Glad you liked it Ken--I think it's an existential question: why do Americans feel so unsafe? Answer: because increasingly, the institutions that have cared for them have ceased to do so, whether that is employers, the government, the Church, schools....the perpetuation of what my colleague Nancy Fraser calls "cannibal capitalism"--going after ordinary people's well-being in order to funnel profits to the top is a big part of that. But so, ironically, is Republicans's increasingly strident insistence that we all take care of ourselves. A longer comvo--to be had at Freewind!
The idea of insurrection has been very niche until recently, confined to white supremacist and militia groups, and it only became more open and general on the right after 2016. Up until that point hte not-so-hidden agenda was profits. Gun industry profits have expanded dramatically in the past 20 years or so
Well, right--and with other ways of killing people, fighting back is an effective option. But as you point out correctly in your other comment, it isn't about the facts of the case anyway.
Wow.... Disgusting take... BTW... I'm a Black, Progressive, Anti-interventionist, pro gun restrictionist, 50 year Chicago resident, Community control of police advocate..... And your pure partisan take is DISGUSTING
Superb. Thank you Claire. I think the way you describe the worldview of 2A proponents is spot on: evil lurks around every corner, so defend (with a gun) or die.
What should we say to those with that worldview? (I ask in a genuine way; I don't know the answer.) Perhaps we can say that people around the world have the same feelings. Some more than others, but we all have them. Fear of evil. It must be universal. But when you have fewer guns, and when there are strict rules about the guns that people do have, fewer people are hurt or killed when evil does occur. You're safer, and can be less afraid. Maybe you can learn other techniques for avoiding or defending against evil. And feel even safer, and even less afraid.
One thing is for sure. If you have this worldview and you arm yourself, you (and we) are not safer. We are less safe. And will be more afraid.
No, guns cannot act on their own. you clearly have no problem with the murder though, you commit enough of those in your daily life far worse than any committed in question here. Nor are you particularly ashamed of being the driving rhetorical force behind inspiring your fellow madmen to murder in desperate search for more “post-birth abortions” for you to “offer” the devil at midnight.
your only problem is that an armed populace can far more easily stop the “revolution” you fantasize about.
I leave you instead with three questions:
1) if you declare the most innocent as “guilty” of a capital crime, when what implicitly happens to you who are most guilty of all evil?
2) are you surplus population and how do you know?
3) why did even greater smugness and ignorance than your own not save ANY other “comrade” throughout ALL History from being liquidated the SECOND your “revolution” was over?
I don’t expect you to answer it, nor will I read it if you do, but don’t worry because then rest of your life will more than clearly say it for you.
Just wondering if you think there's a "hidden" agenda in the way gun rights politicians and groups support gun laws? It's almost like they are not so much for gun rights as they are attempting to arm their supporters for a coming insurrection.
So what do we need to do to reduce gun violence? I was thinking about what the Israeli population just accomplished in protests against changes to the justice system. They did it by pulling together key institutions. Per the NY Times "That opposition has gained momentum because it unites influential parts of Israeli society: universities, unions and the reservists who play a key role in the military. The backing of such organizations is often the difference between successful and failed protest movements. ...Much of life in Israel came to a halt yesterday: Hospitals stopped providing nonemergency care, planes were grounded at the country’s main airport, and malls and banks closed. The disruptions were part of an escalation in protests against the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, which has plunged Israel into one of its gravest political crises ever." We have hardly made any progress on gun control and children keep dying. I'm just wondering if anyone has talked about trying something like the above? I know it's the Republicans who support the NRA so not sure what a mass protest would look like but we have to try something different.
We are sadly waiting for a prominent Republican to say enough is enough, this problem is so grave that Patriotic Americans must lay down their guns and get a new hobby or interest. Unfortunately, we will wait a long time for this.
I agree that the core problem is the belief in a Hobbesian world. I call this the belief “Only One Can Live” in my book Beyond Doer and Done To. How do such people become able to imagine a cooperative world where the Other is not a threat? What about solidarity? We also might consider the end of labor unions and Farm & Labor parties (including in Texas) to have played a role in reversion to individual self-protection. Why is New England (like Canada) so much less disposed toward gun culture? How does masculine domination figure in? It is important to analyze what militates against belief in violent rugged individualism.
Horrific. Heartbreaking. My first thought when I read the quote from the guy who said he would have used a knife if he couldn’t find a gun was to suggest he check out stats from Great Britain, or any country with fewer guns. But then I remembered what a friend with far right parents told me: you can’t change their minds with facts, because they didn’t acquire their opinions and beliefs through facts. They came to them through emotions. So, this is always our (the Dems’) problem. Just think about Al Gore with his climate change chart. And therefore, we really need to figure out how to reach people by using emotional, not rational, arguments. We need Don Draper to channel William Barber. Or something. To help people move on a gut level, from that dark place into the light. To render empathy cool. Maybe that’s a prerequisite for folks to consider facts in a new way, to be open to them? The people who study how people come to know what they think they know and how they can come to change their minds may have a handle on some of this. I may be nuts, but I also know more factoids and stats are going to get us absolutely no place.
another excellent article Claire.
Ann B
Really good, Claire -- see's through all the attempts to turn attention away from guns. Thanks for publishing.
