Different Outcomes

The killing of Charlie Kirk this week has dominated much of peoples’ focus. Those among us who share Kirk’s worldview had to confront the brutal reality of gun violence in a way that is seldom required. Such events rarely hit so close to home, but this week they did.

As an American, I am grounded in the belief that all people have a fundamental right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Someone robbed Charlie of his ability to enjoy these things, and did so with relative ease. If the suspect now in custody is convicted of this crime, our system of criminal justice will impose a severe penalty. But that won’t bring Charlie back.

It is no mystery that gun violence kills more people in the United States than anywhere else - both in the aggregate and adjusted on a per-capita basis. The gun homicide rate in the U.S. is 25x that of other high-income countries. This has been true for many years, with no meaningful change in the rules for how we are allowed to own and operate these deadly devices.

This reality is a collective choice. If changing our relationship with guns ever becomes a sufficiently high priority, we will elect people that will propose legislation to change the way that we access and use guns in our society. It is our responsibility to do this, if we truly want such change to happen. Our system is far from perfect, but I still believe that if We The People are serious about changing our society, we can do this through the ballot box.

I understand the dynamic tension between our different rights. I think we should explore striking a different balance between the right to bear arms, and the right to breathe. That other societies enjoy a much safer day-to-day reality is undeniable - what can we learn from them?

If we wish to lose weight, we must change our diet and exercise. If we want to earn better grades at school, we must change our study habits. If we want to increase our collective safety from gun violence, something needs to change.

Since we have not yet insisted on this change, we must accept the harsh fact that this is the world we have chosen.

Sunday Supper

I made this Chicken Salad this week (substituting dill pickle relish for the capers). I also made this Minty Fruit Salad. Let’s use the last bit of summer sweet corn to make this salad with Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Feta and Mint.

Sunday Music

Here is a recent performance by John Mayer. Here is Norah Jones performing the Cannonball Adderly classic Why Am I Treated So Bad with Questlove and Christian McBride. And John Batiste performing What A Wonderful World. Lastly, here is a song that Jesse Welles wrote in response to this week’s tragedy.

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Have a great week ahead!  You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.


Peace & Love,