Why are We Killing Each Other?
Why are we Americans shooting and killing each other
in such massive numbers? We can’t even
get past the country’s birthday on July 4th without 30 people being
shot, with 6 killed in a Chicago suburb.
One obvious answer is because there are a lot of
guns in the country. so, a lot of shootings will take place. This is the mantra of the anti-gun,
anti-second amendment activists. When a
mass shooting takes place, “the guns did it”.
But this is like saying, there are a lot of knives or cars in the
country, so a lot of people will get cut or run over. The anti-gunners forget that guns are just
tools like any other tools. It takes a
human being to operate them.
So, the question becomes, “why are, (primarily), young
men picking up a legal or illegal firearm, and embarking on a normally suicidal
effort to kill masses of schoolchildren, church goers, parade-watchers, or
other innocent, “soft” targets? Instant
fame and notoriety? Because its like a
video game? Why then?
There are estimated to be somewhere around 430
million firearms in the U.S., in a population of nearly 335 million people. 20
million of these are AR-15 style semi-automatic weapons. There are two facts
that one cannot deny. Firstly, that with
that many guns in the country, it is relatively easy for just about anyone to get
their hands on a gun. This is so in spite of the virtue-signaling red flag and
age laws recently passed by congress.
And secondly, with that many guns in the country, there is a “snowball’s
chance in hell” of reducing or curtailing firearms by legislation or confiscation.
Unfortunately, rather than mitigating the number
of guns in the country, when a major shooting event occurs, rhetoric or actions
by left-wing anti-gunners, prompts more people to rush to the gun stores and
arm themselves, for fear that their legal rights might be diminished. This, of course, increases the total number
of guns in the country
The right to self-arm is embedded in our constitution
for a reason. It’s so that no government
can abrogate the other freedoms that constitute our republic, and enslave us. We have lived with an armed citizenry since
the Revolutionary War, and always knew how to properly use our firearms tools
in the past. We seem to have forgotten
the intended purpose of guns as tools, and now stamp our feet and point guns at
each other when something displeases us and we get angry.
But anger is not the only driving force behind
mass shootings. The statistics of size
and increasing complexity of the U.S. is a factor. These numbers illustrate: In the 1940’s our population was about 130
million people, and mass shooting deaths were 26. In the 1960’s, our population was 185 million
people, and mass shooting deaths were 43. In 1980’s, 230 million population,
198 deaths. And in the 2010’s, 310
million population, 529 deaths. So,
expectedly, as our population increased, the number of mass shooting deaths
also increased.
At least four other major societal
factors lead to the negative, nihilistic mind set necessary to kill fellow
human beings. I identify these as
psychiatry, fantasy, polarization and secularization.
First, psychiatry:
A study published in the journal Psychiatric Services estimates 3.4
percent of Americans - more than 12 million people - suffer from serious
psychological problems. Other studies
show even higher rates of severe mental illness amongst Americans. In the past, many people were “warehoused” in
increasingly gruesome state facilities until the 1980’s when many inmates were released
to homelessness, in hopes that newly developed psychotropic drugs would
stabilize them and provide a decent quality of life. Some worked.
Many did not. And as a result, we
have an ever-present group of unstable homeless people that are unbalanced
enough to go on a shooting or other killing spree.
Second, fantasy:
A kid who is alienated at school and in the playground for any reason,
many times immerses themselves in video games and the cyber world. At an advanced stage, their reality can
consist of a red splotch on the video screen that eliminates an antagonist to
the “atta-boys” of the game vocal. Not
hard to extrapolate to a rifle on a rooftop with real red splotches.
Polarization: The current political environment is
such that people are just “pissed off”.
This is exacerbated by inflation, high prices and a lying government in
Washington, DC that thinks that we are all idiots. Both the extreme left and right hold views
that approach religion in nature, and support violence as a means of getting
what they want. The left is steeped in
Marxist ideology promoted by groups like Black Lives Matter, Antifa and
others. The right counters with extremist
“militias” and such. These violent ideologies
can’t fail to make an impression on gullible minds, and, of course, firearms
make the ideological mix dangerous.
Secularization: Young people drift away from main
stream religious affiliation as soon as they hit the increasingly godless,
Marxist oriented universities. Even many
of those raised in a religious environment seem to lose their spiritual
trappings in college. As adults, they
contribute to a materialistic secularization bereft of morality and ethics
inherent in religions, and contribute to the worst of the lies and corruption
on society. With little or no spiritual foundation,
even assassinations are not out of the question. Again, large numbers of people, and large
numbers of guns, and very little spirituality, make for a volatile and
dangerous mix.
What can be done?
Religious people say that God will fix it, and
that’s comforting, until the next maniac with a gun or car or knife kills
multiple innocent strangers.
The present crop of political leaders seems inept
and incompetent to accomplish anything other than “talking at it”. Even if they could agree to do something,
they cannot legislate behavior unless they impose some sort of dictatorship. And a major point is that they don’t have the
numbers to do anything.
The long-term answer has to be a charismatic
leader and equally dedicated staff that will apply existing laws to curtail
these mass shootings, and that will pass proactive laws that truly address the
issues rather than just offering political lip service. Someone like President Trump could get the
job done by being a hard-ass leader, but he is divisive and hated by half the
country, and he is combative. We need
someone as strong as Trump, but a smooth talker. Ron DeSantis, maybe, or Greg Abbott? Someone that will reinstitute law and order, institute
some control over crazies acquiring guns, and make it palatable to even people
like the squad and the Marxists. A tall
order, I know, but not impossible with the right people.
Ray Gruszecki
July 4, 2022
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