Artwork by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
As I get older, I occasionally catch myself repeating things. Maybe a story, maybe a joke, maybe a memory, maybe a point. That’s just part of aging—one of its inevitabilities. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece about gun violence titled What’s It Going to Take? inspired by the Club Q shootings in Colorado Springs. As I was writing, I realized that I had written something similar a few months before. This was a piece titled The Last Straw that was inspired by the Robb Elementary School Massacre in Ohio. And then I scrolled back into my blog archive and realized I’d written on this subject at least four other times. I was repeating myself over and over and over, even to the point of using some of the same phraseology.
However, I wasn’t going over the same ground because of mental deterioration—I’m hoping—but because the horror of these events cannot be ignored or glossed over. These mass shooting are a national disgrace. They are a public health hazard. I’m sure I’ll be writing about mass shootings again—probably in the not-too-distant future, but I won’t be repeating myself out of forgetfulness or carelessness. I’ll repeat myself because I have to. The killings, the carnage, and the negligence will be repeating themselves because of our apathy, our negligence, and our indifference. This is our recurring nightmare.
And this is only of many nightmares in the collective American psyche. As a (hopefully) accurate barometer of public opinion, my posts have also reflected recurring fears about the stability of our democracy, the erosion of voter and reproductive rights, and the grossly unfair inequities in our economic system. These phenomena are real and cyclical. They’re not a result of the news cycles or the rantings of a political zealot. They’re also recurring national nightmares.
Wednesday, December 14th was the tenth anniversary of the Sandy Hook School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. Learning that twenty small children and six teachers had been slaughtered by a young man wielding semi-automatic weapons should have awakened us—and kept us up. We were horrified at first, but those events—like the fog of a dream—slowly evaporated from our consciousness. But, like that horrible nightmare where you run and run but cannot escape, mass shootings kept recurring.
The attack on The United States Capitol Building happened almost two years ago. The January 6th Congressional Committee investigation has uncovered facts that have implicated the White House in the plot to steal the 2020 election, including a phone call in which the president attempted to coerce Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State, into digging up 11,780 votes. Then, just last month, Arizona, gubernatorial candidate (and loser) Karri Lake filed suit contesting the outcome of that election, claiming election fraud and God knows what else. Luckily, many other election deniers on the ballot lost their races. We woke up early from that nightmare where democracy is being chased down by a horde of red zombies. But the nightmare still exists. Marjorie Taylor Green is the new face of that particular horror. It’ll be back.
In my most recent essay, I kept asking the rhetorical question “What’s it going to take?” to stop gun violence. At this moment, I’m trying really hard not to repeat that question. Instead, maybe I’ll ask, “When the hell are we going to wake up?” Of course, that sort of phrasing begs the question if being “woke” (in the political sense) is the same as waking up from the horrible nightmares. I would say not.
Being “woke” involves breaking down barriers to understanding complex issues like white elitism, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ rights. Being aware of our present-day nightmares is not enough to stop them. And knowing how to stop them doesn’t seem to help either. We know how to stop the mass shootings—background checks, red flags, and a national registry. We know how to protect our democracy. Campaign reform laws and fair voting guarantees. We know how to level the economic playing field. Fair taxation and equitable hiring practices. We just refuse to do these things. Or, should I say, our elected leaders refuse to do it. It lies within our power to put the people into office who might end these nightmares—but I’m repeating myself. Again.
According to WebMD, nightmares can be caused by general feelings of anxiety, depression, or fear. They are also caused by specific PTSD trauma, and sometimes result in the recreation of the traumatic event in the mind of the victim. Every new mass shooting forces to relive the horrors of past massacres—except the new ones are no dreams. So, not unlike the premise of the movie Nightmare on Elm Street, our collective horrors have emerged from our subconscious and are threatening—and killing—us.
Schools now have active shooter drills. According to a PewResearch poll, a majority of teens say they are worried about shootings happening in their schools. One in four state that they are very worried. Guns are everywhere. Many states have instituted open carry laws. Businesses, schools, and even churches post signs saying no guns are allowed on their premises. There are now over 390 million guns in the United States.
This nightmare is real and until we wake up and face the reality of this national scourge, we will be doomed to repeat it, to repeat hopes and prayers, to repeat the memorials, to repeat the tears, to repeat viewing more tiny coffins.
We fear for our lives and the lives of our children, but also for our freedoms, individual rights, and our democracy. They have been under relentless attack for years. Reproductive rights have been taken away. Voting rights are under attack. Extremist groups tried to overthrow our government.
It’s time to wake up. None of these nightmares are going to go away until we face them and exercise the political will necessary to solve them.