What is wrong here?

The Aurora, Colorado shooting in theater nine has unsurprisingly been dominating the news over the past few weeks. I'll respect the request of Anderson Cooper and not mention the shooter's name in this post, since, as he says, we should be focusing on those that died and celebrating the lives they lived. I only hope the families and friends of the victims, as well as the community as a whole, is able to cope with the tragedy, especially in the face of the barrage of media attention on the undoubtedly lengthy court proceedings to come.

I've been asking myself what exactly the problem is and how can we fix it. I agree with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore, whose "Bowling for Columbine" is now ten years old, when he says, "Guns don't kill people, Americans kill people." Obviously, with no guns, there would be no gun deaths, but it is equally obvious that getting the quarter of a billion guns out of American homes and out of Americans' hands is an almost insurmountable task. And I don't think that is the solution anyhow.

Sadly, many seem to think that guns are the answer to gun violence. Since the shooting, background checks, the first step to owning a gun, have risen by over 40%. The gun lobby has convinced us that if people were armed in the theater, someone might have been able to stop the killer. Never mind that he was armored to the hilt and had diffused smoke and gas throughout the theater before stepping through the exit door. If there had been 10 more guns in that theater, everyone would be dead. This is real life, not a vigilante action movie.

The problem is a culture of violence. It is not the *fault* of video games and movies, which are disseminated throughout the world and into many counties where gun violence is almost entirely absent. They are merely a by-product of the problem: a deep-seated mentality that Americans should look out for themselves (and their families) first and screw everyone else. We need to teach ourselves and our children to love and protect each other, and we need to actively address the psychological issues that face our friends.

I've now seen The Dark Knight Rises. It was a fantastic movie, well-produced, highly dramatic, and loaded with the hi-tech special effects we have come to expect from 21st century summer blockbusters. Yet, it exemplifies the type of horrific violence that Americans crave and love. Frankly, I'm ashamed to have enjoyed it.

I wonder whether or not this movie and others of its ilk actually contribute in a meaningful way to the violence we experience as a nation. I'm not sure. All I do know, though, as evidenced by this photo I took in a park in Newport, RI a week ago, is that our kids are obsessed with guns and violence, and parents are tolerating it. We are giving our children license to be violent, and it is up to us to stop it. Please do your part.

Out there

Once you're a few miles out on the North Atlantic and begin to lose sight of the shore, it's hard to tell which way you're going, especially at midday, when the Sun is directly overhead and of little help. Sure, we have GPS and autopilot technology these days, and the compass has been around for quite some time, but the navigators of old were often unsure and sometimes dead wrong about where they were and which way they were headed. Many of them were lost, some of them were found, and a select few of them found something unexpected -- like this great country of ours. At least that's how we like to tell it.

Nowadays, it seems that we've got so much to help us get where we think we're supposed to be going that we forget that sometimes getting a little lost can be a good thing. Maybe you'll wind up finding exactly what you've always wanted but didn't even know you were looking for.

Newport, RI

I absolutely love it here in the summer. There is so much to do and so much to see, never a dull moment and always a lot of fun. We had pleasant weather and calm seas on our ride up here from Norwalk on Saturday, which took just over 5 hours. We slowed down for lunch, otherwise it can be done in 4. I was pleased to get a table relatively quickly at the patio of The Black Pearl, steps from the marina and the home of arguably the best clam chowder on the face of the earth. They don't take reservations, so we sent the "Advance Team," myself, my brother, and our friend R., to put our name down about a half-hour before we actually wanted to sit. We had some drinks at the outdoor bar and were entertained with the antics of a bachelorette party, which continued later at The Candy Store, the club under Cooke House, a restaurant adjacent to The Black Pearl. We had a table at the club just next to them.

The nightlife is electric, but daytime too is also quite interesting. R. and I took tours of the two most famous of the Gilded Age mansions, The Breakers and Marble House, built by Cornelius and William Vanderbilt, respectively, the millionaire railway tycoons, to serve as their summer cottages. The Breakers sprawling lawns overlooking the ocean and over 138,000 square feet of interior space are simply breathtaking, and the materials and attention to detail in Marble House are unparalleled.

Only a three-hour drive from Manhattan, it is the perfect place for a weekend getaway. I recommend it highly.

New York City Soda Ban

            New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced his intention to ban sugar-sweetened sodas in servings over 16oz in restaurants, fast food outlets, street stands, and sporting arenas.  Some are up in arms, but my arms are up in celebration.  This is a bold and courageous step forward in America’s battle against obesity.

            The concern about the nanny state is legitimate in general, but misattributed in this case.  The ban will not restrict freedom of choice, as everyone will have the same access to soda as before.  The mayor is not telling New Yorkers what to drink.  Rather, he’s reminding them that soda is unhealthy, a fact no one disputes, and limiting a profiteering food industry from swindling customers into buying significantly more soda than they actually want.  32 ounces of soda for one person in one sitting is just too much. Period, point-blank.  If you really, really want that much though, then prove it, and buy two.

            Jon Stewart mocked the proposal as draconian and likely ineffective.  He is clearly missing the point.  Study after study has shown us that people are terrible at determining in advance how much food or drink is likely to satisfy them as well as when they are actually satiated.  The result is that people tend to order whatever they see as the best deal and will consume whatever is in front of them.  Sure, some people just want more soda.  But the science seems to indicate that many folks will be happy with a 16-ouncer and will keep it moving.

            Coca-Cola responded to the proposal by saying that New Yorkers expect and deserve better and can make their own choices about what to drink.  Duh.  Huge profit margins on increased serving sizes couldn’t possibly be what are motivating soda companies and fast food restaurants to push these “comically oversized” portions[i] on unsuspecting customers.

            Isn’t it odd that Americans would prefer corporations make decisions for them rather than the government, while the former profits from their business and the latter is invested in their health and well-being?  I think so.  If Coke and Pepsi were paying the medical bills, we’d see how quickly they’d hop on board.

           

           

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[i] See Stewart’s commentary here