The Two Mass Shootings Yesterday Pin-Point a Problem Everyone Should Recognize!

On June 14th, 2017, there were two mass shootings in the United States, and I’m really not surprised by them.  Are you? Mass shootings have become commonplace in America as of late, and after every one of them, the political blame game spins round and round like the wheel of fortune, even before we send out our redundant and meaningless “thoughts and prayers,” or before somebody changes their facebook avatar.

We have to ban guns. No, we need more guns. We need to put more police in public places — and even in schools to deter shooters. We need to ban gun-free zones. We need to blame all right-wingers. We need to blame all left-wingers. We need to call white violence terrorism. We need to blame psychotropic drugs. We need to ban Muslims. We need to (insert your reactionary opinion here).

Everybody thinks they know what’s wrong, but it seems nobody understands two plainly obvious causes of all this violence…

Violence is Inherent in Government and is now enhanced by Global Mainstream media giants.

Governments are violent by default. It’s its very DNA. Born out of the exploitation and genocide of Natives and built off the backs of slaves, our government, no different from any other government, used violence to solve its “problems” since its inception. The country’s independence, itself, was obtained through years of violence — the American revolution. This violence is now venerated and enshrined in popular American mythology and perpetuated ad nauseam in public school history books.

The violence never stopped, and it has been routinely glorified. When Native Americans had something we wanted, we murdered them and took it — over and over again. America’s deft use of violence in World War II became our modern claim to moral superiority. The invasion of Iraq decades later was deemed a gift to Iraqi citizens despite the countless deaths and destruction of their homeland that came with it.  And we won’t even talk about the 500,000 children who died.

We memorialize those who commit violence for the government and hold them in the highest esteem — throwing tantrums when others express dissenting opinions or fail to bow to the people who serve these institutions.

When citizens don’t obey the laws of political parasites, we fine them. When people don’t follow the ever-expanding number of (many times unjust) laws in the U.S., we cage them. When a country does something we don’t like, we bomb them and overthrow their government. When a leader does something the U.S. government doesn’t like, we assassinate them. Even what should be civil political discourse has been radicalized into violent rhetoric — the war on women, the war on Christmas, the war on healthcare, the war on cops, the war on drugs. War permeates our culture.

Therefore, it’s only natural that when a person is sad, down on themselves, off their meds, or mad about something, getting behind the wheel of a care, picking up a gun, a bat, or a knife to solve their problems with violence seems to be logical. Our government does it, why not them? Our movies, TV shows and video games glorify violence.  Our government bombs schools in countries we don’t like, so what is so different about an individual getting a gun and shooting up a school in the United States? Our police shoot and kill over 1,000 Americans every year, often because they are afraid of them or because they “did’t comply.” Is it any surprise that many of the most atrocious mass shootings in this country were committed by individuals with a fetish for militarism (or policing institutions)?  And our legislators exacerbate the problem by creating gun-free, target rich environments that offer no resistance to those who lose their marbles, load their weapons and start shooting up a Post office or school.

Thanks in large part to our government, American society assumes violence solves problems, whatever those problems may be. Since this country’s founding, America has been dehumanizing others and committing mass acts of violence against them in the name of what is “right” or “good.” The Virginia shooter probably thought he was committing a righteous act by shooting a Republican who was taking away his healthcare.

Just as the concept of “Manifest Destiny” made room in early Americans’ consciences to rationalize genocide against the natives — and the post 9/11 dehumanization and exploitation allows for the removal of domestic rights and the ongoing war on terror, which has taken well over one million innocent lives — we now dehumanize others for disagreeing with us politically to the point where violence is becoming a regular occurrence (see: alt-right vs. antifa).

The “us vs. them” nationalism that was previously used as propaganda during major wars to get the public unified behind national conflicts has now come home to roost. The next logical step is to get out the guns and start shooting our political opponents down in the street — and now, apparently, it’s happening. Are you really surprised?
Problem, Reaction, Solution and Well-Intentioned Political Violence

There is another reason violence is such a default reaction, and it extends beyond the behavior and nationalism perpetuated by the U.S. government. In most of the public’s reactions to the problem of mass shootings, there is a hint of violence in their subsequent proposals to legislate away said violent acts, even if their intentions are good.

Taking away someone’s right to do something is an act of violence — political or otherwise.  Gun-free zones are a perfect example.  Gun-free zones are created, they say, to make people safer.  But your likelihood of getting badly injured or killed rises exponentially if you find yourself complying with a gun-free zone sign.  And if you did happen to bring a gun into a gun-free zone for personal and public protection…how is that gun-free zone law enforce?  Why at by the barrel of a gun, of course.

In the United States, we have a tendency to enact laws against things we don’t like, and if someone still does something politicians say is bad, violence is committed against them in the form of punishment, fines, incarceration, all the way up to and including execution. After all, government is defined by its ‘moral’ exemption to use violence — if a soldier, cop, or other government agent commits violence at the behest of politicians or ‘the law,’ it’s in the name of the greater good — regardless of whether or not it’s actually moral. If members of the public use the same kind of violence, they’re criminals, even if they also believe they’re advocating a ‘greater good.’  

So when you say armed guards should be put into every school, you’re endorsing an act of violence by taking someone’s tax money and spending it in a way they may disagree with. When you say “guns should be banned,” you are advocating violence by taking away someone else’s freedom because you think that particular liberty is dangerous, outdated, or archaic. Your desire to remove that freedom necessarily requires the use of violence on the part of armed government agents confiscating the gun or locking them up for failing to obey the edict.

That’s fine and dandy until the freedoms you hold dear end up in the crosshairs of political moralists who feel they know better than you. The slippery slope that starts with banning guns because they can be used for violence can slide into banning books because dangerous information can lead to dangerous thoughts or violence.

***

When a culture of violence intersects with an inherently violent government, I’m not surprised that Americans of all political persuasions are shooting each other in the street. So perhaps instead of reforming gun laws or turning our schools into fortresses, America needs to take a long hard look in the mirror. From the way we treat our children to the global war on terror, if we truly want to stop the spread of violence, maybe we should stop ingraining it into every aspect of our society.

COPS – When SECONDS count, they’re only Minutes away.