I’ve come to pretty fundamentally believe that some things cannot (and should not) be discussed outside of personal experience. That might sound odd coming from someone with a relatively traditional education in western philosophy. But… here I am.
One of the keenest examples of that is gun violence. The way I see it:
despite the numbers,
despite the mathematics, everything stops with the phrase “I lost a loved one.”
Or “I almost died.”
All that math and all those statistics only matter in light of the value of human life.
And the value of human life is established in places outside of Mathematica and statistics;
Places we call “emotional” or even “sentimental.”
Taylor Schumann’s accounting of gun violence is personal. And that, in my opinion, makes it powerful. Not because the story is dramatic or even culturally triggering. But because, as a matter of statistics fact, there are only so many people who have heard gun-shots near them and faced the actual reality that they might die at the end of a gun.
Taylor Schumann has.
And because she has, I believe her and think what she says matters.
I think you will, too.
Check it out.
Links for Taylor Schumann:
https://www.taylorschumann.com
Book – When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough
Links For Justin:
Order the new book – It Is What You Make it