From what I get when I lived in Switzerland and the US, or now that I spend most of my time in Canada, the thing is, people in other countries are still respected even when they don’t really have an oh-sh!t career or business. Respect from the society is a huge component of someone’s perceived happiness. In the U.S. on the other hand you need to be financially successful or else your existence doesn’t hold any value, or at least many people share that perception. Of course we all love money, but in the U.S. you actually need it more, for both practical reasons (e.g., absurd healthcare, college costs) and perceived ones (e.g., you must be really dumb if you’re not well off after certain age). In a country like the U.S., being poor or unsuccessful has to suck given the infinite opportunities to “make it” and available wealth to be taken if you provide something of value to anyone. A nutjob who still feels at least a little respected by the society he lives in may choose not to go in Terminator mode.
The point is to realise that even after accounting for genetic anomalies and psychological stress factors that may arise in a stagnant market economy, the distribution of gun crimes across western developed nations is clustering around the US with unusual ease. As Ohai and many others have mentioned, when the outlook for macrofactors become negative, the gulf between the rich and the poor escalate, allowing 5% of an economy to benefit unfairly from monopolising control over 95% of that economy’s resources…it is not difficult to envision these developments to have some negative multiplier effects on behaviour over all. What seems to differ between the US and other countries with a similar economic profile is the leap from thought to expression. I am pretty sure there are many peeps in other countries having violent moments but the proportion of these peeps reaching to a deadly weapon and making this fateful leap is relatively low. I suppose the more interesting questions is : what is it that makes it easier to make this leap from thought to expression in the US (not only just regarding gun crime ofcourse)?
When you figure that out, be sure to let us know. We’ll short list you for president.
^bchad will be the next president !
I’ve traditionally been against banning assault weapons for the reasons I stated above and Bchad’s better explanation. But this latest incident has been sort of a turning point for me and I’m trying to figure out where I stand on all this. I think we’ve lost a lot of the responsibility that’s necessary for the 2nd amendment to exist in a sensible manner. I’m torn between the desire to be the nation where civilians earn and hold the freedoms often reserved for governments in many parts of the world, and the bleak possibility that we may have fallen so far that is no longer a practical reality. I don’t want to succumb to a knee jerk response but this sort of thing is unacceptable.
IEV or ChickenTikka must become President. I want topless Tuesday to become reality…
Obviously people have used this as a scapegoat before, but I do believe that violent video games (particularly first-person shooter games) could train somebody who already has an extreme condition (like autism) to point and shoot as learned behavior. I remember from when I used to play some Halo that the majority of people playing were located in the States. Not sure if that is still the case, but reading CFAvsMBA’s post about “Michael”, the author’s mentally troubled child, reminded me of the addictive nature of these games. I would think you really would not want a kid playing those, let alone a kid with mental illness.
true true
Geez, the country is so mucked up these days, I have no idea anymore about what I would do as President. It’s pretty much all about selecting the best politically feasible action (which at its best is merely the least-worst option), and then getting slammed that it doesn’t measure up to 300 million people’s imagined better alternative. But topless Tuesday does indeed sound neat. 
…not even alqaeda would be against topless tuesday! GOD is GREAT
As far as I’m aware, the Swiss keep assault rifles at home but only a select few (special forces or something) have access to ammo.
Go to your local shopping mall tonight, create a topless image of everyone you see, and let me know if you are still in favor of topless Tuesday.
Oh god, please let’s not do this.
hmmm go to hooters and stay there??
For many in the US, the very fact that bearing guns is a right granted by the constitution (The 2nd Amendment) makes the issue not open for discussion. This stems from a rather fervent belief in the infallibility of their constitution and the “founding fathers” , a worship that borders on almost religious fanaticism. Removing something codified as a constitutional right is the American equivalent of drawing the prophet, a political quagmire where even the bravest of those who seek to get elected will not tread. It does not matter, in the least, that the historical context in which the Second Amendment was formulated, namely America’s War of independence and consequent great political instability, has ceased to be relevant centuries ago. The justification for the 2nd Amendment is that it allows the citizenry to defend themselves against the government, should it turn on them, as expressed pithily by the bumper sticker seen frequently on the back of pick-up trucks: “A man with a gun is a citizen. A man without one is a subject”. Of course, if we are to really follow that principle, today’s “citizen” needs to possess tanks, drones, anthrax, chemical weapons and well, even nukes, since the government, should it turn on the citizens, would definitely use some or all of them, in which case possessing a gun will help jack squat. Logic however is futile. Since guns to many in the US are objects of faith. Guns protect them in real life and God protects them in the after. End of story.
America is a special country that cannot be compared with another. She has special problems that, alas, will never be solved because that will be against the interests of large pharma, insurance, weapons manufacturer and automobile companies. The problems are ( in no particular order) 1. Terrible healthcare 2. Access to firearms 3. Terrible public transport 4. Religion Nothing will ever change for there is little political will and big bucks involved!!! The most advanced country will also stay the most Luddite in many ways. …And before you point out that I am a foreigner ranting about sh*t I don’t know or understand…I have lived in your country long enough to know and have enough family in your country to care!!!
Very true, CFASniper. I’d feel downright naked without a gun in the US!
I like the idea of guns and the 2nd amendment, even though I do not own any. This is because i do not trust governments one bit. If you’ve never lived anywhere else but the United States or some gentle western European country then I can understand why you are completely ready to blindly trust the government. But, if you’ve ever tried living (not just visiting) long-term other countries you get a clear idea why it would be good to have guns. Governments are not to be trusted. The moment they have your guns they can pull a syria on you. Then you’re dependent on warlords to protect you from them (e.g. pakistan). Not exactly good anyway. Even if its not that extreme a situation I can say that in general the government acts like the boss of you a Hell of a lot more in most other countries. Take India as the happier example of too much government You don’t get to voice dissent. The politicians are your Gods. You have to kiss their asses. If you complain publicly about them you will be silenced and shunned. Newspapers wont help you. Nobody will. I quite like the idea that I can buy a few hundred acres out in Wyoming and a few guns. Grow my own food. More or less be self sufficient. I like that the government would have to think twice about just committing a pogrom against its only people in the United States. I think that’s one of the reasons that we have such a good government, because it knows that it is not the boss of us. Now liberals for some reason trust the Hell out of the government and want to government to be the boss of us. I just don’t agree. But that’s ok. We’re allowed to.
^ Fair enough, CT. Hope you are allowed to possess nukes to counterbalance your government. Lunatics getting a hold of them every once in a while and killing vulnerable people will be just a minor side-effect, anyway
Do Americans seriously believe that their democratically elected governments could potentially turn into a dictatorship… just like that??? If you honestly believe you can compare the USA to Syria, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, NK etc., I have no idea what kind of fearmongering you have been subjected to.