HOST MORTEM
On Guns, Wolves & the U.S.S. Enterprise
1: INTRO
Yesterday, America christened one of its own a ‘Trillionaire.' And on that same day, just a couple of miles away from that specific Trillionaire's interstellar launch hub, there was a Mass Shooting in Midland, Texas. The 512th such occurrence this year. Now, as both a layman and a peon myself, I want to share an opinion. Because I believe at their core, these two headlines are not only deeply intertwined…but causal. In fact, it is my opinion that the pack of ‘Wolves' residing on Wall Street are more singularly responsible for every Mass Shooting than any “lone wolf” Gunman--or indeed any actual gun--could ever hope to be. And while gun control remains a laughable impossibility, forever tied to both the American Identity and subject to God (fearing-lobbyism), we, the People, still do retain some small means of addressing gun violence despite this: the power of purchase.
That is to say, we still retain the ability to decide what is and is not for sale. And I believe the best way to reduce gun violence in this country, short of a total overhaul followed by the complete abandonment of Imperial efforts abroad, is by dramatically reducing Wall Street’s ability to profit off of American Death domestically (most specifically by targeting their investments in our health insurance industry). Of course, many of our "Lupine Lechers" would protest that. But that’s only because, in my opinion, they are all complicit in domestic war-profiteering, and as such, directly benefitting from American Death. And regardless of protest, every ‘Free Market’ gets to decide what is and isn’t for sale. Don’t believe me? Go ask your local Heroin Dealer. So, in the spirit of minimizing gun-related casualties, let’s explore the possibility of how we can best go about understanding and then limiting the hunting grounds of American Wolves (from both “Lone" and "Corporate” Clades alike). But, in order to even begin changing this strange new reality in which we find ourselves, we must first explore what Guns actually mean to the American People, and what role their ownership has played in our common history.
2: AMERICAN IRON
In America, Guns are not just weapons. They are also…microphones. Patriotic Hail Marys of thunder and brimstone. The megaphones of our Civilian Soldiers. Telegrams of rights, infringed. Treadn’t swiss-army knives for the ceremonial swiss-cheese-ing of Tyrants. Both foreign and domestic. And, as it so happens, they are also America’s favorite answer to the question of Non-War-Related Taxes. We are now and always have been a warlike people. We are a military, first, a bank, second, and a country in our spare time. And as such, our military IS, at least in theory, impressive. For better or for worse, the Wolves of Wall Street have established their military as the Iron Standard of Force in this world. Not peace, mind you, but of force: the Leviathan Law of the Endless Blue. And to accomplish this goal of force exertion, the US Military has been sharpened, honed, funded, and drilled into...overwhelming adequacy. But, militaries do more than just train their soldiers to shoot. It teaches them discipline. It provides rules, structures, and safeguards. Because, when you sharpen a person into a knife, and then teach that knife how to kill, it is in that country's best interest to keep its knives happy, or, functionally disabled. In other words, Governments know they must use socialism to take care of their military assets. Otherwise, they run the risk of mutiny. So? They feed them. Water them. Assist them. Treat their injuries. Train their minds. And they do so free of charge. Well, not totally free. You pay for that. But, regardless of what even the most stringently capitalist Commandos might say, militaries everywhere recognize one indisputable fact of administrating killers. That being,
You cannot raise an army and refuse to feed them. Why? Because they will inevitably turn on their Commanders.
In other words, providing lethal force to a military host demands upkeep. For the sake of everyone up top. And if nothing else, it's just bad business to let your investment fester. And as we all know, the US invests more into its military than any other nation in the history of this planet. However, in a funny turn of fate, most Americans have been systematically robbed to the point that they will never experience any of this safety net. That is…unless they get incarcerated. Then, they get it all, no questions asked. As I’m sure you can probably agree…that’s more than a little strange. And in a country with SO many people currently struggling to keep their heads above water, our guns are becoming a bigger and bigger problem. In fact, in the time it took me to write this, there have already been two more mass shootings. And I imagine, by the time you are reading this, there’s probably been another. And every one of those senseless deaths, I imagine you’ll probably feel…nothing. Or at least nothing close to what you should. Because we’ve gotten used to it. Each of those innocent lives was just another unfeeling tick in a long, long line of extrajudicial ‘Americana.’ Examples of a Citizen’s ‘Right To Life’ playing second fiddle to their Neighbor’s ability to take it. It’s becoming standard. It’s becoming normal. Thoughts and Prayers. And all that jazz. And that’s not even counting the schools.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Violence is not a uniquely American trait. Nor is it by any means...new. But America has been an unusually violent organization from its start. Why? Because violence works. In fact, the Founders of this country believed in their heart-of-hearts that violence was not only the right, but the God-given DUTY of all Oppressed Peoples. Of course, their definition of ‘People’ was not 'fractionally proportional’ to the modern day, but…they did, at least, believe equally in the power of force. And for those Founding Fathers, Guns were their main tools of choice. Muskets, Cannon, and Flintlock: all of them, the foundational bedrock for a new form of republic. And the thing is…no matter what side of the aisle you find yourself on…unfortunately…guns work as an excellent catalyst for violence. And they work very, very well. You think Ol’ King ‘Georgie Boy’ would’ve just…let his colonies go? No. Guns work almost 100% of the time. And that’s the problem. They work SO well that a bunch of hick militias won out against the preeminent military superpower of their time. And, as a result, all those Men came to believe that an armed population was a safe population. Safe from the likes of kings, villains, and censorship. And with all that in mind, they built a house, united. A house with many, many rooms. Rooms for every sort of person to become any sort of American they so choose to be. And, whether you like it or not, guns played a role in all of it. Through the good and the bad, and the worse, guns have stayed an omnipresent part of American politics. And so long as a single Nation State exists, that reality is unlikely to change.
