The recent mass shootings are not the result of youngsters playing video games or hippies listening to Beatles records. They exist because of easy access to assault weapons and a miserable way of life in the United States as a result of the actions of Corporate America. This problem, which has left our children hopeless and encouraged them to go out in a blaze of glory in order to give meaning to their lives, has been greatly exacerbated by the price gouging, cutthroat competition, and insufficient welfare benefits and poor pay packages to employees.

With one incident every week on average, this epidemic has continued far too long. The National Rifle Association (NRA), our crooked politicians, the weapons manufacturers, and the Supreme Court, are all to blame in my opinion. It’s tragic that in our nation today, common sense has no chance, much less an ear. Our primary contribution to international society is the regular use of weapons of war that we sell all around the world. We are in trouble now and have been for some time. If Karma exists on any spiritual plane, we are in trouble and have been for a long time. It’s time, in my opinion, to master the art of turning swords into ploughshares.

Although I think we should have a strong military and police force, I also think we have gone too far with these roles, to our own detriment. Additionally, I think that the most of our opponents originate from our inability to get along with most other nations in the world due to the unquenchable greed of the wealthiest among us. I can’t even pretend for a second that we have any hope, especially since we are detaining foreign reporters for their coverage of our war crimes under the Espionage Act.

The United Nations and especially our own news outlets should give more credence to this truth, yet the majority of these public safety nets have been undermined and ultimately corrupted. I don’t like to criticize my nation, but the time has come when we are reaping what we have been sowing for the past few decades on a daily basis. We are in a tight spot and have no other option except to take the struggle to the streets.

Don’t let up as you take it to the streets. In solidarity with those in Highland Park who are mourning, we must march to every mass shooting school, church, and synagogue where these atrocities have taken place and weep, wail, and scream aloud about our indifference to these issues because it is the young, the weak, and the marginalized who have been targeted.

We must take a leading role in these initiatives until our nation once more enjoys a measure of peace, sanity, and love. Because of the avarice and power of a select few, we are prisoners in our own houses with no means of defense, especially for our children. I can’t and won’t put up with this behavior any longer.

There are some people who think my views are too extreme but I remember what life was like before these incessantly reoccurring tragedies weren’t a daily part of our lives and concerns. The people who control the levers of power need to be confronted on these issues and made to be uncomfortable enough to do something about it. For now, these so-called public servants are trying to hide their heads in the sand from the screaming obvious. In some ways I feel it’s already too late but we owe it to our children to at least show them, that we actually care and tried.