This Is Your Periodic Reminder That Social Issues Are Horribly Complex, Nuanced, And Interrelated. If

this is your periodic reminder that social issues are horribly complex, nuanced, and interrelated. if you hear someone propose a solution or action or way to move forward that includes the word “just,” it is likely an inadequate and insufficient solution. some things i have heard proposed:

we just need to focus on gun control

we just need to focus on homophobia

we just need to put more scrutiny on men who abuse their female partners

we just need to ban islam/deport muslims

we just need more good guys carrying guns

we just need to focus on toxic masculinity

i feel confident that none of those actions, taken alone, would completely prevent mass shootings like the one that happened this weekend. so when you hear people say “this isn’t about homophobia, it’s about guns” or “this isn’t about guns, it’s about islamic terrorism,” you can say, “it’s actually about all of those things, all of those things at once, and probably some more things, also.” 

i am very thankful that so many people are trying to understand what happened and figure out how to make sure it never happens again. (less happy about the NRA/trump talking points being wheeled out, obviously.) and i hope that people keep pushing on all these levers, tugging on all these strings, in hopes that all of our collective work will be enough to dismantle whatever structures or pressures permit or facilitate these things in happening.