It's commonly claimed that the US is a more violent society than any other in the western world. Crooked Timber has the proof.
The question this begs, though, is why? What is it about Americans which makes them three to five times more likely to kill each other as anywhere else in the western world? Is it something in the water? Or are they just not properly socialised against it?
Guns mostly - if you hit people they usually get up, if you shoot them they don't.
ReplyDeleteAlso higher levels of desperation and stupidity.
There are quite a few reasons.
ReplyDeleteBut I note that the crime rate in the less urban areas is I understand fairly normal level. So where is most of the violent crime coming from (ie why are the US statistics so high)?
Well we know the answer to that since there is a pretty clear profile.
When there is such a huge demographic difference that almost entirely explains the statistical difference I think that it needs to be adressed when finding an explination.
By the way I am also for gun control which would help to a certain degree.
What about the effects of having within the population a large number of war Vets from increasingly unpopular and brutal wars (eg Korea ->)? Most of whom re-entered society with minimal debriefing, support eg councelling etc. Seems an excellent recipe for a paranoid, violent, guilty, f*cked-up land-of-the-free to me....
ReplyDeleteI notice that the murder rate trends sharply upwards under Reagan, sharply downwards under Clinton, and doesn't cover the last five years. I'd love to see an updated version.
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