3: THE PROBLEM OF GUN VIOLENCE
Again, violence is not new. But Gun Violence is…different from other forms of violence. It's stubborn. It’s easy. It’s inclusive. It’s handicap accessible. It respects your pronouns. It shows up to school on time, to church on the weekends, and to games without an invite. It’s quick. It’s sudden. It’s lethal. And with our modern high-capacity firearms, it takes so little effort for some rando with a grudge to create a truly monumental tragedy. All it takes is a single twitch of a desperate man’s hand….and then…boom. Like I said. Guns are microphones. They turn accidents into executions. Altercations into obliterations. Breakdowns into lockdowns. And tragedies into catastrophes. And just like singing into a megaphone or screaming into a speaker system, Guns amplify the message of their sender a hundred-fold. And that’s by design. At this point, at least at the time of writing, American Guns have claimed nearly 10% of ALL sitting American Presidents (even more if you count the attempts). But I hear you. You’re screaming,
"WHY? WHY does this keep happening? Is it the left? Is it the Right? Is it Trump? MAGA? IMMIGRANTS?! JEWS!? IS IT OBAMA!? IT’S OBAMA ISN’T IT! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING? HERE? HERE OF ALL PLA--"
—Guns. The answer is Guns. F*cking obviously. And no matter what anyone says, it’s entirely goddamned moronic to pretend otherwise. But, unfortunately, it’s also equally moronic to pretend guns will ever just magically disappear. No. That’s somehow even less believable. And, as such, I’m not writing this essay to change anyone's mind about guns. Everyone’s already made up their minds about that. As well as how they should be regulated. But despite what you may think, this essay is actually not even about guns at all. Rather, it’s about the steps that we can take as a people to protect ourselves from them. It’s about the steps that we can realistically take to protect the most innocent lives moving forward. So, I’m not going to yell. I’m not going to pander. And I’m certainly not going to curse. Well…maybe a little cursing. But my main goal is just to have an honest, adult discussion about what we can realistically do to MINIMIZE casualties. That’s right. I said, ‘Minimize.’ Not, ‘End.’
4: MANIFEST INFESTATION
But, if we’re going to have this discussion, we must first, all, accept our violent history in whole. Not just the sanitized hogwash being hocked by our lovingly approved Trinity of the Holy Curricula. And not just the parts we like either.
ALL of it.
From the ‘breeding' houses of the American South, to the forced hysterectomies imposed upon nearly 1/3rd of all Puerto Rican women by the US Government. From Genocides to Gerrymandering. From the Trail of Tears to the Tulsa Massacre. From the KKK to Christian Eugenicists experimenting on Black Populations. From Christo-Fascists to Christ-Approved Re-Education Schoolhouses. From Chemical Weapons and napalm being used against Vietnamese Civilians, to the indiscriminate Carpet-Bombing of Laos. From Sundown Towns to the Salem Witch Trials. From Black lynchings to Black sites. From nuclear tests on Pacific Islanders to nuclear detonations on civilian populations. From the Atlantic Slave Trade to the Colonial Occupation of the Philippines. In other words, "From Sea to Shining Sea.”
I know it may be painful, it may even make you angry to hear things phrased in these terms, but it is very important that we not sanitize death, birth, or history. Because a simplified narrative makes us all much...so much simpler in turn. And simple tools are by far the easiest to lead astray. No matter how righteous their heart.
5: NO ESCAPE
But, just like we must accept all these difficult things about our past, we must also accept that guns are as much a part of America’s political landscape as water is to the sewers of Venice. And, just like how Venice is plagued by seasonal floods, so too is our “Yearly Red Tide" baked into the very geography of our social covenant. Guns are undeniably an unequivocally, a part of American Citizenship itself: intertwined with our fate forever. They are our answer to crowns. A symbol of our unity. More so than any eagle. More so than any standard. More so than any God. So, love it. Hate it. Condemn it. Rage against it. Rage for it. Decry. Accept. Get real. There are almost 391,000,000 of them. And that’s just an estimate. And so long as Wall Street is allowed to profit off of war, there will always, always be more. For just like sex-work, drugs, border-crossings, and abortion, guns—if made entirely illegal—will only grow more dangerous. That is to say, hidden and taboo. They’ll become both the domain of the underground and the sole right of governments. An exclusive and explosive currency controlled only by sociopathic Enlistees, and ‘soldados con tenis.’ And even if we, the People, DO somehow manage to vote all of them away, well…who’s going to go out and collect them? Sure as hell not gonna be me. No. No. No. It’s like with Nukes. The cat’s been let out of the bag...and now, there’s no going back. Earth is now a Nuclear Family. And in the same vein, Earth's preeminent Military Force is attached to a country that was literally built upon supplying the means of enacting violence to everyone. Guns are here to stay.
6: HERE TO STAY
But, if guns ARE here to stay, so too are their consequences. And no matter your ideology of choice…I’m sure you can at least agree on this…
"If nothing changes…things are only going to get worse."
Because shootings have now become so common that they now have their own tierzoo-style ranking system. We’ve got:
Mass. School. At Mass. Political. Racial. Radical. Domestic. Suicide. Retaliatory. Premeditated. Preordained. Plenipotentiary.
