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Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Are we approaching a tipping point on gun control?

Tyler Cowen seems to think so. His latest column for Bloomberg View is entitled "Why Gun Laws May Finally Change: Kids Are Leading". A few paragraphs:
Today, President Donald Trump dominates media cycles in an unprecedented manner. It’s thus not surprising that two of the social movements that seem to be breaking through -- #NeverAgain and the immigration reform pleas from the Dreamers -- have children in prominent roles. Young people, like our president, are somewhat fresh and unfiltered, albeit with different content. They are harder to mock than, say, Hillary Clinton or Jeb Bush. Emma González, an attack survivor, only joined Twitter this month (@Emma4Change), and she already has more followers than does the National Rifle Association.

The involvement of children also indicates that their elders see the situation as somewhat desperate. Adults are willing to take some chances by allowing their children to be so publicly exposed and so vulnerable to criticism, and even death threats. That too is a sign that the social movement is ready to succeed. The U.S. is coming off a phase of “helicopter parenting,” in which parents try to remove their children from as much risk as possible, even if it’s only the risk of getting a B+ in a class and damaging one’s chances of going to a top college. The rise of a children’s movement during such a time is a sign that social momentum is shifting.

Some critics of #NeverAgain are charging that parents or external activists are “putting up” the children to acts of protest and social media activism. I don’t know how much that is true, but because parents are usually more risk-averse than their children, a coordinated parent-child campaign is not a possibility the NRA should take much comfort in.

2 comments:

  1. "Some critics of #NeverAgain are charging that parents or external activists are “putting up” the children to acts of protest and social media activism."

    Second amendment is written in stone but the fourteenth amendment is not for many on the right. "Anchor babies" and "terror babies" are used to manipulate fear here and alter perception of you're constitution.

    May be the case the same argument is being developed in both cases, to strengthen one part of the constitution and weaken another.

    Conservatives are experts at deploying clear, consistent and direct arguments.

    Left, not so good here.

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  2. p.s. what may also be of note is the way 'we will arm teachers and kill the perpetrators" has not worked.

    Very clear and unambiguous language that is highly successful for the right and the form of narrative that appeals strongly to its base.

    In this case its not working.

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