Shoot guns for fun? Mr Altucher, I’m curious, if a gun killed someone you love would you continue to advise others to play with guns for fun? Or would your advice change?

If, daily, you saw headlines such as this: “Pediatric surgeon has treated at least 50 children for measles, including baby.” Would you advise people to play with an open vial of the measles virus, for fun?

Between 2001 and 2012, 6,410 women were shot and killed by their intimate partners. That’s more than the total number of US troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. But you advise your 120,000 followers on Medium to shoot guns for fun.

Here is your list (as you wrote it) of What matters in life:

“Being kind.

Being kind to yourself.

And drink some water every day.

And, if you want, shoot guns for fun.”

You listed “being kind to yourself” second. Hmm. Based on this essay, I think an edit is in order — it should be listed first, not second. Advising anyone to play with guns is in no way being kind to others. I’m sure the parents of the children who died on the floor of their 1st grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary would agree with me. Adam Lanza’s mother, Nancy, shot guns for fun. So did this man, and he killed his wife and step-daughters the other day. He wasn’t mentally ill. Just angry. And he had guns. Because he liked shooting guns the same way I like petting dogs and eating cupcakes. And damn it, it’s my right as an American to pet a dog and eat a cupcake if I want to!

Mr. Altucher, the last thing Americans need is advice on how to serve themselves more. The pursuit of our own happiness has gone too far; it’s resulted in an epidemic of self-focus. We treat our every hobby, our every ambition, as a teat rightfully ours to suckle. But shooting guns makes me happy, you say. And I only do it for fun, you say. And I am careful, you say. And it is my right, you say. It was once a white man’s right to own a slave in America because it made the white man happy. It served his ambitions well.

Exaggerated focus on our own (nonessential) needs, leads to a blind disregard of the very basic needs of others — compassion being one of them. Have some compassion, sir. Consider revising your list of What matters in life. You have thousands of followers, surely there is some responsibility in that.

With thanks,
Anastasia Basil