CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, September 2, 2019

Mass Murders: Gun Control or People Control?

One form of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. Yet, in the aftermath of every mass-murder event, most politicians call for more of the same "fixes" that did not work in the first place, i.e., more weapons control and more venues declared as weapons-free zones.

Few politicians are willing to say, "Folks, weapons control does not work. So, let’s figure out who is insane enough to commit mass murder and lock them up in a mental-health facility." In other words, People Control. But for People Control to work we Americans are living under the wrong form of government.

For actual People Control, look no further than Red China where, with the help of America’s Silicon Valley, the Communist dictatorship is ranking its citizens based on their behavior and associations, i.e. are they living in "compliance" with the edicts of the regime. Last year, low "social-credit scores" got 23-million Chinese "red-flagged" and forbidden to travel by air or use other forms of public transportation.

The fundamental difference between Communism and Socialism is that Communism is a political system while Socialism is an economic system. What both systems share in common is the desire to control what people do and think. A secondary difference is that Communism, the political system, (like radical Islam) seeks world domination, even via violence, while Socialism, the economic system, is somewhat more pacifistic.

In practice, however, Communism and Socialism are very much alike in that the masses (the Proletariat) end up impoverished while the controlling elites (the Nomenklatura) end up rich and powerful. Historically, Communist and Socialist regimes have disarmed the Proletariat, thereby ensuring the Nomenklatura cannot be overthrown.

Communism and Socialism are distinct in that a Communist government owns and controls the Means of Production while a Socialist government allows for private ownership of the Means of Production as long as the Means of Production will operate under government control. A distinction without a difference.

Our Democratic society operates under the presumption that most everyone is sane and that everyone is presumed innocent of wrong-doing unless wrong-doing is proven in a court of law. And yet, our history is replete with examples where future mass killers have revealed their blood-curdling intentions via social media and other behaviors that should have raised "red flags" sufficient to provoke a timely intervention.

Under Ho Chi Minh, the North Vietnamese were indoctrinated to publically "self-confess" any "unworthy" thoughts or deeds. Punishment was avoided by denouncing local landowners who were then summarily executed. Imagine an America where someone confesses to tax evasion but avoids punishment by "red-flagging" a neighbor who has a hidden firearm.

The weekly murder numbers in America’s largest cities far, far exceed those killed or injured during recent headline-grabbing events. Ergo: let’s test a variety of "red-flagging" systems in America’s murder capitals. Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn, now and then.

Let’s see what the urban murder capitals do with "red-flagging" before Congress tries to tinker with the protections afforded our Proletariat by the 2d, 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments in our Bill of Rights.

©2019. William Hamilton.

William Hamilton, is a laureate of the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame, the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma University Army ROTC Wall of Fame. Dr. Hamilton is the author of Formula for Failure in Vietnam: The Folly of Limited Warfare, McFarland Books, (2019). For pre-publication orders: Toll free: (800) 253-2187 "Central View," can also be seen at: www.central-view.com.

Dr. Hamilton can be contacted at:

Email: william@central-view.com