Honestly, it’s starting to feel like ANY sort of crowded event could become a target at any time. Nowhere is safe. Nowhere is sacred. Hell, the World Cup is happening as we speak, and the Olympics are right around the corner. And that’s just scary to think about. Who the hell is going to want to attend a large event if America can’t even promise a safe zone? But, if we can’t do anything about guns, then I think we should take a serious look...at Switzerland.
7: SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is surprisingly similar to the US in many, many ways. They are also a multiethnic nation with no official national language. They have a lot of billionaires, banks, and occupy a similar rung to the US in the current globalized pecking order of extraction. The Swiss are rich. They are insulated by their mountainous geography. They remain a prestigious center of global commerce, and, most of all, they are ALSO armed to the teeth. The Swiss live in what is essentially a natural fortress complete with turrets, bunkers, and underground cities. They are the militant banker of Europe. The Alps Armada. The Sleeping Soldier of the Snowy Peaks. And yet…somehow, despite it all, they don’t seem to have this problem. At least not in the way WE do. But I hear you. You. Yes, You. The young man in the bow tie, dressed like a monorail salesman,
“BUt dO thE SwIss EvEn HaVE Guns? OuR BiLl oF rIgh-”
—Ohhhh yes, my Friend. The Swiss have guns. MANY guns. And, in some places, more guns per capita than in the US of A. Marksmanship is consistently ranked among their best Olympic events. Because, for the Swiss, shooting’s not just a sport. It’s not just a hobby. And it’s not just a right either. It's something much stronger…Tradition. An old one at that. In fact, the Swiss fascination with guns is older than the US times two. It’s nearly as old as guns themselves. Yes! Believe it or not, the Swiss were hosting ‘Schützenvereine’ (Gun Clubs) almost 200 years BEFORE Columbus ever even started begging inbred royals for a boat of his own. But yes, I hear you. You in the front. With the septum piercing and the perfectly clean Carhartt work jacket. I hear you. You ask,
“So what? So the Swiss have Guns with no mass shootings? What are they even doing so differently?”
I’m glad you asked. What do the Swiss do SO differently? To answer that, let’s look at two things:
A- The Swiss People’s relationship to their Guns.
B- The Swiss Government’s relationship to their People.
A. THE SWISS AND THEIR GUNS
Let’s start with the first. To address the Red Elephant in the room: No. Obviously, the Swiss are not guaranteed a ‘Right to Arms’ like us God-fearing Patriots. And to address the Blue Donkey in the room: NO, Switzerland is ALSO not some magic wonderland where people hold hands and kittens shit rainbows. They are a normal country with their fair share of problems, like everywhere else. But, somehow, through it all, they have been able to navigate the process of governing ‘lethal responsibility’ for more than 500 years. And from a distance, at least, whatever they are doing…it sure as hell seems to be working. So let’s talk structure. Like many small countries, Switzerland mandates military service (at least for Men). That means that there are already huge swaths of the population that receive proper training in the handling and maintenance of firearms. But, unlike in the US, Guns are not a guaranteed right. They ARE important. Yes. But they are also earned, bought, and paid. Not entitled. So, by the time any new recruit passes their Basic Training, they have already attained a certain level of respect for their service weapon. A respect conspicuously absent in our American neck of the woods. However, this fascination with guns doesn’t stop at the military. Civilian life in Switzerland is quite full of guns, too. There are Clubs for enthusiasts. Hunting Parties. Workshops and classes. FREE workshops. Workshops that ordinary people can travel to for a reasonable price, and on a well-maintained and affordable public transport system. And yet, contrary to popular belief, this…actually isn’t all that different from the US either. The US has actually HAD most of these things before. Not concurrently, but there was a time. A time when the United States had the most extensive railway system in the world. A time when the US also had drafts, ticket price standards, government shooting clubs, free workshops, and standardized price controls. All pre-Reagan, of course. So, based on all that, we can reasonably assume that the Swiss’ relationship to their guns is NOT particularly new or special. Nor is it the solution to our problem. So, let’s move on to number two. To where I believe the REAL difference between the US and Switzerland lies.
B: THE SWISS GOVERNMENT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THEIR PEOPLE
The Swiss Government’s relationship to its people is drastically different from that of the US. And what is so different? Well, speaking solely from a Dumbass American’s Perspective, the main difference appears to be…desperation. That’s right. Desperation.
The Swiss just…don’t have it. At least not like WE do. For you see, the Swiss Government provides their armed citizenry with a large, large safety net. One funded by their taxes, certainly. But UNLIKE ours, their safety net also includes everything from education to healthcare, from food minimums to housing, and a reliable public transport to boot. The Swiss Government funds communal gathering places. Places where people can freely assemble, talk, protest, relax, and generally ‘be’ without the threat of violence, tickets, or arrest. In other words, there are guaranteed spots specifically allocated for people to just…exist. Though these things might seem small at first, I assure you they are not. They are actually just what most Nation States would call…Citizenship. Because with just these few minimal things being provided to them, huge swaths of the Swiss population can INSTANTLY become free. Freer than most of everyone living in…THIS ‘Land of the Free.’ Free from many of the myriad stressors that we Americans have learned to carry in our holsters each and every day. And because of all that, the Swiss are far, FAR less likely to use any form of lethal force. At least whenever they can avoid it. Why? Because their Country never allows them to get that desperate. In other words, the Swiss Government goes out of its way to create an environment where its citizens don’t NEED to use their guns as ‘microphones’ to be heard. Rather, when one of their Citizens has a complaint, they can just use…actual microphones. They don’t have to worry as much. The stakes aren’t life and death for every single situation like they are here in the States. Because their government provides catch-stops in between discussion and lethal escalation. Systems, fenceposts, and guard rails designed to prevent true, widespread desperation. And to put it bluntly, when compared to Americans, the Swiss Government gives their people something to lose.
