live in a perfect world – and never will – and should not make themselves an easy target, he is attacked.
Some years ago, I was in Quito, Ecuador, and wandered out of the area the police protected. I got mugged. Whose fault was it? Certainly the muggers bear responsibility. But so do I. The blame is not always limited to one person.
It is considered rape if a man has sex with a woman too intoxicated to consent. And it is. However, that does not make her not foolish. Only by acknowledging our own weaknesses can we make life better.
Raymond C. Heitmann
