Ignorance

I got a haircut this morning.

The haircut would have been remarkable enough just for it's lack of quality, but it also turned out to be memorable for the ignorance my barber betrayed while cutting my hair.

A TV new reporter on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to curb illegal firearms, followed closely by a report on a smoking ban at a state park sent the barber off the deep ban.

"Oh sure, it's a free country!" he remarked after the smoking ban report.

Then we got to Bloomberg:

"That guy! He's a communist!" Snarled the old man. He then went off on a tirade on how if we got ride of guns, we'd all be killing each other with knives and swords, "like in Africa, that country has all kinds of problems."

OK. Setting aside completely the issue that Africa is a continent and not a country, I think it should at least be common knowledge that guns are not exactly hard to come by in some African nations. Secondly, and perhaps more hilariously, the idea of calling Michael Bloomburg a communist would be like calling Chris Rock white.

See, before he was a gun-hating mayor, Michael Bloomberg created a multi-billion dollar monstrosity of capitalism. There's nothing communist about Bloomberg (the company) or the man himself.

So, I realize that I'm pretty liberal on the guns issue, but I was also trained as a historian and I know what differentiates a communist from a capitalist. I therefore feel justified in saying that this barber was way off base in his assertions. That kind of ignorance is just disgusting, and, I think it goes without saying, he's lost a customer -- not that he cares, but I don't care to keep such unenlightened company.

Guns have their place, but I really feel that no one outside of law enforcement or military settings should be able to buy a semiautomatic handgun. Thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, we now have a very real illustration of how easy it is for anyone to do just that. What a great world to live in.