I'm not sure how a gun can protect a gun owner, in these times or any other. Is the idea to take down as many invading MAGAs as possible before they inevitably take you down? If there is a civil war...we're all screwed, since at a minimum food and water will be hard to get. An interesting movie about the chaos created by a civil war is Time of the Wolf, not that it's any help.
Well, if someone is breaking into your home in the middle of the night, and you come downstairs with a gun and shoot him (which you can legally do), you've just protected yourself.
I have never before wanted a gun, and I can't say I "want" one now. But yes, if I'm going out, someone's going with me.
I assumed your gun research had mostly to do with the possible collapse of our system of government rather than protecting you and fam from intruders. Of course a societal collapse could make life in the burbs more dangerous. We're keeping our doors and windows locked, and hope no one thinks we have anything worth stealing.
To clarify, it's the title of one of my favorite songs by the band Mission of Burma, released in 1981-ish.
The actual quote is: "Whenever I hear [the word] 'culture'... I remove the safety from my Browning!"
The band took the line from a Henry Miller essay, which took the line from the play. Mission of Burma didn't know its nefarious origins or really anything about Miller, either, as there was no internet in 1980 when they wrote the song. They just thought it was a catchy line that fit their riff.
I heard that they were unhappy to learn later where the words came from originally, but it is very much NOT a Nazi song.
The lyrics are about how disillusioned you become as an adult when you realize you've been worshiping false idols and living as a slave.
I would never be an apologist for a Nazi. I think this is just a bunch of educated kids from Boston being clever. There's nothing else related to that quote in the song. If anything, I'd call it antifascist.
Fair enough. The problem with language is that it gets tainted by context. And the less context provided, the more likely a context will be provided. When first I heard the expression, it was wrongly attributed to Himmler (or was it Goring or Goebbels?). And then I discovered Hawking and Lang used a variant. There's something powerful about the image -- in all its varieties...fascist to radical/liberal -- that captures the imagination. Taking action against the fog of abstraction?
Leslie, thanks for prodding me to think about this expression. I've always been struck by the power of it but never stopped to think about why. Perhaps a useful way of thinking about the current rage to dismiss "equity" -- "Whenever I hear the expression DEI, I reach for my ......" Passion over thought!
I love your writing.
I hate that I know so many people considering guns.
I am somehow not surprised that Serena is a natural.
I love the Millers.
The Millers love you. And I love your writing, too. And I hate that we feel cornered. And I'm not surprised, either. Badass.
The PoC/queer/trans community in our area are holding training sessions, and yeah I hate it while understanding the necessity at the same time.
It has come to that. I hope you do it.
Scary. I hope I don't feel like I'll need one, but, who know?
It's another skill set. Thanks for this.
I'm not sure how a gun can protect a gun owner, in these times or any other. Is the idea to take down as many invading MAGAs as possible before they inevitably take you down? If there is a civil war...we're all screwed, since at a minimum food and water will be hard to get. An interesting movie about the chaos created by a civil war is Time of the Wolf, not that it's any help.
Well, if someone is breaking into your home in the middle of the night, and you come downstairs with a gun and shoot him (which you can legally do), you've just protected yourself.
I have never before wanted a gun, and I can't say I "want" one now. But yes, if I'm going out, someone's going with me.
I assumed your gun research had mostly to do with the possible collapse of our system of government rather than protecting you and fam from intruders. Of course a societal collapse could make life in the burbs more dangerous. We're keeping our doors and windows locked, and hope no one thinks we have anything worth stealing.
You didn't assume. But some things are better left unsaid.
Nicely done, Leslie. BUT your title is a version of a line from a pro Nazo//Hitler play (1933): "When I hear the word 'culture,' I reach for my gun."
At least now I know Henry Miller was a racist and antisemite, so thanks for that!
To clarify, it's the title of one of my favorite songs by the band Mission of Burma, released in 1981-ish.
The actual quote is: "Whenever I hear [the word] 'culture'... I remove the safety from my Browning!"
The band took the line from a Henry Miller essay, which took the line from the play. Mission of Burma didn't know its nefarious origins or really anything about Miller, either, as there was no internet in 1980 when they wrote the song. They just thought it was a catchy line that fit their riff.
I heard that they were unhappy to learn later where the words came from originally, but it is very much NOT a Nazi song.
The lyrics are about how disillusioned you become as an adult when you realize you've been worshiping false idols and living as a slave.
I would never be an apologist for a Nazi. I think this is just a bunch of educated kids from Boston being clever. There's nothing else related to that quote in the song. If anything, I'd call it antifascist.
Fair enough. The problem with language is that it gets tainted by context. And the less context provided, the more likely a context will be provided. When first I heard the expression, it was wrongly attributed to Himmler (or was it Goring or Goebbels?). And then I discovered Hawking and Lang used a variant. There's something powerful about the image -- in all its varieties...fascist to radical/liberal -- that captures the imagination. Taking action against the fog of abstraction?
Leslie, thanks for prodding me to think about this expression. I've always been struck by the power of it but never stopped to think about why. Perhaps a useful way of thinking about the current rage to dismiss "equity" -- "Whenever I hear the expression DEI, I reach for my ......" Passion over thought!
BTW: Always good to read your thoughts
Whenever I hear someone’s threatening it, that’s when I…
this shit is scaring me but I love you anyway!
Scares me too.