Social battles won and lost
If I had to count winners and losers in big social and political battles, I’d write them out this way. I’m not describing my views, just how I’d call it based on the outcomes I see, maybe being melodramatic but I don’t think groundlessly.
According to massshootingtracker.org, a crowd-sourced database of U.S. mass shootings that defines a “mass shooting†as a single outburst of violence in which four or more people are shot, there have been:
195 U.S. mass shootings in 2016
1230 mass shootings since 1/1/2013
2 days since last mass shooting
I think it’s safe to say that in the big social battle between people who want more guns and those who want fewer, the more guns side has won. Overwhelmingly. We could stop production of guns forever and I bet we already have enough guns to last a century. People continue to oppose guns. They lost. They may win a future battle, but they lost for now.
So guns have won their social battle.
Despite the shooting in Orlando, gay rights and awareness are so much stronger than ever, it’s like night and day. The are still people who oppose gay marriage, but there is such a generational difference, even without them changing their minds, they are dying out. We haven’t reached equality and or ended violence based on sexuality, but the momentum is so overwhelming in that direction, people opposing it have lost.
Gay rights have won their social battle.
Obesity and overweightness in the United States is something like seventy percent and, I believe, rising. Seventy percent is a remarkable “advance.” Meanwhile the United States government subsidizes corn, sugar, and crops that create more obesity with billions of dollars annually. I think it’s safe to say people promoting fitness have lost this battle. They may win a future battle, but they lost for now.
The sugar, fat, feed grain, and junk food industries have won their social battle.
Ocean levels are rising, atmospheric carbon is increasing, global temperatures are rising, and we couldn’t stop several decades of these trends continuing and accelerating. Yet I haven’t met anyone who has considered flying less and people drive more than ever. If anyone reading this post has avoided any flights specifically to pollute less, please let me know. I’d love to personally know at least one person like that. I think it’s safe to say people promoting using less fossil fuels have lost this battle, at least in the United States. They may win a future battle, but they lost for now.
Oil, gas, and fossil fuels have won their social battle.
It seems to me that pollution and garbage has won the battle over cleanliness and conservation.
Can you think of other social battles won or lost?
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