When I was in high school my English teacher introduced us to the study of logic. We spent about a month going through various exercises –“If A=B and B=C then A=C” sort of stuff. Nothing too deep. Kind of fun actually but for the most part my fellow classmates moaned and groaned. They just didn’t get it. At seventeen they knew exactly how to think.
I was thinking of those logic exercises the other day after listening to the governor of Texas. Here’s what he said broken down as a logic problem:
- Mass shootings are caused by anger
- There are more angry people today than ever
- Therefore the solution to mass shootings is to make guns more readily available
I’m almost certain Miss Bauer would have given him an F. What will be his next great leap of logic, do you think?
- To mandate Christian prayer in classrooms, in legislative sessions, in shopping malls – heck, why not take a cue from the Muslims and require mandatory prayer five times a day facing east?
- To force women to start being wives and mothers as God intended. Pop out babies hither and yon whether you can afford to care for them or not. Learn to accept rape as God’s great purpose.
- Shut down libraries and ban more books. We all know mass shooters tend to hang out at libraries and read too many books.
The lovely thing about logic is it isn’t partisan. I don’t care what side of the political aisle you’re on. If anger and hatred are on the rise, the logical solution is not to hand out more guns. It just isn’t. Of course, logic alone can’t be used to solve problems but it sure can highlight sloppy thinking.
When dealing with people. remember, you’re not dealing with creatures of logic but creatures of emotion.
Dale Carnegie
And aye, therein lies the rub. Are we capable of anything but sloppy thinking?
Saying nothing in particular 
You can have all the guns you want. You just can’t have any bullets.
We can take their guns, when Robots wrench them from their hands.
If it keeps going like it is – at least one mass shooting per week – sometimes two a day – there will be only robots left to play with all those guns.
It’s a vicious circle…. Break the circle ban the gun, …yes I know it’s not that simple.💜
Nothing is simple where money is involved.
No of course I realise that 💜
Hi Jan, your logic is flawless. Currently, I think South Africa, even in its deplorable state of near collapse due to mismanagement, is a better place to be than some places in the USA. The views on women, birth control, and rape are archaic and quite scary.
I don’t think the Republican leaders know what to say and so they’re just throwing ridiculous excuses out there and hoping one of them will become the new rallying cry for guns.
Their go to tag line now is mental illness. And since I seriously doubt we’re the only country in the world who suffer mental illness, the difference is the amount of guns. As you say, simple logic.
I don’t think they know what to say or do and so they’re just making stuff up as they go along hoping their followers will buy it. To me it’s pathetic.
I come back to the idea that if there are too many drunken driving car accidents, we don’t give the drivers more alcohol… we limit it and expect responsible behavior. Same principle, logically applied to guns, suggests we limit them and demand responsible behavior among those with them.
Exactly!
Logic in the face of insanity, always comes up short. If someone believes (for whatever reason) that it is always Monday, no amount of proof can make then understand the other days in the week. We live in Germany and Austria during the early 1930s. Cultural lies are the new foundation of elections and government. Hitler knew that.
The only way out of this is through force and one side or the other prevails. Just check your nearest history museum to see how accurate I am. Duke
It’s gotten to the toss shit against the wall and see what sticks point – they don’t even care that it makes no sense. I believe you.
Sophism is back… The Texas “Guvner” is a perfect example. Sigh…
Unfortunately he’s not the only one.
I know… There is a growing trend towards violence (and stupidity) worldwide. Sigh
I have 2 arms therefore I am 2 guns.
How’s that for idiotic logic?
This is a cool post, Jan.
Lol, the Minnie Mouse cartoon makes me think of a Woody Woodpecker colouring book friends of mine gave their daughter.
The daughter picked a page for me to colour in with her.
It was a Thanksgiving scene. The table was set. The woodland pals were seated about. Woody was carving the turkey.
Now, if Woody was a vulture…okay.
Again, cool post, Jan!
I ran into a “The Logic of Disney” article that pointed out all the problems with having cartoon characters who are animals acting like humans. It was funny – but of course we grew up with those cartoons so as kids it didn’t seem odd.
Me too! I grew up with that.
I still love Bugs Bunny and Daffy!