How much more blood must be spilled?

This past Wednesday afternoon, at fifteen years of age, Jordan Manners of Toronto entered martyrdom. This young man was the latest in a lengthy line of souls victimized by a culture in which brute force is believed to be the solution to our problems. This is the latest tragic event to fan the flames of the ongoing ratings war between our rival news sources. His is the latest face to be affixed to the poster for the never-ending campaign to "get tough on crime".

In the wake of this young man's untimely demise, they're already whispering the magic s-word: security. "More cameras! More metal detectors! More police officers!" they cry, all the while failing to see how their logic ignores the reality completely. Is a camera going to stop someone from shooting you dead? How about metal detectors at the entrances of your school or workplace? Do you think the assailant won't just shoot you outside? I'm sick of this ass-backwards reactionary approach to crime because it has never worked, it is not working, and it is not going to work! For every one we incarcerate, our society creates about a dozen more, and no metal detector is going to save your ass from them.

It's easy for most of us to view this event in isolation, as a child being shot to death, and point fingers because we do not see the rest of it. We do not see the immense financial gain brought forth by guns. We do not live among those unfortunate souls who have to kill to survive, to earn their daily bread. The mortician isn't the only one who says death is good for business. The bullets that claimed the lives of this young man and the rest of our brothers and sisters, in the streets and on the front lines, will be replaced by more bullets. Our politicians talk of wanting to bring an end to murder, yet send us overseas to kill and die for their causes. Our world will forever be so until we all wake the fuck up.

My heart breaks for the grieving family and friends: you did not deserve to lose your loved one, not like this. It's even more unsettling to know that the consortium responsible for creating the conditions that took Jordan from you are going to use his death to lecture us on how they're going to get us to behave while they flood the global market with more firearms. When a child is slain in the schoolyard, we call it "tragic", yet when a child is slain on the battlefield, we call it "patriotic". I, for one, am tired of watching our children slain.

Jordan, I hope, one day, you may rest in peace.