Glad you liked it Ken--I think it's an existential question: why do Americans feel so unsafe? Answer: because increasingly, the institutions that have cared for them have ceased to do so, whether that is employers, the government, the Church, schools....the perpetuation of what my colleague Nancy Fraser calls "cannibal capitalism"--going after ordinary people's well-being in order to funnel profits to the top is a big part of that. But so, ironically, is Republicans's increasingly strident insistence that we all take care of ourselves. A longer comvo--to be had at Freewind!
The idea of insurrection has been very niche until recently, confined to white supremacist and militia groups, and it only became more open and general on the right after 2016. Up until that point hte not-so-hidden agenda was profits. Gun industry profits have expanded dramatically in the past 20 years or so
Well, right--and with other ways of killing people, fighting back is an effective option. But as you point out correctly in your other comment, it isn't about the facts of the case anyway.
Wow.... Disgusting take... BTW... I'm a Black, Progressive, Anti-interventionist, pro gun restrictionist, 50 year Chicago resident, Community control of police advocate..... And your pure partisan take is DISGUSTING
Superb. Thank you Claire. I think the way you describe the worldview of 2A proponents is spot on: evil lurks around every corner, so defend (with a gun) or die.
What should we say to those with that worldview? (I ask in a genuine way; I don't know the answer.) Perhaps we can say that people around the world have the same feelings. Some more than others, but we all have them. Fear of evil. It must be universal. But when you have fewer guns, and when there are strict rules about the guns that people do have, fewer people are hurt or killed when evil does occur. You're safer, and can be less afraid. Maybe you can learn other techniques for avoiding or defending against evil. And feel even safer, and even less afraid.
One thing is for sure. If you have this worldview and you arm yourself, you (and we) are not safer. We are less safe. And will be more afraid.
No, guns cannot act on their own. you clearly have no problem with the murder though, you commit enough of those in your daily life far worse than any committed in question here. Nor are you particularly ashamed of being the driving rhetorical force behind inspiring your fellow madmen to murder in desperate search for more “post-birth abortions” for you to “offer” the devil at midnight.
your only problem is that an armed populace can far more easily stop the “revolution” you fantasize about.
I leave you instead with three questions:
1) if you declare the most innocent as “guilty” of a capital crime, when what implicitly happens to you who are most guilty of all evil?
2) are you surplus population and how do you know?
3) why did even greater smugness and ignorance than your own not save ANY other “comrade” throughout ALL History from being liquidated the SECOND your “revolution” was over?
I don’t expect you to answer it, nor will I read it if you do, but don’t worry because then rest of your life will more than clearly say it for you.
Just wondering if you think there's a "hidden" agenda in the way gun rights politicians and groups support gun laws? It's almost like they are not so much for gun rights as they are attempting to arm their supporters for a coming insurrection.
So what do we need to do to reduce gun violence? I was thinking about what the Israeli population just accomplished in protests against changes to the justice system. They did it by pulling together key institutions. Per the NY Times "That opposition has gained momentum because it unites influential parts of Israeli society: universities, unions and the reservists who play a key role in the military. The backing of such organizations is often the difference between successful and failed protest movements. ...Much of life in Israel came to a halt yesterday: Hospitals stopped providing nonemergency care, planes were grounded at the country’s main airport, and malls and banks closed. The disruptions were part of an escalation in protests against the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, which has plunged Israel into one of its gravest political crises ever." We have hardly made any progress on gun control and children keep dying. I'm just wondering if anyone has talked about trying something like the above? I know it's the Republicans who support the NRA so not sure what a mass protest would look like but we have to try something different.
We are sadly waiting for a prominent Republican to say enough is enough, this problem is so grave that Patriotic Americans must lay down their guns and get a new hobby or interest. Unfortunately, we will wait a long time for this.
Very good and thoughtful article, thank you!
I agree that the core problem is the belief in a Hobbesian world. I call this the belief “Only One Can Live” in my book Beyond Doer and Done To. How do such people become able to imagine a cooperative world where the Other is not a threat? What about solidarity? We also might consider the end of labor unions and Farm & Labor parties (including in Texas) to have played a role in reversion to individual self-protection. Why is New England (like Canada) so much less disposed toward gun culture? How does masculine domination figure in? It is important to analyze what militates against belief in violent rugged individualism.
Horrific. Heartbreaking. My first thought when I read the quote from the guy who said he would have used a knife if he couldn’t find a gun was to suggest he check out stats from Great Britain, or any country with fewer guns. But then I remembered what a friend with far right parents told me: you can’t change their minds with facts, because they didn’t acquire their opinions and beliefs through facts. They came to them through emotions. So, this is always our (the Dems’) problem. Just think about Al Gore with his climate change chart. And therefore, we really need to figure out how to reach people by using emotional, not rational, arguments. We need Don Draper to channel William Barber. Or something. To help people move on a gut level, from that dark place into the light. To render empathy cool. Maybe that’s a prerequisite for folks to consider facts in a new way, to be open to them? The people who study how people come to know what they think they know and how they can come to change their minds may have a handle on some of this. I may be nuts, but I also know more factoids and stats are going to get us absolutely no place.
The simple fact is that these people love their guns more than they love your children. More than they love their children, actually.