8: THE HIDDEN COSTS OF LIVING FREE
Now, if you’re an American hearing me say these things, your ‘Freedom Alarms’ are probably ringing,
“SOCIALISM! CAPITALISM! COMMUNISM! YOUCOMMIEBITCHASSLIBERALFASCISTBLOODTR—”
—Shut up. Set every ‘ism’ aside for right now. None of them matter. And none of them even exist. The Rich don’t abide by them, and neither should you. It’s all just a convenient exercise in union-busting for common thieves to profit off of their employees' communal disjunction. The only -ism that has ever, and will ever matter when discussing the actions of modern Nation States is...Corporatism. Meaning, in broad strokes, that the best way to understand the actions of modern governments is just to view them as like any other multinational conglomerate. One with many companies under its umbrella. One with a successful history of mergers and acquisitions. A conglomerate operating within a system that uses the threat of force to extract resources for the singular purpose of contract negotiation. And by extension, when viewing the world through this lens, you come to see that there are no citizens in their world either. Instead, citizens are actually just…lifelong “Employees" of a company. Usually of companies that have successfully laid claim to the place that person was born. Following this, any attempt to categorize the perks of “working” for these “countries” should be viewed as nothing more than comparing the Employee Benefits from one job to another. Companies don’t want to pay you. But it’s the cost of doing business.
Of course you may not agree with me on any of this. That’s fine. You don’t have to. Just go read the news instead. And when you do, you may come across a story. A story of how the US Government, supposedly the world's foremost Capitalist, just bought equity in a Rare Earth Company to—what was that? Oh...yes, that’s right. To,
“pRoTeCt tHe frEe mArkEt.”
Now…if you’re anything like me, you’d read that and say, “Huh, that’s not very 'FrEe mArKet' of you guys, now is it?” And indeed you would be right. In fact, it’s...textbook socialism. Just like the VA, Social Security, and Medicare. All of them are technically socialism. Something that goes firmly against the Capitalist World view. Why? Because Social Programs are how you keep a military on your side, and how a company keeps its “employees" loyal. It's just common sense. You have to offer your employees...something…otherwise there’s nothing to stop them from fragging their CO, and burning the base to the ground. But of course, this is not a new idea. Nor is it a novel train of thought. It's generally accepted as fact that you have to pay people to extract labor from them. However, never in all of history has a Corporation been so willing to deprive its own citizens of traditional “benefits” as the United States of America. Because the US’ Corporate Elite have mastered the art of desperation.
9: PTO
If you’re an American, odds are, you’re pretty desperate right now. At least, much more desperate than you might realize. Don’t believe me? Try taking a day off to think about it. No? Plan a holiday? No? Oh, they need you that week? Ok, well, maybe just use a sick day to--Oh? No again? And why not?
Student Loans. Taxes. Rent. Food. Stagnant Wages. Groceries. Debt. Water Bill. Medication. Gas Bill. Phone Bill. Clothes. Underwear. Credit score. Shoes. Wifi. Gas Bill again. A different kind of Gas Bill. Car Insurance. Medical Insurance. Dental insurance. Tip. Renter’s Insurance. Vision Insurance. Copays. School Supplies. Subscriptions. Doctor’s Appointments. Specialists. Voter ID. Tickets. Coroners. And then don’t forget to add sales tax on every purchase.
ALL OF THAT. It's all on you. Other "Flag-bearing Corporations” (like the Swiss) have learned to give many of these things to their citizens as sort of "employee discounts.” Not here, though. Here, Company Policy dictates that, though a citizen may be taxed, they should still have to pay for every one of these things themselves. It’s like a protection racket where you fork over the money, but then still have to go pay for the bodyguard out of pocket. And naturally, don’t forget to add sales tax onto that too. For, despite being the richest Corporation in the history of this world, America is unique. It sees its own citizens as an equally extractible resource, as compared to a Country’s usual Marks (those living outside of its borders).
Because here in America, it doesn’t really matter who you are…if you are not a member of our Corporate Elite, then you are vulnerable. Exposed. Desperate. And because of this, most Americans today live every single moment just ONE misstep away from losing EVERYTHING (despite still being expected to pay for the privilege). We are always just one accident away from being homeless. Or disabled. Or worse…both. Because if you miss just one day of work to go vote…if your boss doesn’t schedule you…if your landlord decides to raise rent…or GOD FORBID if you get injured in the process of existing…good luck. You’re in debt. You’re on the street. And if you have a family? Dependents? Then you’re ALL on the street. And everyone knows that once you go out onto American streets, you never leave. You’re better off just hanging yourself by those bootstraps. Because your life insurance is probably worth more than your future. In a nutshell, America has become a place where every bill, every action, every slight, every change, and every event that happens…anywhere, is almost certainly going to result in a life-or-death scenario for at least one person. And, statistically, that person has access to a gun. As is their 'God-given Right.' That’s the America I know. Desperate.
10: THIS PRIDE IS MY PRIDE
Americans have learned to carry ALL this invigorating desperation with us everywhere we go. Pridefully. Because…the story is...you must. Your hands are the only thing standing between your family’s waistlines and actual starvation. Between shelter and shell casings. Between stasis and crisis. Between your daughter’s surgery and your mother’s medication. That’s how we’ve been forced to operate. And it's just how we live. And the thing is, we…kinda like it.
