Post by sidheguitarmichael on Dec 16, 2010 17:00:54 GMT -5
So to suggest that the United States - a mixing pot of just about every culture in the world - is somehow inherently more violent than any other, I would say, is misguided.
I disagree.
People are people; everywhere and every time throughout history, yes. On that we do agree. I also think that you've summed up the human condition well. That's not my point though; I was speaking to the acceptance and tolerance for violence as a positive concept that we as a country have.
My point is that what tempers people is the societal norms that they adhere to. Ours glorifies violence, moreso than, say, the rest of the contemporary western world.
A movie like the expendables, or the UFC franchise, or the plethora of slasher flicks that none of us here would be first in line to see...
I'm also here to tell you that the guys who train the foreign equivalents of our special operator units can be found taking classes from civilians at facilities in the US.
That's how much better at this stuff we are than most. Nobody does the gun like the Americans, period.
The human animal is the same all around, but I stand by the statement that our society probably has about the highest tolerance for violence as entertainment, and the largest number of adherents to the philosophy that the individual, rather than the state, is responsible for our personal security. Outside of maybe Israel, that philosophy finds it's greatest expression in the people of the US of A. It's in our constitution, and we are not just paying lip service to the paper; we absolutely rule the roost when it comes to guns in a structured society.
JMO.