The Bodyguard Blanket for Kids of All Ages; the Viable Alternative to not Completely Saving Their Lives [rant]
Humanity: “Maybe we should ban lethal weaponry all-together and significantly lower the probability of premature death in the world?” State: “Nah, lets just give small children a means to protect themselves and let the judicial system take care of the rest.” Humanity: “Do I have a choice?” State: “Fuck up and believe in me. I don’t need you encouraging any ideas that I’m not a necessity.” Humanity: “I’ll just, be over here…if you need me.” State: “Pay your taxes.”
How do you like my fanfiction? I call it “Woe are the laws of mankind.” Not all the time, but certainly when it comes to preservation. Minorities indeed suffer the greatest.
Here’s the story; a Oklahoma company named ProTecht have developed what they call “The Bodyguard Blanket,” which is essentially a 5/16-inch thick bulletproof pad for children. It is designed to protect against the blunt-force trauma of falling debris or bullets from a 12-gauge buckshot, a .22-caliber, and a 9 mm.
Before I go into my reasons for not liking this, here is more about it — the wearable blanket is made from a new material called Dyneema, a high-density plastic used for ballistic armor that is lighter than Kevlar. It cost $1,000 per blanket per student which ProTecht say is less expensive than building tornado shelters. …Soooo, the major selling point here is that it cost lots of money but is worth the savings, in the sense that these individual, high-value blankets are more economical than a reinforced, fixed bunker capable of withstanding the devastating, unpredictable nature of the elements for years generations to come. …Right. This is a ridiculous infomercial that turns student safety into individual insurance cases. Children are wonderful, and they don’t need corporations cashing in on the zeitgeist of their parents’ concerns of safety for them.
My biggest concern however is the whole gun thing; in general really. Guns aren’t versatile tools, all they do is shoot. Incredibly dangerous. A nifty device that makes for a cool material possession in the hands of the appreciative. Sure. But a statistically proven high-risk hazard that turns any wielder into a deadly threat. The Bodyguard Blanket is a good invention, but seriously, ProTecht? I think children deserve better than a fucking blanket still adhere to the laws of gravity, don’t you — A child will still feel the force of magnitude equal to the object’s accelerated mass, meaning, any kid caught under falling debris will still feel its weight regardless of how well a $1,000 investment buyers think they made. To have a product created on the theoretical estimates of nature is just product-mongering. And the whole shooter thing, well; just let me catch my breath.
I don’t know why these pictures make me feel the way I do, but they do. They are ridiculous. I will try to expel my reasons why.
Apparently, Protecht estimates that the blanket can provide protection against 90% of all weapons that have been used in school shootings in the U.S. …Great deductions, truly, but how the fuck do you estimate the trajectory of a swathe of bullets being fired upon a scared-shitless child, nae, children, untrained in the art of survival against a grownup with a big fucking gun? I love children, but I think more can be done in the way of protecting them and their schools than in the ways of them protecting themselves. Such fragile minds shouldn’t have to grow up in the world thinking their community is a facade of safety were dangerous people are capable of entering their lives. I think the company making these bullet proof blankets have made an applaudable effort, but are ultimately misguided.
Let’s look at the big picture here — consumerism; on the one hand, we have companies manufacturing guns and making a lot of money based off of a supply and demand relationship with their customers who can’t imagine living a life without their baby blankets, I mean weapons. And then we have another company manufacturing bullet-proof items that are sold to the demoralized citizens who don’t want the guns. There is way too much money being generated for governments to simply dismantle the gun trade. A crazy cycle. The decision not to ban guns — as far as I am able to make sense of it — is based on the monetary valve of their continuance in society. Which is why we now have these silly pictures of blankets, being taken more seriously than the lives already lost. What a joke.
Wouldn’t it be nice if children didn’t have to grow up in the shadow of irresponsibility. If only there was one, definitive way of ensuring the lives and safety of everyone on the planet, something like, oh I don’t know, banning the sale of fucking guns. Isn’t it strange how money and material possessions are more sacred than children nowadays. Where is the empathy and solidarity among us?
I get that the right to keep and bear arms is protected by the U.S. Constitution and many state constitutions and there are many responsible gun owners; but on the other side of that same coin, human beings aren’t as uniform as inanimate objects and that law allows for those same arms to be placed in the hands of questionable minds. Not unfortunately, but unfortunately ignored is the fact that no law has the power to prohibit a person’s thoughts. So why not just change the law? There’s nothing sacred about it and times have changed. The law should adapt to the needs of the people and not the other way around. Or is money that powerful an influence? Who knows; maybe liberalism is dead and we just don’t know it yet.
Believe it or not; there were 13 school shootings in the U.S. recorded in the first six weeks of 2014. Not sure how people in the U.S. see this, but from the point of view of someone living in a country where guns are hardly heard of in the local news (I’m not even sure if our police officers even carry tasers), this is a major cultural circumstance. A bullet-proof blanket may protect a child’s body but it is not a safeguard for their developing, young minds. Depressive thoughts will continue to lead to destructive actions and children will continue being targets for the disturbed, coming to know the pain of human folly in the form of a bullet always intended for flesh, in a society adamant to admit that the face of their humanity now belongs to an outdated, bygone law.
This isn’t some Democratic ploy to disarm citizens and establish a dictatorship. Abolish firearm sales and you will have actively saved the lives of millions of people for generations to come. I don’t believe people need an “opportunity to survive,” they need the state to provide them with a safe, homely environment to live and grow up in. Not Alternatives. Don’t be so naive gun-lovers, or one day we might all be wearing these goofy looking blankets.
Yeah! Now that’s how you rant! Shit. You know what, just come to New Zealand already; New Zealand is frickin’ awesome. Look at me up there with Bulbasaur. Just chillin’.
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