The Zong

There’s been a lot of gum flapping in these parts as of late, especially in light of the horrid events in West Virginia. The discussion on gun bans has been hot on the Left side on the dial, with some pundits waxing that it’s precisely an event such as this that may allow a comprehensive handgun ban to squeak through the House. The other headline grabber in the news these days is that The Supreme Council on Morality (previously know by it’s less glamorous moniker, the Robert’s Supreme Court) managed to eek by something that those on the pro-life side have been yammering for, lo these many years: a ban on “Partial Birth Abortions”. Setting aside the crytpo-acrobatics that those on the Far Right seem to be so adept at for a moment, I find an unsettling nexus between these two camps.

American culture is a charming culture because of it’s hopeful naivete: while the rest of the world resigns itself to inheriting the same lot as dear, old Granddad, we’re a nation of doers. Whether it’s spearheading a human rights campaign because you’re a movie star, or planning to bomb the hell out of a bunch of poor people for democracy’s sake, more often than not, an American is at the helm these days. I take pride in our level of ambition and proactivty in the world. This can-do spirit, however, does have it’s failings, especially when comes to things like the social engineering that both pro gun-ban people, as well as the pro-life people, seem to be a part of.

Hindsight is a marvelous thing, and it’s a pity that more people don’t really take advantage of it. Forcing a culture to do something, whether it’s preventing abortions, stopping teen sex, or banning handguns, is not a valid policy, because, like any good preschool teacher will tell you, the “only-stick” approach doesn’t work. The only real result of an outright ban on anything is a ferocious, unregulated black market for the product in question, which just creates much more serious health risks for the population at large. Let me just ask this: how’s that War On Drugs working out for us? Feel like we’re making a real dent in drug abuse in this country? ‘Cause I don’t, and it’s not just because I couldn’t find my pants last Saturday morning. Now try to imagine that same type of winless situation we’re in with drugs, but replace narcotics with illegal firearms and back alley abortions, and you get the nasty picture.

I’m not a Libertarian nutjob: I think guns should be registered and tracked, like cars, and I think we should try to reduce the amount of abortions to the absolute bare minimum that need to happen. Most importantly, education, and making sure everyone has the help they need, are our best weapons in the fight against what ails our society. But all this talk of banning this and that, of thinking that people can’t decide for themselves what’s best leaves me queasy. That doesn’t sound like a pluralistic society to me. That sounds like a Nancy Reagan nightmare.

- J.A.