No, really. We’ve learned to fetishize our arena’s high stakes. We laugh at the losers. And we worship the wins. Because the only thing Americans love more than their guns is a ‘Self-Made Man.’ We get off on it. We inject those rare successes into our veins. Stories of rags to riches. Reminders that, ‘no, you’re not poor, you’re just on your way up.’ A Musk in the mailroom. A Bezos in the juice bar. A Vanderbilt in the Build-a-Bear. We love it. Each of us, every American, is primed with the knowledge that if we just work harder than anyone else, if we claw, if we grind, if we scratch, if we climb our way all the way up to the top, then…we’ll have everything we’ve ever wanted. And that, somehow, regardless of who gets hurt along the way, the world will actually be better off for our victory. That’s how we like it. Here, every coin is stamped with the promise of American Exceptionalism: marked with our own unique brand of rugged individualism. Of a scrappy Dreamer who climbs their way up from nothing, climbing the rungs by their bootstraps, kicking down others along the way. We, the People, have been taught that THAT is the golden standard of success: to succeed DESPITE your neighbors. To succeed not just despite the odds, but despite your community as well. Despite the world. We are conditioned to fight for what’s ours, to want more of it than anyone else, and then to carve out what’s ours from the hands of anyone so selfish as to be unwilling to relinquish it. In other words, inside you are two wolves. And the first of them is aiming for Wall Street.
11: THE WALL STREET PAC
If you’re an American, you have been primed to act like a wolf cast out from its pack. A lone predator desperate to build its own den. And to create a new Pack from scratch. Over time, we started calling that success “the American Dream.” Think about it. Our Billionaires don’t live in towns. They ARE towns. They make compounds. Build bunkers. Buy islands. They don’t just walk around. No. They don't go out and get coffee. They don't need to. People need them. They've got no one to please and nothing to prove. Because when you’re rich enough, people come to you. A Billionaire hires a chef. Builds a pool. Calls a barber. Hires an assistant. A driver. A wall. A guard. A moat. The ultimate pinnacle of the American Dream is to wolfishly build your own little castle from scratch, and then, wall yourself inside, defending its ramparts until the day that you die from heart disease. Americans have been conditioned to like the Economy like a jungle. Pure bloodsport. Unregulated. A king of the hill. A winner takes all, including the donations plate. And if the winner took too much? Well, then someone better will just…set him straight. It’s the law of the jungle. The rhyme of the climb. However…for most Americans, that climb never pans out. Shocking, I know. And these days, American Wolves have stolen so much of America itself that even the bare minimum of subsistence is becoming unattainable. Let alone financial actualization. These days, the desperation of our directionless motivation is beginning to fester. In other words, there are only so many apartments on Wall Street. And the scarcity their current Inhabitants have caused is creating...something else. Something much, much worse. Something they made possible. Something WE stamped by omission. Because, unfortunately, the coin of American Exceptionalism has a bloody obverse. A second face. An increasingly common archetype, equal and opposite to the Corporate Wolf in every way. That being...
12: THE LONE WOLF GUNMAN
You know his name. A Villain that we’ve only grown more and more familiar with these past years. The one who, instead of becoming the town, chose to attack it instead.
The Lone-Wolf Killer. The Active Shooter. The Vigilante. The Outcast. The Extremist. The Loner. The Zealot. The ‘wE sAw No SiGNs.’ The Racist. The Fascist. The Leftist. The Zionist. The Jihadist. The Communist. The Bigot. The Zealot. The Sympathizer.
Their double-die decorations always vary, but the coin costs us all the same thing every time: innocent life. And what does it buy? At minimum, 25 years of free meals, and about fifteen minutes of fame per purchase. Its payment is bipartisan. It buys the same runtime on FOX as NPR. It reserves the same primetime slots as a Wall Street Merger.
Because at their core…these two criminals are the same person. Symptoms of the same problem. And the direct result of each other. Wall Street wolves create Lone Wolf Killers not as incident, but as a byproduct of their very existence. One mouth hoards, one mouth starves. One hand steals, one hand fires. And everyone else pays the price. And Americans have paid that price so many times…it’s now become nothing more than just a regular part of the news. About as unusual as the Sunday Comics, and nearly as thought-provoking as the daily Wordle. Of course, every now and again, there’ll be a big one. A merger between two monopolies. A school that was decimated. Something that gets the people talking. Something that fuels a righteous fire in every American for…what…maybe a week? A few days. Two days tops? We yell. We scream. But we have bills to pay. So it's back to business again. Because you can’t just…NOT go to work. Can you? Unthinkable. Best to put your head down and grind. We get a few weeks' uninterrupted work, and…then it happens again. And as this cycle repeats, we’ve begun to see a pattern. More often than not, these senseless killers start off exactly the same: as American as Apple Pie. But, over time…desperation changed them. They became warped. Isolated. Violent. Frustrated. Repressed. Alienated. And alone. And, as their American Dream became less and less attainable, and their safeguards hoarded by Wall Street, life's various stressors became too much….that’s when it starts.
13: THE ‘SLIDE’
Just like on actual battlefields, American fortunes can change quickly. Life-or-death scenarios accelerate growth of every kind. Whether it be Benign or Malignant. High stakes breed extremes of every kind, and because of this, they produce radicals of every persuasion as well. Most of them armed. And now, as more and more people are struggling to keep their heads above water, the slide from ladder to luger has gotten slicker. Where does the slide lead them? Away. Far, far away. Away from our house. Away from microphones. Away from podiums. Away from stages. Away from town halls. Away from voting boxes. Away from courtrooms. Away from police investigations. Away from conversations. Away from redemption. Away. From. Us.
