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Every month, my 1st Freedom magazine, a publication for NRA members, comes and there are usually a half-dozen stories of intruders being shot. I'd prefer if more of them were killed.
Self-defense and property protection is the best excuse.
You know? I also kind of wonder if people who get attacked when being "in the wrong place" don't deserve it. It has to have a positive effect on culture... I imagine they don't continue their lives walking around with their heads in a bubble...
Fascinating subject....I don't know the answer. I do believe that for a PROSPEROUS, DEVELOPED country, our level of violence is quite high.
I do have many thoughts on the matter..and it may be worthwhile to compare us with Canada, a similar country in many respects, lots of common ties, etc., but little of our violence....here are a few ideas..
1.. The very founding of the US involved rebellion, the renouncing of 'authority', and armed rebellion. None of this in Canada, of course..in fact, many American "loyalists" moved there so as NOT to become 'rebels'..
2..In the US, westward expansion generally PREDEDED the advance of "law and order"..settlers, prospectors, all sorts of ruffians got to an area FIRST...then, after a period of unrest and violence, "The Law" showed up to try to gain order. In CANADA, generally "The Law" arrived first, and settlers were acomodated in an orderly manner.
Take, for example, the Klondike Gold Rush. Though in the Yukon, it had a heavily "American" presence..yet surprisingly little violence and mayhem. If Dawson City had been in the US, it would have been chaos. But in fact, the "Mounties" kept a lid on things...
There are few parallels in Canada with the American phenomena of violent and lawless mining camps and "cow towns"...no Dodge City, no Tombstone, etc. No murderous "Range Wars" over grazing rights. In fact, many of the few 'outlaws' on the Canadian prairies were actually illegal Americans, who went north as "Whiskey Traders", and caused many problems..
Canada certainly had nothing remotely like our Civil War, and certainly nothing like slavery and segregation.
In fact, Americans have always been just a LITTLE proud of our violent, "bad boy" image...the "western" was a tremendously popular form of entertainment. America has ALWAYS glorified "rule-breakers". We don't have a lot of respect for 'team players', and most of our military heroes are guys who disobeyed their superiors. Even Frank Sinatra did it "His Way". Very different from Canada, where such rebellious attitudes might be looked at as "juvenile" at best.
Violence, sad to say, is simply more 'acceptable' in America than most places. We don't LIKE it, but we look at it as inevitable. It goes along with a crusty, independent, "nobody tells ME what to do" attitude, which is VERY MUCH a part of the America 'image'.
Others are free to disagree...these are only my personal thoughts...big generalizations, of course..but it may explain a little of America's curious "love/hate" relationship with independence, 'contrariness', and violence..
Every month, my 1st Freedom magazine, a publication for NRA members, comes and there are usually a half-dozen stories of intruders being shot. I'd prefer if more of them were killed.
Self-defense and property protection is the best excuse.
And how many innocent people are killed by guns in the same time period?
I put the level of violence down to genetics. Many of our earliest colonist were transported criminals from England. Later we got the dregs of Europe skipping out one step ahead of the law.
I put the level of violence down to genetics. Many of our earliest colonist were transported criminals from England. Later we got the dregs of Europe skipping out one step ahead of the law.
Absolutely !....how could I have forgotten the "GENETICS" angle?....the "dregs of Europe".....of COURSE !!! Really, we were nothing but one vast "insane asylum / prison / rehab center"....and the Statue of Liberty was ONE HOT BABE !!.....
Absolutely !....how could I have forgotten the "GENETICS" angle?....the "dregs of Europe".....of COURSE !!! Really, we were nothing but one vast "insane asylum / prison / rehab center"....and the Statue of Liberty was ONE HOT BABE !!.....
Good post.... Thanks for the dose of reality.
Every four years when I see our presidential political conventions I'm reminded of that. Our Australian cousins have apparently found a way to "tame the beast" since their murder rate is about 1/4 our, but they share a similar past. Maybe it was a better class of criminals back then.
For the most part I agree with you, but one major point I feel I must make - though it's the police's job to contain the violence or at least enforce the law, I don't see the police as being the good guys. In my personal experience, most cops have a certain type of personality - the type of personality that likes to bully or intimidate people. In other words, at best cops are the lesser of the two evils (they're only *slightly* better than criminals); at worst I feel like the police are criminals themselves who get away with doing the same stuff criminals do by hiding under the umbrella of the legal system and a good ol' boy network in every respective major city in the U.S. Not saying you or any of your C.O. buddies or any other law enforcement official is a bad guy, but let's be real - many, if not most cops are basically bullies with badges. They tend to be the type of people who get a power trip from their job and that's why they do it despite the crappy pay in almost every police jurisdiction, particularly the ones where they're "working" the hardest.
Interesting and good post!
At the same time, going by the rest of what your original post said, I think you might agree IS a fair counter-point to the basic thesis that those who become police officers are themselves usually inate bully types who conciously or unconciously gravitate toward a legal way to push people around.
To wit, that it is entirely reasonable that the tough job itself is the reason that many police officers come across as bullying and authoritarian, especially to the extremes of upper-middle class society who think they are being harrassed if they are given a traffic ticket....to those in inner-city areas who see the police as the "enemy" anyway...
With that said, here is the link to about the best book I have ever read on this subject. It is the memoir of a liberal college proferssor who became, in acceptance to a challenge to put his theories where his mouth was, a street cop in a tough very high-crime area. Prior, he too believed that those who became police officers were naturally a bullying type. After not long on the job, he began to see things from a totally different perspective.
Here is an excerpt, followed by the link to buy the book (now out of print, I think):
In my 20-years as a law enforcement officer, and 18 years of (simultaneous) college studies, I found Dr. George L. Kirkham's story to be one of the most intriguing, interesting, and accurate police stories. It is now a classic in police and criminal justice literature. This is a true story in which Dr. Kirkham, a college professor, becomes a street cop in a tough South Florida city (on a sabbatical from teaching). The reader will learn firsthand the changes - the metamorphosis - that Dr. Kirkham goes through. Would this happen to most any person who becomes a police officer? He describes a tough job, that sees American society often at it's worst. Kirkham learns that police theory and actual police practices are often far apart. (A short vignette of the story appeared as an article entitled "Street Lessons" by George L. Kirkham PhD, in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, March 1974, pp. 14-22). This story is required reading in all my Introduction to Criminal Justice classes.
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Thanks for the dose of reality.
