My heart continues to break, child by child. Nineteen more children and two more adults needlessly lost forever. How do we fix this unbelievably horrific and grave problem in our country? Why has this happened so many times and why does it continue to happen, with no action by our leaders? It is an especially depressing comment on our country and our culture that the answer to that last question is the suffocating need by some for power and money. It sickens me to even utter those words. How on earth can we sacrifice our children to greed?
In my opinion, power and profit are at the root of most of the problems we are not solving. While the majority of Americans favor reasonable gun laws, reproductive rights, climate action, and racial/gender equity (to name a few), the sickness that is greed has infected a controlling number of lawmakers and rendered them completely ineffective and lacking in respect and compassion for the American people, the people they were elected to represent. That our elected officials cannot come together to pass reasonable and necessary gun legislation to protect innocent children and adults is appalling and disgraceful.
At the heart of this is the influence of big money in American politics and our country’s inaction on campaign finance reform. Until big money (from the NRA and gun manufacturers, fossil fuel corporations, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, etc.) no longer controls who is elected and which laws are passed (or not), we will continue to be plagued by profound and existential problems. It’s up to us to elect representatives at all levels who understand this and care enough to put the children and people of our nation above power and profit.
Kim Cavatorta
Hebo, OR