And whether the Killers do it for attention, for a cause, for themselves, or for someone else…it doesn’t really matter. Labels mean nothing to the dead. And, as far as Killers are concerned, their desperation ALWAYS provides its own justification. Take your pick. Whatever your ideology of choice, the Slide of Desperation makes it worse. The farther you fall, the more tantalizing and righteous the justification of violence it provides. ‘The Slide’ swallows impotent citizens in crisis. It draws struggling people in, and spits them out impossibly far away from the ladder of self-actualization. It strands them out there. Far, far away. Out there, in the cold. And when you’re that far away. When you’re on the outside, looking in through someone else's windows, everybody inside the house starts to look like your enemy. Like a tyrant. This slide of desperation makes Assassins out of Accountants. Killers out of Cashiers. Crusaders out of Christians. Partisans out of Pacifists. Unibombers out of Unitarians. And Monsters out of Matheletes. And as America gains its first Trillionaire, that slide has only gotten steeper.
14: SO WHAT CAN WE DO? TIGERS?
It’s simple. We limit desperation. Wherever and whenever we can. We find ways, like almost every other Industrialized Corporation, to provide resources and safeguards. The same as our military does to our soldiers. And the same as the Swiss do to their armed citizenry. Kit. Tent. Mess. Medical. No questions asked. It’s just the cost of handing out guns, and then teaching their Owners to shoot.
To put it another way, if the Constitution guaranteed each of us a Chihuahua, and I chose NOT to train it…honestly…nothing would really happen. That little epileptic munchkin might spaz out and bite a few people, but its teeth would rarely ever break innocent skin. However, if my same government guaranteed me a TIGER…well…that changes things. It suddenly becomes in EVERYONE’s best interest that Tiger Handlers be given proper resources free of charge. Supplied not just to take care of a tiger, but of themselves as well. Not just for the Government’s sake, but for everyone’s sake as well.
Think of the UK with its knives. Knives are dangerous. They’re sharp. They cut. They hurt! And sometimes, they are used to cause horrific injuries and death. But, just like the chihuahua in this analogy, their danger is usually limited to both arms’ reach and arms’ strength. Their damage remains limited, directly proportional to the abilities and physicalities of its wielder. In other words, knives are Chihuahuas, and it takes ‘chihuahuas’ A LOT of effort to cause widespread death. Tiger’s though…Tigers can kill many, many people very, very quickly. And if we’re not going to do anything about tigers…then we should at least put some thought into maintaining the zoo.
15: ON THE NATURE OF WOLVES
While it may never be lupus, Wolves remain a constant concern when considering American safety. And whether these wolves are of the Wall Street or of a Lone Wolf persuasion, they pose an equally existential threat to the American People. Wolves are creatures of appetite. They exist as they are allowed to persist. And they eat and ravage accordingly. In nature, wolves are what is called either an “Opportunistic” or a “Facultative Carnivore.” This means they will eat whatever is available and feast upon whatever might stumble and fall into their hunting grounds. Now, we’ve talked at length about the horrors of the Lone Wolf. Let’s talk more about his doppelgänger. I mentioned before that I considered Wall Street Wolves to be just as violent as their Gun-Toting Extremist Counterparts, and I truly mean it. But, Wall Street Wolf violence is more celebrated, more distributed, and, as a result, less newsworthy. It’s corporate. Of course, it results in just as much misery and death as a Lone Wolf, it's just…in order to accomplish the same thing in the Corporate World, you need a broker. A proxy, and the US Military is nothing…if not the best proxy in history.
If you do live in America, then you’ve probably seen the memes. Every time, the literal millisecond, our military is mentioned, people start posting about “yoU’rE AbOUt tO fInD oUt wHy tHe Us dOesN’t hAve HeAltHcaRe.” As if the possibility of your child dying from a lack of medical care is somehow preferable to being vaporized by US artillery. However, those two problems do exist for the same reason. Death.
Death is the single best profit motivator in history. And in a Corporation, seeing as Profit is the goal, death drives the greatest quotas. It cracks whips. It makes people willing to fork over every penny they have. In this way, the threat of death is the literal incarnation of profit, making War nothing more or less than the greatest casino ever invented.
But…there’s a problem. In America, even though the house always wins, “War Profiteering” is still…technically illegal. But don’t you worry. Fortunately, Wall Street has found ways of getting around it. Ways of doing exactly what the Lone Wolf Gunman does, but slower. Like a leech. In order to accomplish this, you just need to add one degree of separation to the exchange. That’s what makes Wall Street Brokers more respectable than their lone wolf counterparts. They fund the gun, but would never dare to fire it themselves.
16: THE DEATH PROFITEERS
You can’t bet directly on soldiers. You just can’t. But, you CAN bet when the bombs will fall thanks to the Kalshi mobile app. And though you can’t directly profit off of bombing raids, you can certainly buy shares in the companies that make the bombs. And, of course, give your buddies a heads up as well. And by God, it doesn’t stop there. You can buy shares in construction companies already under government contract. You can buy shares in the oil companies (the ones who most stand to gain from the loss of an incinerated competitor). And the best part is…there’s almost no risk. War used to be a bit of a scary gamble, you see. You couldn’t really play both sides. But now…most war stuff happens far away. And its Combatants (whether they be schoolgirls or wedding guests) all have a very long and proud history of being vaporized in the pursuit of an American Wermacht. But…I hear you. You in the front, with the million-dollar smile, and the unconvincing hairplugs. You’re asking,
“What if that’s not enough? Is there a way to do that war thing a little closer to home?"
