I have spent
the last two blogs going back and forth on the gun control issue. The truth is that there are justifiable
arguments on both sides of the issue.
Gun control is so complex that there will be success stories as well as
failures no matter what decisions are made.
The only thing I am certain of is
that something has to change. We need to
start somewhere. Small steps are how a
democracy works. For some any change is
tough to bear, while for others slow progress is too difficult to witness. However, change is usually only tolerable
when taken slowly. Twenty years ago
smoking was the norm, but look at where we are now; how far our society has
come, and few will argue that we are not better off for it.
So, as we search for a common ground
that can satisfy both gun advocates and anti-gun activists, we need to
simultaneously focus on the larger issue that is killing Americans both with
guns and without. We are all dying by
passing on a disease and the escalation in gun violence is a deadly symptom of
the illness.
I have been working in the ER for
almost 15 years, and have witnessed this disease first hand. I can tell you that it is getting worse. Patients continuously flood the emergency
room with non life threatening conditions. When a person comes to an ER with a cough for
3 weeks and becomes upset about having to wait while patients with real life
threatening conditions are taken care of first, then complains to administration,
which triggers an administrative backlash against those trying their best to
save other human beings’ lives, is to a much lesser degree the same illness
that makes someone go on a shooting spree.
Some may argue otherwise, but it is the same problem. An annoying cough that does nothing more than
cause someone to stay awake at night is a sign of the same process within the
body as the truly ill individual with life threatening pneumonia having
difficulty breathing and coughing up thick, copious amounts of phlegm. One is a progression of the other.
Our society is deteriorating and it
is progressing at an astounding rate. The
fairy tale stories we tell our children with their underlying lessons of
morality are truly becoming fairy tales.
On the surface we teach our children to be honest, trustworthy,
compassionate, and tolerant to others.
We encourage them to share and work hard, yet the true values we are
passing on to the next generation are deceit, selfishness, greed and
laziness. We are culture inflicted with
a sense of entitlement at the expense of everybody else. Work ethics have all been forgotten. Excuses have become our mottos. Patience and tolerance of others is lost, and
responsibility is a four letter word.
When I began practicing medicine 15
years ago I rarely saw psychiatric conditions listed on patients’ medical
records. Today they top the charts. People of all ages, ethnic groups and
demographics are being diagnosed with mental illness. They are being prescribed drugs to treat
these ‘illnesses’ and are being absolved of responsibility for their
behaviors. I also believe that these
medications are inhibiting people’s natural ability to cope with stress and
heal themselves of what truly ails them.
The simple truth is that life is
hard. Few of us are born into privilege,
and even those that are have trouble dealing with reality. We all want to be rock stars, movie stars,
sports heroes and not just multimillionaires, but billionaires. However few of us are willing to do the work
and take the risk to achieve success.
When we fail we are no longer able to cope with the left over reality
and resort to drugs (legal or illicit) and simply make excuses for our
failures. We blame others for our
shortcomings in life and in various ways lash back; unfortunately for some it
is in the form of mass murder.
Pain is a part of life. It is natural, but our intolerance to
experience any form of pain, whether it is physical or psychological is making
us unable to cope and function effectively within a society. Disappointment helps us appreciate our
successes. Our children are not being given
the chance to experience this. At my son’s
science fair, everyone got a ribbon. At
my daughter’s gymnastics competition, everyone got a metal. What is a contest if everyone wins? In life, some people win but the majority
lose. That is reality. Losing should encourage us to work harder. Simple as
that. No excuses.
In order to stop killing ourselves we need to take some real medicine. There is no pill to take. This antidote tastes bad and it is hard to
swallow. It is humble pie covered in a
bitter coating of ordinary and obscurity. I believe we need to stop making
excuses, stop being politically correct, and stop worrying about what everyone
else is doing. We need to wake up to
reality, even though it is not the fairy tale of our dreams. Just because it is not what we hoped for
doesn’t mean we can’t find happiness within it.
When we finally start facing our demons and beat them back to hell, then
we will have peace on earth and live amongst each other with out killing one
another. This is not only the solution
to gun control but it is the answer to everything from our failing economy to
the drug war.
We need to ‘Suck it up!’ America. Amen!
If you want to hear more bitching on
this topic you can find it in my book ‘MediSin’. You will also be entertained by stories of
various freaks that have presented to the ER.
Buy Niam Hew's new book MediSin NOW!
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