TKO Creations

Let me tell you a story about a girl named Ronda Rousey.

(Yes, I’m talking about a sporty-ball thing.  Relax.  It has a greater purpose.)

For the better part of the last two years, we couldn’t stop hearing about this woman.  Whether it was glowing articles about how she was “most dominant athlete in the history of ever” (opinion: she wasn’t even the most dominant female athlete this year, go look up Serena Williams at some point), or her cross-promotions into WWE, and apparently upcoming television and film.

Everyone wanted to interview her, and damn near everyone did.

But in that same stretch, our culture was preparing for the inevitable.  We were ready for it.  We wanted it.  And then we finally got it.

Ronda Rousey lost.

The turn was immediate.  I got whiplash following the twist narrative from “most dominant” to “glory girl” and “poser” and “clearly flawed.”  As annoying as the former was… the heel turn our culture made was just about as tedious.

Because, well, this is what our culture does.  We build up our heroes, seemingly for the sole purpose of tearing them down.  We want our icons to be successful, but not too successful.  We take as much glee from the schadenfreude as we do from the triumph.  We enjoy the fall as much (if not more) than the ascension.

In every field of entertainment, this is what we do.  We wait in eager anticipation for our “favorite” writer’s next book to bomb (especially if said book isn’t from the series we want that author to write in), or the director’s next film to crash and burn, or for the “dynasty” sports team to crumble.

It’s a phenomenon that’s annoyed me for a while, but now as a culture we’ve completely abandoned the pretense as well.  We don’t even pretend anymore.  This is what we want… to raise people on our shoulders simply for the purpose of eventually dropping them on their head, then laughing in delight when we drop them.

That’s not culture.  That’s a cruel prank.  It’s something that you do as 12-year-olds.

Which may just be our level of cultural maturity, I guess.

Now is as good of a time as any to get the newest addition to the Endgames series, with Amazon running a special price of $8.99 for the paperback!  http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Fox-MegaTokyo-Endgames-3/dp/0989931366/

Sorry about that folks, the main Fire Fox post should now CORRECTLY link to the Nook Store page.

I didn’t get terribly into details on Gun Control itself in an earlier post, because I wanted to focus on the larger picture beyond that one issue.  But it is true that gun control in America is an issue to be addressed, so here are my somewhat disjointed thoughts on that specific topic.

• Thoughts like this don’t help the discussion, and honestly miss the mark.  While yes… there certainly are regular people who absolutely abhor anything but completely unfettered access to firearms, they are an insignificant minority of human beings (and I use that term loosely to describe those maniacs).  Go to any corner of this nation, and I think you will discover that Americans in fact don’t think the killing of children is bearable.  Next to no one objects to authorities at the very least better enforcing the laws we currently have, and would at least tolerate any new laws or actions that fall short of the ATF busting down their doors and taking the guns they own.
• So what is the proper target for our anger?  The gun manufacturers who look at the deaths and the casualties and decide their profit margins that come from anyone and their mother being able to buy a gun are more important.  The National Rifle Association should really be called the National Firearm Manufacturers Association at this point, and it’s that political lobby that has perpetually stalled and misrepresented every attempt to stiffen the laws that allow access to firearms.
• I do believe we need to extend the liability laws when it pertains to gun usage.  If your weapon has been used in a crime, you should be able to held liable for the damage done with it.  Starting with civil litigation (paying out in the case of a wrongful death suit, for example) with repeat offenses leading to criminal charges (if your weapons keep winding up in the hands of criminals… at some point, you become the criminal).
• In the case of black market weapons that had no previous established owner, the gun manufacturer can and should be held liable for the damage done.  That hopefully would end the little Manufacture – Mexico – hop the border to the U.S. black market triangle that seems to conveniently happen to the benefit of gun manufacturers.
• Which leads to every weapon in the U.S. being required to be registered to whoever legally owns said weapon.  Some states already do this… but it should be a national requirement.  Carrying an unlicensed firearm should start small (a minor fine), to a misdemeanor offense for repeated violations.  Careful monitoring of who owns what weapon and when it changes hands is a good thing, it’s not a sign that the “gubbermint” is going to steal your guns.

Gun Control doesn’t equal a gun-free nation.  First of all, that would never happen.  But clearly there needs to be some degree of responsibility imposed on gun manufacturers and the public that buys them, because we quite clearly and evidently can’t police ourselves on this score.