From: Ernest Hua <hua@xenon.chromatic.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jul 1996 13:18:07 +0800
To: Jonathon Blake <grafolog@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Giving 6 year old kids Uzi's (Was: Responding to Pre-dawn Unannounced Ninja Raids)
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SUN.3.95.960719221429.4919D-100000@netcom7>
Message-ID: <199607192255.PAA24351@server1.chromatic.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



> > Just why do you suppose a pissed-off six-year-old (because, let's say,
> > another six-year-old stole his lunch) would not blast someone?
> 
> I can only assume that
> #1:	You've never lived where both long arms, and side 
> 	arms were a part of normal casual dress attire. 
> #2:	You have no comprehension of non-wasp culture norms.

Before you make some irresponsible accusations, please investigate
the facts.  I grew up in both Western-style and backward country
Taiwan.  Neither required side arms, and we did fine.  Neither are
what you might consider "wasp".  And I certainly would not want
your own childhood distortions to become the social norm.  I am
sure they killed and lynched many Asians "in the good ol' days".
I'm not for those days.

The point is, you would not give a gun to someone with mental
disorders.  Right?  (If you would, then we might as well just stop
the conversation here.)  The reason you would not is because there
is a "significant" chance that this person would not respect basic
social values like life, liberty, etc ...

If I remember correctly, there were MANY times when, if I had a
weapon capable of killing someone near invisibly (say a poison
dart), I just might have used it.  Of course, as an adult I would
live to regret having the ability and resources to following
through on a fit of childhood rage.

When your BIG goal is to get to 16.5 so you can a learner's permit,
you just don't have a well-balanced view of the world yet.  In
addition, when you don't have a family, when you don't have buy-in
of ANY SORT into your community, when you have ZERO future (as in
the lives of some inner city kids), you simply do not care about
these other concepts like brotherhood and community.

I have always argued that those who have vesting in a community
will work harder to make that community great.  The same principle
applies to companies where the employees get profit sharing or own
significant stock.  If you HAVE to care because it would benefit
you to care, YOU WILL.  If you don't have to care, YOU WON'T.

A 6 (or 12 or 18) year old, simply does not have to care.  I can
bribe my 2 year old with one simple thing:  Sweets.  He is vested
in his immediate futures in cookies and ice cream.  Beyond that, he
has nothing vested whatsoever (mostly because he just isn't aware
of anything serious yet).

As a stereotypical geek at 12, at 18, at 24 and now at 30, I am
still not completely sure I am mature enough that I would trust
my own judgements with a gun.  And I have had the fortune of a
reasonably good, well-educated, upper-middle-class life.  I would
hate to see what would have happened if I grew up in a gheto.

Ern