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The Gun Mania and Our Violent Society [1]

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Date: 2022-07-11

What’s with it – this gun mania in America? Why is it so many of our citizenry are so enamored with guns? We certainly are a gun loving people – nation. I heard recently that there are more guns than people in this great U.S. There are also more gun shops than Starbucks. And lately, to have learned that death by the gun is now the leading cause of death amongst children. And lastly, there are more mass shootings and injuries and deaths from guns by far than any other place on the globe. We hold the distinction of being a bloody, violent place and people due to the proliferation, easy access and purchase, and few restrictions of guns.

Too, we are constantly at war bombing this country and that…mostly brown people naturally. We have by far the largest military budget of any other nation by far, and I mean by far! The largest military presence with bases all over the country and the world. The latest number of which amounted to 805, but that is certainly an underestimate, an undercount. No one knows – the public certainly - just how many military bases there are and what the heck they are actually doing?

Such a violent place, it’s no wonder there are so many guns out there. Those in the hands of wanting to use them against sundry others, those who have them for some kind of sense of protection, those that hunt and kill animals, etc. Although it appears the more guns you many possess, statistically the more likely they are used to maim and kill others, one’s family members, one’s own children and oneself – the latter, accidentally, of course.

But the gun is a very mythical symbol of some kind of power, of the he-man way of being as in the concocted glory of the lone gunslinger who roots out and disposes of his/her adversaries and enemies – with a gun of course; of our make believe past, where America was the toughest and bad-est nation in the room; where men were men and women were women (albeit in a very patriarchal sense); where things were much simpler – everything and every instant being either black or white - and accruing to some fixed, stationary, manner (very conservative, reactionary and hesitant about change). And most relevant, the gun provides the weakest of us, the most disturbed, the most isolated, the most thought unloved, the most imbittered, the most hateful with a sense of power – naked power to maim and kill.

There is also a great amount of fear in our society that is continuously being promoted daily and by the minute through the web which eventually leads to anger and violence especially in young men. Actually, this stoked fear is unacceptable to most men, and is therefore repressed and denied as it is perceived as a weak, feminine emotion. However, this repressed fear, and the energy promulgated needing an outlet turns into more acceptable anger and violence against the feared object, people, group, situation, political party – you name it.

Yes, indeed we are a violent people. Just drive any highway, there is enough violence happening with speed and recklessness of some (38,000 deaths annually and over 2 million injured – 1/3 by drunk drivers and 1/3 by speeding), and now by the possibility of being shot while driving Think as well about all the pedestrians injured and killed by “violent drivers” while simply crossing the street. We also have a lot of crime, violent crime, audacious crime, sadly every day. Muggings, kidnappings, domestic violence, sexual abuses of all kinds, burglaries and so much more. Why do we have so much of this and these forms of violent behavior? This stoked fear and animosity against others is one of the leading causes for all this violence.

But we have been a violent peoples from our beginnings in America starting with Columbus and the genocide of Native Americans which continued for decades; the evil of slavery and the denigration of black and brown people which is still continuing today with the renewed emergence of white supremacy; the accompanying civil war – a real blood bath, the exclusionary policies against the Chinese immigrants at the turn of the 20th century; the union busting and violent treatment by police and other authorities of the Wobblies and other groups during their attempts at forming unions to promote worker’s rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the victimization and “blackballing “ of leftist and other progressive peoples during the Communist fears of the McCarthy era; the mass internment of Japanese Americans during WWll; the senseless Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars; the present disenfranchisement and utter lack of compassion and understanding of our transgender youth, and much more.

Naturally, there are also more subtle forms of violence in our society including our failure of coping with homelessness, the lack of free health and dental care for our citizens; the terrible lack of sufficient mental health services; the lack of a strong safety net of social programs helping the poor and the less fortunate of us, especially our children and our elders; the great disparity between the rich and poor; the lack of laws restraining the purchase and use of guns, in particular the AR-15 type weapons of war. All this negligence and seemingly unconcern is also a form of violence, Isn’t it?

How about our not rehabilitating those who commit crimes, etc. and are in our numerous prisons - more being built each day. We just lock them up, but spend little time, money and energy in helping to transform, heal, teach, and basically care for them who will eventually return to our neighborhoods and to society. In effect, our so called criminals return with more animosity and bitterness and continue in their old, learned behavior – more violent behavior.

Don’t we have some responsibility for our brothers and sisters. I thought this was a supposed Christian nation. Where the H… is the Christ spirit in our country? I know it’s there, but it does not seem to play a significant role in helping us be less violent and seemingly so unconcerned for the well-being of our citizens. Where are their voices at this time of such trauma, divisiveness, divisions and out and out prejudice and hate in our culture?

Concerning guns and gun violence, in truth, it is apparent that us humans are not sufficiently mature enough to possess these lethal weapons and obtain them so easily, and therefore like in most other countries need to be severely restricted. Obviously, guns are the problem. Yes, people kill people, but without the gun, the actual act of killing – taking someone’s life, up close, is much more difficult. Research has proven time and again that the more guns there are, the more death and injuries of people occur.

What is wrong with us? That we so easily tolerate all this madness, all this hurtfulness. I know there are many of us who despair at the present crisis in our country and all this violence in word and deed by the gun. Why aren’t there enough of our “better angels” that can put a stop to all this horror, grief, and suffering?

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/11/2109786/-The-Gun-Mania-and-Our-Violent-Society

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