On Guns, We’re Not Even Trying
By Nicholas Kristof, Dec. 2 2015 (LINK to aryticle)
To a European like myself, it is tempting to dismiss America's gun problem as just weak will, but I have come to realise that America is in fact, metaphorically speaking, a "gunoholic", the reasons for which, as with alcoholism, lie deep in the history and very nature of American society itself.
Europe has its own, equally serious, problems, of course, the causes of which also lie deep in the roots of our civilisation, which are also the roots of American civilisation.
As in the case of individual alcoholism, the first obstacle to overcoming it is to recognise and admit to oneself that one actually has a serious problem that one needs help with. America reminds me of a successful businessman, or woman, who is also an alcoholic, but refuses to face up to it, not least, because it hasn't prevented them from being successful at making a lot of money, notwithstanding the difficulties it makes in their relationships with others and the damage it is doing to their liver, which is leading them to an early death.
If America is to help and cure itself, before it suffers organ failure, it (especially its academics) must seek help from a human-evolutionary perspective on the origins and nature of western civilisation, which will take them to the root cause of the problem, which is about more than just "gunoholism". It will be a difficult, painful and frightening journey, but it's the only way to effect a cure and avoid the premature demise of western civilisation.
See BLOG in which I elaborate on this issue.
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