As a US Army Cavalry Scout veteran and as a Libertarian private citizen who believes in the sacrosanct right to self-defense, I do not hold the opinion that guns in and of themselves will make a society more violent - they are tools. Tools that require FBI background checks and professional training to obtain. The issue lies with our strongly-held cultural values.
It's also important to note that vast swathes of land here (our country takes up more space than the entire continent of Europe) are still not settled. Many Americans still live a frontier existence in less populated parts of the country, where hunting for your food is quite common. Europeans have been densely settled in ancient cities for amazingly long periods of time. We, however, are just getting started here. Firearms are a crucial tool in our way of life and national character that Europeans just can't relate to.
Anyway...
American culture is very violent, and is very vengeful. I am forced to admit. With the most well-funded, well-trained, well-equipped, and most technologically advanced military in human history - the U.S. wields a tremendous amount of power to enforce American values (specifically our notion that every country in the world, not just the West, wants freedom, democracy, and a individualist economy like our own). In this respect, we are rather naieve, though it comes from good intentions.
As a geographically massive country which borders only two major nations (one extremely similar to us in many ways), we lack an appreciation and understanding of non-Western culture, and, as we have long been one of the most heavily emigrated-to nations in the course of history, we assume our system of government and economy are the most "correct" systems in the world. When America wages war, the general population eagerly accepts the explanation that the massive death and destruction we use to invade and occupy a region of the world is justified by the fact that the remainder will have a happy existence as we help them re-forge their government in our progressive and powerful image.
_______________________
American culture also embraces violence and competition with zeal. To become a great man or woman in this country is very often achieved through a glorious and honorable military career, or a ruthless climb up a corporate ladder. To be violent for the right cause allows those who cannot defend their own needs and interests is viewed as the height of civic virtue in our Republic.To be honest, this is so strongly programmed into our collective psyche that millions of us, myself included, are prepared to die for this.
And, to do business in a cutthroat manner, exporting our manual labor to countries with few labor protection laws in order to maximize profits is considered a necessary practice to create a strong corporation and thus maintain our position as the world's largest economy, and thus another form of civic virtue.
This translates to the everyday behavior of the average American by sending the message that to shirk the ideas of violence and ruthless competition is to be weak, and no person in any culture of the world wants to think of themselves as weak. It is very common for brawls to break out in bars, clubs, parties, or in the street for trivial issues such as maintaining eye contact for too long, shoulder-checking, spitting in their direction, or even stepping on someone's shoes.
In matters of law, we consider life without parole in total isolation and the death penalty to inseparable to the mainstream idea of retributive justice. We cannot abide the notion of forgiving those who commit the most horrific crimes such as aggravated rape and murder. If the courts fail to properly avenge the victim/victim's family, many Americans will feel the need to take the matter into their own hands - lynching people from trees or shooting them in public on many occasions throughout our history.
In matters of war... 9/11. We had never felt such fear, grief, or rage after the attacks - and it has changed the way we think. It was much like the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 in that Americans were shocked and horrified that an enemy could attack us on our own soil. To Americans, these sorts of massacres of our own people would fuel an (initially) nearly unanimous public outpouring of rage sufficient to invade two countries with the second being based on the premise that Iraq -might- have some sort of relationship with our great enemy and could provide him with the means to repeat 9/11. This is rooted in the American value of violent vengeance, which I cannot conceive of as being anything but a core part of our national mentality. I am aquite sure we're going to make many mistakes in the future because of this.
_______
That said, I love my country - and not just because of circumstances of birth. I love our national foundation formed around freedom of expression/press/religion, separation of church and state, separation of the military and law enforcement, the right to defend your homestead and loved ones, the right to a fair trial of your peers, and the other civil liberties guaranteed to our people (or the full citizens, at least).
And for all the violence, there is a great deal of compassion and friendliness as well. We're a generally very polite people, and we love Europeans, Canadians, Australians, Japanese, and South Koreans very much. We care for our allies, and we do mean to do right by them.
It's also important to note that vast swathes of land here (our country takes up more space than the entire continent of Europe) are still not settled. Many Americans still live a frontier existence in less populated parts of the country, where hunting for your food is quite common. Europeans have been densely settled in ancient cities for amazingly long periods of time. We, however, are just getting started here. Firearms are a crucial tool in our way of life and national character that Europeans just can't relate to.
Anyway...
American culture is very violent, and is very vengeful. I am forced to admit. With the most well-funded, well-trained, well-equipped, and most technologically advanced military in human history - the U.S. wields a tremendous amount of power to enforce American values (specifically our notion that every country in the world, not just the West, wants freedom, democracy, and a individualist economy like our own). In this respect, we are rather naieve, though it comes from good intentions.
As a geographically massive country which borders only two major nations (one extremely similar to us in many ways), we lack an appreciation and understanding of non-Western culture, and, as we have long been one of the most heavily emigrated-to nations in the course of history, we assume our system of government and economy are the most "correct" systems in the world. When America wages war, the general population eagerly accepts the explanation that the massive death and destruction we use to invade and occupy a region of the world is justified by the fact that the remainder will have a happy existence as we help them re-forge their government in our progressive and powerful image.
_______________________
American culture also embraces violence and competition with zeal. To become a great man or woman in this country is very often achieved through a glorious and honorable military career, or a ruthless climb up a corporate ladder. To be violent for the right cause allows those who cannot defend their own needs and interests is viewed as the height of civic virtue in our Republic.To be honest, this is so strongly programmed into our collective psyche that millions of us, myself included, are prepared to die for this.
And, to do business in a cutthroat manner, exporting our manual labor to countries with few labor protection laws in order to maximize profits is considered a necessary practice to create a strong corporation and thus maintain our position as the world's largest economy, and thus another form of civic virtue.
This translates to the everyday behavior of the average American by sending the message that to shirk the ideas of violence and ruthless competition is to be weak, and no person in any culture of the world wants to think of themselves as weak. It is very common for brawls to break out in bars, clubs, parties, or in the street for trivial issues such as maintaining eye contact for too long, shoulder-checking, spitting in their direction, or even stepping on someone's shoes.
In matters of law, we consider life without parole in total isolation and the death penalty to inseparable to the mainstream idea of retributive justice. We cannot abide the notion of forgiving those who commit the most horrific crimes such as aggravated rape and murder. If the courts fail to properly avenge the victim/victim's family, many Americans will feel the need to take the matter into their own hands - lynching people from trees or shooting them in public on many occasions throughout our history.
In matters of war... 9/11. We had never felt such fear, grief, or rage after the attacks - and it has changed the way we think. It was much like the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 in that Americans were shocked and horrified that an enemy could attack us on our own soil. To Americans, these sorts of massacres of our own people would fuel an (initially) nearly unanimous public outpouring of rage sufficient to invade two countries with the second being based on the premise that Iraq -might- have some sort of relationship with our great enemy and could provide him with the means to repeat 9/11. This is rooted in the American value of violent vengeance, which I cannot conceive of as being anything but a core part of our national mentality. I am aquite sure we're going to make many mistakes in the future because of this.
_______
That said, I love my country - and not just because of circumstances of birth. I love our national foundation formed around freedom of expression/press/religion, separation of church and state, separation of the military and law enforcement, the right to defend your homestead and loved ones, the right to a fair trial of your peers, and the other civil liberties guaranteed to our people (or the full citizens, at least).
And for all the violence, there is a great deal of compassion and friendliness as well. We're a generally very polite people, and we love Europeans, Canadians, Australians, Japanese, and South Koreans very much. We care for our allies, and we do mean to do right by them.
