Many social reasons for it but it all distills down to a system of capitalism propped up by greed.
A lot of crime is caused by poverty. A lot of deadly crime is caused by guns.
(And cars, but for some peculiar reason, traffic deaths don't usually result in criminal charges.)
desperation.
Guns, crushing poverty, fascist policing, underfunded education, a prison system that isn't designed to reform anyone. Etc.
underfunding, more like completeing defunding it. even in moderately ok areas school distracts lack funding or no significant effort has been made to help students other than shunting them to another class/school where it wont affect thier testing scores. the one simpsons episode kinda highlight this problem, they depend on a person high scores in order for funding, so they are willing to let things slide like cheating and cooking the books. they need thier cannon fodder for the military , the low wage workers , the person who will become a police officer that is willing to perpetuate the violence.
Because so many Americans think guns, make you tough, strong, and safe. The reality is, these people are afraid of their own shadow, are stupid as a rotting log, racist as fuck, and usually shoot themselves in the foot. Children who watch too many fake Hollywood action movies.
Majority of gun deaths are from suicides 66+%. The next largest group is gang and drug related. The majority of the people you just called out, will never fire their gun...and those that do, will be shooting paper targets.
The reality is that our gun violence is from poverty, lack of education and a lack of safety nets.
That and the police kill usually 1k people on average a year via guns. So 1/40 of our gun deaths (including suicides) are from the police.
The reality is, these people are afraid of their own shadow, are stupid as a rotting log, racist as fuck, and usually shoot themselves in the foot.
While this is true, this is a symptom of the underlying problem, which is intentional nation dividing "us against them" narrative by media (owned by the ruling class), lack of education.
Education can only do so much. Indoctrination is sadly, more effective.
Yes, but that is partially my point. You can hardly blame the victims of indoctrination. Well, you can but they are not the main culprit
Yeah but it's easier to blame them. And if we blame them then we don't have to do anything, because it's somebody else's fault.
The U.S. believes "might is right", their entire mythology and culture is permeated with the concept that violence solves all problems. The elite at the top set the example, and everyone else falls in line.
True. Was surprised to learn years ago, that part of the trillions that the US spends on its military goes to funding movies that glorify the US war machine. ie. Top Gun.
Lead poisoning.
Not unique to America, unfortunately.
No, but American regulations and American car culture, etc is unique to America.
Lead: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
Just with the Flint water crisis, >9000 kids under six were exposed to lead and several hundred had elevated blood lead levels
Which is why
https://today.duke.edu/2022/03/lead-exposure-last-century-shrunk-iq-scores-half-americans
In 1923, lead was first added to gasoline to help keep car engines healthy. However, automotive health came at the great expense of our own well-being.
A new study calculates that exposure to car exhaust from leaded gas during childhood stole a collective 824 million IQ points from more than 170 million Americans alive today, about half the population of the United States.
Now obviously leaded gas influenced not just Americans, but for instance we Finns didn't even have gas in the 40's really, and we used a ton of wood gas generators for normal cars. We're still pretty much #1 in the world with our air and water purity and whatnot. So I'd go so far as to argue that we weren't as influenced by lead.
But also lead wasn't the only thing in the US. But it definitely was an actual factor.
My guess is all the fear.
Fear is a very effective tool to radicalize people to the right and I see plenty fear mongering in American media.
A family member was visiting in Canada and was asked ... do you carry a gun? Yes was the answer, and then proceeded to say, I would forget my lunch before I would forget my gun.
The collective doesn't value life. Watch what is done, historically, not what's bellowed about.
This post starts with propaganda framed as a question, and reinforced with comments containing assumptions and anecdotes. I checked several sources and none of them place America even in the top 50 murder rate, out of 195 countries.
If instead you're referring to "America" as both the northern and southern continents, then that is incredibly misleading and disingenuous.
Not hard to see that the US is an outlier. Canada is its closest neighbor in proximity and similarity in culture. As of 2023, the U.S. recorded 5.7 gun homicides per 100,000 people, while Canada recorded 1.9 per 100,000. Three times the rate. Thats not propaganda.
The US doesn't track high compared to literal warzones and the poorest of developing nations, which is not really a comparison you should need to make just in order for your country to look good. Compared to other rich developed nations the US tracks very high.
It's still really high though at #65/205, and about three times as high as any countries with similar economic development.
Like the other guy pointed out, no, compared to warzones and developing countries the US isn't at the top of the list. But compared to supposedly developed countries, formerly so-called "first world countries"? If the US wishes to identify as one, then yeah, it's kinda murdery in comparison.
https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/insights-blog/acting-data/gun-violence-united-states-outlier
Key takeaways:
Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the US are 33 times greater than in Australia and 77 times greater than in Germany.
Gun violence accounts for over 8% of deaths in the US among those under age 20.
Age-adjusted rates of firearm homicide are highest in Washington, DC and lowest in New Hampshire.
You don't think it's even remotely fair for someone from a country with >77 times less murder to call the US "a bit murdery"?
we have significant more gun violence where gun control is prominent it works, you brought into the propaganda that low amounts of gun, or strong gun laws are worst off. the worst crimes is from stabbings mostly, or other forms of violence. we have a culture of using guns,,. people literally obsessed about shooting other people often.
Yeah comparing it to the most destabilized parts of the world is also not very fair.
Compared to Europe, China and Canada the US is a shitshow.
Disclaimer: Just my thoughts and opinions, sprinkled with facts..
Right to bear arms, they say there's more guns and other lethal weapons than people here, lots of division and frustration between the people, and of course drugs, alcohol, sex, violence, and just crazies in general.
Disclaimer 2: I'm not a violent person, nor do I condone violence, save for self defense.
It really isn't? Compared to prior years in its relatively short history?
That is not the comparison that is useful in this context. The comparison that is useful is comparing the murder rate with other countries of similar economic status. And the US doesn't compare favourably in that context.
it's in our DNA apparently. at first we were like "wow we really can't have shit unless we kill for it" until we became "hey let's kill some people and take their shit".
on one hand, there was a time when that was the only way to not be a british colony (Ghandi hadn't been born to invent the Ghandi-trap). one the other, one of those previously mentioned attitudes really does seem to lead to the other.
guns.
easily accessible guns, a culture of guns, and a feckless political system that favors gun makers.
Because no place else murders as much as America. Kinda obvious, really.
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