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I was 15 years old when I first began to work for the Italian bookies in my New York City neighborhood.
I learned many things from these older men, but one thing I never forgot was this pearl of advice: "Never mouth off to a cop, who might plant a gun on you."
Eventually, I moved to peaceful Maui. This was long before it had become a hideaway for bodyguarded, bunkered blackguards and billionaires; and a stagnant place for twilighted retirees who sleep with their guns bedside.
At present, aloha has all but disappeared among all of the newest arrivals. No one trusts anyone else. Especially across class, race or political lines. In fact, statistics and behavior show us that the entire nation has accelerated its acquisition of firearms. Over the past year alone, prices of these weapons have far outpaced the inflation of other products.
People are arming themselves against legal authorities, including the police; against ideological, religious and political foes; while others are shooting people randomly. Still others are following the instigations of those whose lives have turned out badly.
The match is out of the box. It needs only to be struck by something premeditatively incendiary as the film Civil War, to be released this summer. In it, a president refuses to leave office; 14 states secede and Americans turn violent against each other.
Raphael O'Suna
Haiku