NineseveN
member
I was thinking about something earlier today and thought I’d solicit some comments from the fine folks here at THR. We all discuss the current situation in regards to the RKBA and our civil liberties to great lengths, but I don’t see a whole lot of discussion or analysis on what the long-term means for us in regards to the next few generations coming into power and taking over.
We’re in a situation right now because of bad politics and socialist agendas seeping into our government when it comes to personal liberties and the RKBA, and most of this has come from law makers that are from a certain set of generations, generations that, in some ways, are a lot more disciplinarian and a lot more reserved when it comes to what is socially deemed taboo. I’d argue that in many ways, guns are almost taboo due to the poor media coverage and the social stigma of every gun owner being a wacko-survivalist-guerilla-militia shoot up a schoolyard type. Now, a lot of that is a byproduct of some high-profile events in the 80’s and 90’s (and a few events in the early years of the so-called ‘new millennium’), but, at some point, the current generations have to pass on and a newer, younger generation will take over. At some point, that’s going to be the first of the generations that right now are more or less rooted into giving the middle finger to authority and anyone trying to tell them how to live their lives. The younger generations are more expressive in their choices to embrace certain taboo subjects like same-sex relationships, drug use, banned musical content, graphic films and video games (often featuring gunplay as a centerpiece), pornography etc…
What happens when those and subsequently more expressive generations take the reigns? I know that socialism and authoritarianism is very strong right now and only gaining in power due to the current political climate and some legislative actions that have infringed on just about every freedom we have in this country, but the thing is, I don’t know that the powers that be are doing a good enough job at indoctrinating the folks from 15-30 in order to preserve the balance of power that they’re worked very hard over the last 15-20 years to build.
I understand that by any standards throughout history, the younger generations are seen as ‘too wild’ or lacking discipline, but if we go back to the Elvis Presley or the Beatles and what affect that had on the younger generation, that kind of music went from taboo and banned content to being mainstream, and now, some many years later, we have things like gangster rap and hardcore heavy metal. When those Elvis or Beatles kids grew up, they demanded their favorite music to be played in the mainstream radio markets, it’s simple economics, give them what they want and they’ll buy it. Folks from those generations also bought radio stations or worked in the industry, which streamlined the move from taboo and provocative to mainstream for more provocative and expressive types of music. Now, this happens in the music and radio industry constantly. The Metallica heads from the 80’s now work at Rock stations, or own them, or are just listeners with wallets and the current crop of hardcore music is simply an evolution of the things Metallica and others like them brought to the table, which was en extension of the things that Black Sabbath and Cream brought to the market, which was an extension of what the Rollin Stones brought to the market, which was an extension of what The Beatles or Elvis brought to the market; not the music per-se, but the mainstream idea of freedom of that form of expression in music, no matter how provocative it was. I know this is a simplified timeline, and we need not correct it to add in all of the bands and artists that made the tiny steps between those that I mentioned, the existence of the mechanism is important, and it is one that cannot really be argued.
Ultimately, it was freedom of choice and freedom of expression that brought those kinds of social changes about, and the strength of those freedoms came about because some rowdy youngsters decided to say, to hell with authority and do whatever it was that they wanted to.
Now, this is a lot more difficult to track in politics, because we don’t see too many 25-year old politicians and no 25-year old presidents, so perhaps by the time those generations make it into politics, they’ve lost the energy to fight like they did when they were younger.
Personally, I think the key is those generations that right now are under 30-years old, I think the more we get them into shooting sports and firearms, the better off we’ll be, at least, 10-15 years down the line. It doesn’t have to be hunting, which was a huge focus for RKBA type groups in the past, it could (and should) be IDPA, IHMSA, 3-gun, or whatever other exciting shooting sport comes around in the next 5 years. It doesn’t need to be through the news media, it can be through movies, video games, whatever. The seeds are there, these folks already have a distaste for the powers that be and constrictions on their freedoms, it’s now a race to see whether the socialists can indoctrinate them or we can keep their minds open and focused on individual liberty instead of ‘the greater common good’.
The hard part is that the older generations that have all kinds of wisdom and experience to impart on these younger folks, but, well, they don’t understand their target audience, and they often don’t approve of them either. Even in shooting circles, in fact, often especially in shooting circles, I see the old-timers sneer at the kid with the Remington 700 climbing out of his Mustang with Eminem blasting away and then ultimately deciding not to get involved with that kid because he’s different or because the old-timer doesn’t approve of the music, the dress, or the lime green thong line peeking out from the butt-side of his girlfriend’s jeans. If the old-timer doesn’t ignore them, often he attempts to impart his knowledge on them, but also tries and change the way the kid dresses, what he listens to, what he wears or whom he associates with. This is counterproductive because the kid is just going to tune the old-timer out and lump him in with everyone else that won’t let the kid live his live the way he wants to…they won’t let him be free to act and express himself any way he sees fit so long on no one is injured or suffers damages…which is the antithesis of the freedom we all preach around here when it comes to civil liberties and the right to keep and bear arms. We’re losing a valuable opportunity there out of ignorance. You can’t try to instill freedom and what civil liberties mean in someone through firearms and the RKBA while trying to control them into your mold of what should be socially acceptable, it doesn’t work, it’s like oil and water. I say, give them as much knowledge as they can handle, but let them live...the same way you wanted it to be when your elders were scolding you for the Elvis EP’s hidden in your bedroom, or those front row Beatles tickets you snuck out to enjoy, or the Black Sabbath 8-tracks you hid at a friend’s house…
I don’t know, my thought process on this is not very well developed right now (as you can probably tell), but does anyone have any thoughts on the issue? It think it might be an interesting discussion.
