It's the Culture, Stupid

   The U. S. has once again proven that it is a culture in very bad shape, if not near collapse (taking the long historical perspective, in other words -- not tomorrow). The Newtown, Connecticut massacre reaffirms the “exceptionalism” of the U. S., especially in relationship to the grotesque possibilities of civil violence. Tortured miss-readings of the Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution coupled with a machismo vision of rugged individualism have insured the continuance of dramatic acts of killing that no other modern nation has experienced, or likely understands. Most of the rest of the world, embarrassed by but resigned to the bizarre culture of the U. S., can only mourn the consequences of a culture that no longer carries the flag of humanity in regard to firearms. But the rest of the world does not matter to the U. S., unless historical events in other nations can be used to buffer the perverted violence that is so prolific in the U. S. A. To his great credit, Mayor Bloomberg of N. Y. C. alone has spoken truth to power and ignorance, pointing out that the repeated massacres in the U. S. are not found in such repetition in other countries. Politicians and media folk are often too timid to make this stark comparison.

   While the President of the U. S. wants to open a dialogue on what can be done to change things – which, given his record, may mean bargaining all effective action down to the level of ineffectualness, most other Americans likewise look to half measures to solve the problem of gun-based massacres. Restrictions on assault weapons and limitations on magazine capacities will lower the number of casualties – to a degree. Other measures, designed to restrict the use of guns, all pale in comparison to Chris Rock’s comic, but oddly more effective argument, that weapons should be freely allowed but bullets should cost $50,000 each. Sadly, Rock’s solution is better than some serious solutions we have heard and will hear.

   Part of the problem is easy access to weapons and ammunition, particularly in a country with 250 to 300 million firearms. A bigger part of the problem is a nation that misinterprets the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The Second Amendment was proposed and ratified only ten years after the American Revolution had ended. In most men’s minds, militias were an integral part of American success in the War for Independence, and memories of English restrictions of all sorts were also fresh in everyone’s memory. In fact, however, George Washington, and every other intelligent participant in the war, realized that an organized, regular army was the most important element in victory. Militias had been “irregular” in almost every way during the Revolution, including stability and success. Still, national myth held militias in high esteem, and individual valor, actually uncommon in the revolutionary war, was promoted as a means of self-congratulation, despite the fact that the winning of the war was largely a consequence of French intervention.

   No one in the early republic (1789-1815) that followed could imagine how “arms” would change in their nature and potency. Effective repeating rifles did not appear for another one hundred years. As an American historian I think I can say, and I think anyone can safely say, that none of the so-called “founding fathers” would condone 2^nd Amendment protection for modern weapons, even pistols with clips of fewer than eight bullets. All would be appalled at the culture of weaponry protected by the 2^nd Amendment today.

   The biggest problem, however, is a culture that has come to glorify a rare form of brutish individualism and an anarchistic definition of freedom. It is evident in everything from unrestricted capitalism to the banality of television to the celebration of violence in entertainment and sports. Kindness, gentleness, and a commitment to contentment are all but invisible in the U. S. Good young men – those who do not commit violence and resolutely resist the visceral culture of violence -- have little status in this society. Instead, they are encouraged to “man up,” which in some places means – buy a weapon and use it for something.

   Bill Clinton’s and James Carville’s declaration in the 1990s that “It’s the economy, stupid,” may have seemed a shrewdly focused political battle cry. It was ,in fact, a narrow vision of what was needed then, and now. For thinking persons to declare, “It’s the culture, stupid,” which is a more accurate understanding of where matters rest, throws up a challenge that currently appears impossible for Americans to meet, challenge, and change. As I have said before, twenty-five to thirty per cent of the American public know and understand America’s problems very well, including this problem of gun violence. They think critically and carefully, with an open generosity and kindness seen among few people on this earth. They are not the majority, however, in a society that too often lives by vaguely understood precepts, myths and slogans.