The Loadout Blog

Snapshot|Commentary

The Dichotomy Of The Pen

The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.

Philip K. Dick

Many would tell you the pen is mightier than the sword. In many ways the written word is a deadly adversary. A pen is the tool of a writer and of a creative mind. Upon paper a writer let’s us into their imagination, hopes, dreams, and fears. The pen and paper gives a writer a powerful medium to reach people. A writer can use his words and ideas to empower people to peace, hope, and change within our societies. To challenge the social status quo, to remove dangerous governments, to give us a different perspective of the world. It is a tool that can be used for the peace and advancement of our society. To show us what connects us as a society than what divides us. Writers have the phenomenal ability to use words to empower us and move us towards the good of humanity.

As, easily as a writer can use the pen for good it can be used with evil intent. A writer can also use their words and ideas to spread fear, hate, intolerance, and injustice. As, powerful as those words can be used for peace they can be used for injustice. They can preach about the inferiority of another race and the supremacy of another. It can be used to oppress the voice of someone who disagrees with their ideologies. The pen can be used to spread hate and injustice to the masses. Writers can use it recruit people of like minds to their cause. To propagate the incendiary language of its followers. It can be used to incite violence against communities, religious groups, and certain ethnicities. Words have been used to justify the this type of violence in the past. That justification has caused the persecution, enslavement, and genocide of nations and people throughout human history.

The writer and their tool of choice the pen, have dynamic extremes between good and evil. A firearm is just a tool that can also be used between two dynamic extremes.

The Dichotomy Of The Sword (Firearms)

A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer’s hand.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

A firearm is a tool. It is inanimate and lifeless object. It holds on motives, directives, or perspectives. It is under the sole guidance of its user. Firearms are used to protect our families from harm and danger. A deterrent of violence during a potentially escalating robbery or assault. Security for the women and men being stalked and harassed. Police use them to protect our communities from the ills of society. Firearms are the last stand between us and the tyranny of a government. The government will think twice about their ability to subjugate a nation if the people have a way to defend themselves.

A firearm can be used in the most horrific and deadly ways. Firearms can be used to commit violent crimes and coercion. They can be used to suppress and enforce the rule of violent authoritarian regimes. They have been used by governments to conduct mass murder, genocides, and much more. Firearms have been used with violence to propagate fringe ideologies within modern media. Firearms have the ability to put power into the wrong hands. Allowing for people with evil in their hearts and mind to perpetuate these deadly crimes against humanity.

The pen is a tool of the writer. Allowing the writer to express their views upon the world. A writer has the ability to empower people with words of hope and peace. While a writer can use their words to spread hate, injustice, and violence. A firearm is the tool of the user. It can be used in protection of a person’s home. To stop a violent assault from happening. Allowing police to protect and serve our community from the ills of society. Our military uses it to protect our nation’s rights and sovereignty. Firearms can also be used by the people to stop the tyranny of a government. Both tools have a dichotomy to them. Neither one is inherently good or evil. It is the intention that humanity puts into these objects that gives them their prominence. The responsibility falls upon the user and no one else.

Writing is one of the purest and enduring forms of speech every created. Writing is a way for us as Americans to express our freedom of speech. To bestow our thoughts upon the world without the fear of censorship or reprisals. A right to bear arms is an essential freedom and one of the cornerstones of freedom in this wonderful nation. We have the right to bear arms and protect our freedoms from the tyranny of governments and men. These essential freedoms are the last checks an balances available to the people of this Nation.

Over two-hundred and thirty-nine years ago our founding fathers believed that freedom of speech and the right to bear arms was essential in the foundation of our democracy. They believed it was so vital to this nation that they added the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. The Bill of Rights are the cornerstones of our freedom in this nation. By the inclusion of the Bill of a Rights our founding fathers guaranteed us those inalienable rights. They believed our voices shouldn’t be quelled by the government. That our government has no choice in our religion preference. We have a freedom of press to hold our government accountable and fight against tyranny.

As, Americans we must protect both of these cornerstones of our freedom. If we let one freedom fall the others will surely perish. We must protect individuals freedoms of speech. No, matter how hateful their rhetoric maybe. As, Americans we should confront those ideas and challenge them. We should engage with those ideas and work to create a dialogue. We should never censor anyone’s speech. Speech should never be censored under the guise of public safety and social justice. We should not push these ideas to the fringes of society, this only invites more division. This course of action only makes the situation more volatile down the road.

Our right to bear arms should not be infringed upon either under the guise of public safety. Firearms are not the problem. It is individuals deciding to take extreme acts of violence to spread an ideology, correct a perceived social injustice, or to see destruction of society. If we restrict firearms these extreme acts of violence will continue to occur. The United Kingdom has a knife epidemic, Sweden is in the mist of grenade epidemic, and for decades Muslim extremist have used suicide vests. Violence is a reality of humanity and removing firearms will not solve that violence. Violence will just evolve and change. If we continue on this restriction of firearms we are jeopardizing our freedoms and the right to protect our freedoms, families, and property. 

We must stop blaming the tools of the pen and the sword(firearms). They are both lifeless and inanimate objects. They hold no motives, directives, or perspectives. They are under the sole guidance of us, it’s user. We must protect the the tools of freedom at all cost. Once we sacrifice our freedoms we can never get them back.