Blogroll Me!
An American Obsession? Arms For Arms Sake?
We wonder where an average US citizen draws the line - 'friend or foe' wise?
By which we mean - is there anyone - anyone at all - absolutely anywhere - who many millions of Americans do not perceive to be posing some sort of serious threat, against their person?
It seems to us, to almost (quite sincerely unfacetiously), beg the question 'Why do so many Americans hate so many Americans?'
Mind you, perhaps it does help to explain, at least to a certain degree, the serial aggression and violence shown by successive US governments toward such an awfully long (and ever lengthening), list of other nations.
After all, what else should one expect when so many, so called 'fellow' Americans appear to actually be perpetually afraid - even of one another - and even inside the (supposed) safety of their own country?
Indeed, oft times, seemingly, practically petrified.
Look at this little lot.
U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 peopleRead the rest of this report at Reuters.
Tue Aug 28, 2007
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.
U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.
About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.
"There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.
posted by Richard at Wednesday, August 29, 2007
2 Comments:
As one who lives among them, the question you pose is highly pertinent. On the surface, Americans make much of their community spirit. They're always out collecting for charities, organizing little groups to do community work, apparently joining together to help their fellow Americans. Underneath all this is a deep fear of each other. America is organized into many factions. The two major divides are political. Then there are the churches, race - still highly relevant today, and class structure. Within these divides are a multitude of smaller groups all pitting against each other. Americans snipe and jibe at each other every possible occasion. They band into community units for security against outsiders, not from other countries, but fellow citizens. Gun culture is a vital part. The motto of the National Rifle Association is "Guns Save Lives". As you drive the interstates - particularly in the mid-West - you'll see it proclaimed from hoardings stuck in farm fields. Americans are scared stiff of other Americans. The myth of a "united states" is exactly that. For some inexplicable reason, they all love America; they're just petrified of each other.
RJ--
Well said. The problem as I see it is that so many don't really love America in all of its diverse glory, they love the country that they imagine America would become if everyone was assimilated into their tribe.
These people actually despise most of their fellow Americans more than they do any outsider, because it is their fellow Americans who stubbornly resist assimilation into these tribes (the rednecks, the urban elites, the Bobos, etc.), and thus prevent the "ideal" America from coming into being.
Post a Comment
<< Home