Well, don’t you worry, just like with War Profiteering, there’s workarounds for extracting profit from bloodshed here on the home front as well. The trick? Just incorporate this time as a healthcare insurance provider...
17: DOMESTIC HUNTING GROUNDS
“Is Curing Patients A sustainable business strategy?”
-A Goldman Sachs Analyst, circa 2023
Unfortunately, for almost 103 years now, the patient’s waiting room has become the Corporate Wolf's second-favorite hunting ground. It’s war-profiteering for the domestic predator. And, for over a century now, during the "PACs Americana,” these Wolves have been granted unfettered access to cradles and caskets alike: given free license to feast upon the American People ad infinitum. And to profit off of their desperation. To quite literally suck American Blood, from cradle to casket and back again. From prenatal care to post mortem, their American Hosts exist to be bled. It’s not just War Profiteering. It’s Death Profiteering. But just as profiting from War requires a proxy to suckle from a Company’s Militarized subsidiary, so too are there proxies and procedural workarounds that must be adhered to. In fact, it is the sole reason for which they were made. Enter, Health Insurance.
In other words, healthcare insurance companies have become the sole degree of separation required for a Corporate Wolf to avoid both culpability and, more importantly, financial responsibility, for the practice of death profiteering. And now? Their predation has become such a mainstay of American life, it's as much a part of our post-mortems as the Lone Wolf Gunman is to our forums. Now, nearly 60% of all US debts and personal bankruptcies are the direct result of Medical Procedures. It’s so ridiculous, it’s actually become comical.
18: THE LEECHES
Because of price-gouging by Healthcare Insurance Providers, Americans now refuse to even take ambulances in an emergency. That’s 6k minimum. And an IV Drip Bag of saltwater goes for as much as 25k. And with a federal minimum wage of…horseshit, Parents are now willingly dying from preventable conditions, rather than inflict the cost of their medical treatment upon their family. Because of this, People are growing desperate. They are increasingly seeking alternative medicines, and doing everything in their power NOT to go to the doctor. Taking all this into account, it is fair to say that Healthcare is perhaps the single greatest source of American desperation at the moment. And in a country with the best doctors in the world…that’s…more than a little unusual. It's become predation without representation. Because nothing is off the menu to Wolves. And now, because we have allowed these Wolves into our hospitals, they have created a carnivorous system that somehow manages to f*ck over every single person within the scope of that industry. You think Doctors are making money? I assure you they’re not. From patients to doctors, from hospitals to governments, from nurses to nose-spray providers. All are affected by that leech in the middle of our American medical supply chain. Just as Defense Contractors provide the ultimate proxy for profiting off of death abroad, so too do Insurance Companies bear that standard at home. In their current form, Health Insurance corporations exist for no other reason than to profit off of sickness, and to arbitrarily decide which Humans most deserve to die based off of how much their treatment might figure into a Wolf’s profit analyses. In short, these Wolves on Wall Street have created a system of extraction that is so fundamentally evil, so violently exploitative, and so villainously Orwellian, that when one of their own CEO's was assassinated in broad daylight…their customers actually celebrated his death. And that is exactly my point. Wall Street greed directly created that Lone Wolf Killer. One whose desperation might have been limited had Wolves not been allowed to hunt in the sick bay. As you can see, it is in ALL of our best interests to limit the desperation of any armed population. But Americans especially. Not just for the sake of the sick, but also for the sake of those poor Wolves as well. Because I am quite sure all of them would sleep far more soundly knowing that their marks did not hold them personally responsible for their suffering. Because to the Hungry, a Hoarder looks an awful lot like a target.
That’s why I wrote a law. A first draft, certainly. But a law that would get the ball rolling. I’m calling it, 'The LEECH Act.' An Act that would remind the Health Insurance Industry that Human Life is not only not for sale. But neither is death. It's a way to limit corporatism on the domestic front. And it would accomplish all these things by simply making sure that doctors and prescribing physicians have the final say in the treatment of their patients. To this, there will undoubtedly be pushback. Just like how Confederate Slavers rose in rebellion because their businesses relied on the owning People as livestock. But, if you’re worried about Wolves and their investments? I ask you this…
"Even if some DO lose returns on their investment…who in the f*cking hell cares?"
Because that ‘Free’ in the “Free Market” doesn’t refer to protecting someone’s investments. It refers only to the Consumer, and what we, as a bloc, may allow to be bought.
The Law I wrote is as follows.
19: The LEECH Act.
A Proposed Law to Reduce Gun Violence and Save Innocent Lives
PURPOSE:
This Law’s purpose is to reduce for-profit medical insurance fraud while simultaneously rebuilding American Trust in medical institutions, thereby reducing the widespread desperation of the general American Populous. At the time of writing, 60% of all debts and bankruptcies in the US are caused by medical debt. And seeing as Health Insurance Companies are essentially engaging in domestic war profiteering by using sickness and death as price-gouging tools…it is very necessary to remove all considerations of profit from considerations as to whether or not a patient is deserving of treatment.
PROPOSED LAW:
a) Effective immediately, no automated system may ever be used to review, deny, approve, or otherwise dispense judgment upon insurance claims.
b) No Healthcare Insurance Representative may ever deny, review, amend, or in any way impede the approval of medically necessary claims; additionally, no Health Insurance representative may decide what is medically necessary for a patient UNLESS they themselves possess the same [or higher] medical accreditation and field-specific specialization as said Claimant’s prescribing Physician.
c) No Physician, Assistant, or other miscellaneous Medical Professional may ever be retaliated against for their prescriptions, or cost to facilities when treating their patient.
