If people really want to reduce gun violence, there is a deceptively simple way to help.
When you have the choice, always choose good people. That is, always try to choose people who actually behave well, not just those who share your political views, have a similar lifestyle or the same agenda, for example.
Choose people who treat others with courtesy and respect, who are honest and considerate. (Yes, kindness and affection may not always be easy, but abuse is abuse.)
Good people tend to be charitable, both in what they say about others and in what they do for others. They are not easily offended or jump to conclusions. And of course, good people are not for sale, corrupt, cruel or malicious.
Of course, voting for good people means not voting for political candidates who lie, treat people badly, or otherwise behave badly.
But it also means: always consider the source before allowing yourself to be influenced by what you hear or read.
Is the source trustworthy? Or does it have an agenda or have a history of being wrong? Don’t let yourself be influenced by scaremongers or unfounded rumors. You should be especially skeptical of anonymous sources, malicious rumors and conspiracy theories.
It may sound a bit cliché, but we all shape the world we live in with the choices we make – the way we treat others, the people we choose, the work we do, the things we buy and the people we surround ourselves with.
Being nice is a cost-cutting management strategy. Hire people who can not only get the job done, but also treat others well. (People work for less when they enjoy their work.)
And we all shape the world by who and what influences us, by what we read, who we listen to, and even by how we communicate.
If enough people choose good people, we may have hope for healing our fractured, dysfunctional society..
Mark Holmboe, Rockford