We’re in a situation right now because of bad politics and socialist agendas seeping into our government when it comes to personal liberties and the RKBA, and most of this has come from law makers that are from a certain set of generations, generations that, in some ways, are a lot more disciplinarian and a lot more reserved when it comes to what is socially deemed taboo. I’d argue that in many ways, guns are almost taboo due to the poor media coverage and the social stigma of every gun owner being a wacko-survivalist-guerilla-militia shoot up a schoolyard type. Now, a lot of that is a byproduct of some high-profile events in the 80’s and 90’s (and a few events in the early years of the so-called ‘new millennium’), but, at some point, the current generations have to pass on and a newer, younger generation will take over. At some point, that’s going to be the first of the generations that right now are more or less rooted into giving the middle finger to authority and anyone trying to tell them how to live their lives. The younger generations are more expressive in their choices to embrace certain taboo subjects like same-sex relationships, drug use, banned musical content, graphic films and video games (often featuring gunplay as a centerpiece), pornography etc…
What happens when those and subsequently more expressive generations take the reigns? I know that socialism and authoritarianism is very strong right now and only gaining in power due to the current political climate and some legislative actions that have infringed on just about every freedom we have in this country, but the thing is, I don’t know that the powers that be are doing a good enough job at indoctrinating the folks from 15-30 in order to preserve the balance of power that they’re worked very hard over the last 15-20 years to build.
I understand that by any standards throughout history, the younger generations are seen as ‘too wild’ or lacking discipline, but if we go back to the Elvis Presley or the Beatles and what affect that had on the younger generation, that kind of music went from taboo and banned content to being mainstream, and now, some many years later, we have things like gangster rap and hardcore heavy metal. When those Elvis or Beatles kids grew up, they demanded their favorite music to be played in the mainstream radio markets, it’s simple economics, give them what they want and they’ll buy it. Folks from those generations also bought radio stations or worked in the industry, which streamlined the move from taboo and provocative to mainstream for more provocative and expressive types of music. Now, this happens in the music and radio industry constantly. The Metallica heads from the 80’s now work at Rock stations, or own them, or are just listeners with wallets and the current crop of hardcore music is simply an evolution of the things Metallica and others like them brought to the table, which was en extension of the things that Black Sabbath and Cream brought to the market, which was an extension of what the Rollin Stones brought to the market, which was an extension of what The Beatles or Elvis brought to the market; not the music per-se, but the mainstream idea of freedom of that form of expression in music, no matter how provocative it was. I know this is a simplified timeline, and we need not correct it to add in all of the bands and artists that made the tiny steps between those that I mentioned, the existence of the mechanism is important, and it is one that cannot really be argued.
Ultimately, it was freedom of choice and freedom of expression that brought those kinds of social changes about, and the strength of those freedoms came about because some rowdy youngsters decided to say, to hell with authority and do whatever it was that they wanted to.
Now, this is a lot more difficult to track in politics, because we don’t see too many 25-year old politicians and no 25-year old presidents, so perhaps by the time those generations make it into politics, they’ve lost the energy to fight like they did when they were younger.
Personally, I think the key is those generations that right now are under 30-years old, I think the more we get them into shooting sports and firearms, the better off we’ll be, at least, 10-15 years down the line. It doesn’t have to be hunting, which was a huge focus for RKBA type groups in the past, it could (and should) be IDPA, IHMSA, 3-gun, or whatever other exciting shooting sport comes around in the next 5 years. It doesn’t need to be through the news media, it can be through movies, video games, whatever. The seeds are there, these folks already have a distaste for the powers that be and constrictions on their freedoms, it’s now a race to see whether the socialists can indoctrinate them or we can keep their minds open and focused on individual liberty instead of ‘the greater common good’.
The hard part is that the older generations that have all kinds of wisdom and experience to impart on these younger folks, but, well, they don’t understand their target audience, and they often don’t approve of them either. Even in shooting circles, in fact, often especially in shooting circles, I see the old-timers sneer at the kid with the Remington 700 climbing out of his Mustang with Eminem blasting away and then ultimately deciding not to get involved with that kid because he’s different or because the old-timer doesn’t approve of the music, the dress, or the lime green thong line peeking out from the butt-side of his girlfriend’s jeans. If the old-timer doesn’t ignore them, often he attempts to impart his knowledge on them, but also tries and change the way the kid dresses, what he listens to, what he wears or whom he associates with. This is counterproductive because the kid is just going to tune the old-timer out and lump him in with everyone else that won’t let the kid live his live the way he wants to…they won’t let him be free to act and express himself any way he sees fit so long on no one is injured or suffers damages…which is the antithesis of the freedom we all preach around here when it comes to civil liberties and the right to keep and bear arms. We’re losing a valuable opportunity there out of ignorance. You can’t try to instill freedom and what civil liberties mean in someone through firearms and the RKBA while trying to control them into your mold of what should be socially acceptable, it doesn’t work, it’s like oil and water. I say, give them as much knowledge as they can handle, but let them live...the same way you wanted it to be when your elders were scolding you for the Elvis EP’s hidden in your bedroom, or those front row Beatles tickets you snuck out to enjoy, or the Black Sabbath 8-tracks you hid at a friend’s house…
I don’t know, my thought process on this is not very well developed right now (as you can probably tell), but does anyone have any thoughts on the issue? It think it might be an interesting discussion.