20: CONCLUSIONS AND THE USS ENTERPRISE
Again. If guns aren’t going away, then the Corporation known as the US Government MUST provide the tools, facilities, and aid to ensure its ‘Soldiers’ remain fit for service: ensuring all of its Citizenry/Employees the same safeguards as they already extend to our Military, Elders, and Felons. Why? Because the American People are armed to the teeth. We are described by our very constitution as a militia. Because Gun Rights without healthcare is like tigers without cages. And in a cost-of-living crisis, the Richest Heads of the American Corporation are enabling this violence by proxy. In order to address these things, the first realistic step towards protecting American Life is using the US Government to dismantle ALL For-Profit Health Insurance Companies. This can be jump-started and eventually completed by passing the LEECH Act. An Act that ensures American Companies cannot systematically deny patient claims for the sake of their own profit. The LEECH Act would put power back into the hands of doctors and prices back into the hands of consumers. And the best part is...it would be very, very easy. Much easier than banning guns. Don’t believe me? Ask the USS ENTERPRISE. No…not that one. I’m actually talking about the Aircraft Carrier. The USS Enterprise (CVN 80).
She is our newest and most expensive addition to the Ford Class of Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carriers. A behemoth. A titan of national security. And she is currently set to be launched sometime later this year. Now with—Huh? Oh, you didn’t hear about her? You didn’t hear about paying for her? Exactly. Because she was built in the interest of national security. And so long as the American Corporation views ANYTHING through its constitutional lens of war profiteering, rest assured, there will ALWAYS be money to spare. So don’t let anyone ever tell you different. Chances are, if they disagree, I assure you, it is either because they do not know what they are talking about, or (more likely) they are directly profiting from your suffering. So treat them in kind. Now, obviously, there are a lot of regular people who are opposed to this as well. Particularly the Old Guard. They support a free economy. A FREE market. They support the invisible hand of supply and demand. However, most of these proud Capitalists also collect Social Security and support the VA. News flash…that’s…wait for it…wait for it…a ‘safety net!’ It’s just phrased in a way that they seem to like. Because nobody likes socialism! But everyone likes supporting the troops! So, if we just add that seasoning into the conversation, I’m sure that we can make some progress on that front. And for every American that we successfully safeguard from the “Slide of Desperation," so too will we reduce our epidemic of Gun Violence as well. And yet, many people will insist that a free-for-all is the only American way. They claim that rules and safeguards will ruin their little war games on Wall Street. But the fact of the matter is…war is still war with rules. If anything, war without rules is neanderthal, monstrous, and barbaric. Our military abides by rules. VERY strict rules. And yet, despite all those rules, the US Military STILL manages to be the strongest in history. So, obviously, you CAN keep the bloodsport but spare your soldiers the fear of mustard gas. And if the word ‘socialism’ offends your snowflake sensibilities, feel free to rebrand it as “Trickle-Up Defensive Investment." Because something has to change. The Domestic American Economy desperately needs new terms of engagement to combat corporate death profiteering. I’m not talking an armistice. But a medic on the battlefield who doesn’t charge a second leg for their amputations. A sort of Geneva Conventions for the American Economy. As such, I am proposing that the parasites in the American Corporation begin viewing its “employees" for what they really and truly are: a revolutionary force in hibernation. A host, near death: one being leeched into violence, and handed a gun with a dream. Because the stakes are becoming too high. The stairs have grown too packed. The ladder, too broken. The slope, too steep. For if this country IS going to guarantee a constitutional right to own the instruments of war…then it should do everything in its power to dissuade their usage. And true palliative care can only start by beginning to respecting the Wielder, more than their weapon. Just like how Cops get Qualified Immunity, there is a Qualified Responsibility to governing lethal force. The privilege of administrating an armed populous, is the burden of its continual, unquestioning maintenance. Like painting a battleship.
Now, make no mistake. There are genuine sickos in this world. True enemies and villains of Humanity itself. Actual monsters who kill for sport. And for hatred. And for Lust. Tragedies that we will never prevent. Accidents we will never see coming. And just like soldiers snap and go AWOL, there will always be Monsters on the outskirts of life. Ones who kill without reason. Cruel defects of consciousness that just want to watch cities burn. This isn’t about them. This won’t save them. And this won’t save their victims either. We can’t do anything about outliers. But we CAN massage the curve. We CAN, like Switzerland, play the game of large numbers in our favor. We can systematically and strategically secure ripping ropes BEFORE they break. We can ease their load. Lessen their stress. Repair their fractures for free. We can help those crushed by the crowd before they ever become jaded enough to fire upon it. We can help the ones who might have been willing to talk: the ones who might have waited in line. The ones who might have listened had their family’s lives not already been at stake, or lost. We can safeguard the Americans who might once have been eager to hold your line of their own accord. That is…if they actually had anything to lose. And right now, most Americans are losing more by the day. Because the hard truth of the matter is that many of these lost souls turned Killer would have happily helped us to build a better world, had their own futures not already been stolen from them piecemeal by Corporate Wolves. In fact, those Killers might even have helped us to make this House into something better than what it is…had they just been provided a place to stay within its walls. And if we’re not budging on guns, I think we should budge on this. Because a house divided cannot stand.
But why the hell should we expect the homeless to care?