A violent culture or a gun problem

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Mass shooting at a "Sweet 16" party in Alabama. A violent culture or a gun problem?
Police kill innocent man raiding the wrong house. A violent culture or a gun problem?
Man kills kid ringing the doorbell of wrong house. A violent culture or a gun problem?
Man kills woman entering driveway of wrong house. A violent culture or a gun problem?

I think that it's completely fair to say we have a SEVERE gun problem and have never so much as suggested otherwise, so save the stank-typing for your pals in the NRA. Jesus Lord have you seen the latest from their convention? 

It's pretty clear to me now that there's no prototypical demographic (the Reds want you to believe it's a cultural thing with blacks and browns) since we have many recent examples that prove my point. So other than the guns, what is the next thing that you think drives what I see as a growing culture of violence and violent behavior in this country? Is it politics? Is it progressivism? Conservatism? The media? What the fuck is going on? 

[k9krap]

Racism. And plain old hate. The old white man shot the kid because he was afraid of him being black. And a lot of the violence (mass shooting in Buffalo, shooting up churches, synagogues and temples, etc.) are done by racists.  The hate is for “the libtards”, e.g., the attack on Paul Pelosi.  

[k9krap]

And these reasons are why Faux News is so dangerous. They encourage racism, hatred, etc.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

Racism etc al is an undeniable part of it but I'm not sure how much. Fox doesn't have a monopoly on fear, crime, or even the mentally infirm although they have their fair share indeed. I can't watch the DC news programming because they are equally as full of shit as Fox, just far left and merciless in their constant pushing of agenda. It seems like division is the order of the day in government and media so it's not completely unexpected that the hate is, as you pointed out, a significant contributor to the violent culture.

[k9krap]

But GOP and FOX push the fear. Pucker constantly talks about race replacement; they push the caravan of migrants; they scream about groomers. It’s the fascist agenda.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

No one has a monopoly on pushing fear. It is very good for business and religion alike. I think what most people fear is the loss of their way of life in lieu of someone else's way of life. The question remains if this is the largest factor or simply a general contributor to the violent culture. My guess is the latter.

As I've said oh, probably a million times, I believe the erosion of the nuclear family unit (I threw that in just for lack of a better term like "traditional" and plays a significant role in moving the culture in the wrong direction. 

[minx]

I'd say it's 100% a gun culture as most people think the best answer is a gun to most conflicts lately. Kid rings your doorbell cause he's at the wrong house? Shoot'em! Car pulls into your driveway cause it's the wrong house? Shoot 'em! Teenage girl gets into your car by mistake and starts to apologize? Shoot her!

So I'd say it's a mix of violence and fear otherwise. The narrative that the entire country has become overrun with criminals who want YOUR stuff is pushed constantly on the news, along with the narrative that police will NEVER arrive in time to save you. (Hmm - does anyone seriously think the cops are waiting a block away to protect you? Even in my nice suburban area, I expect a response time of at least 15 minutes).

But I'd say it's not the 'traditional' family, but a lack of freedom (can't think of a better term) for kids. When we were kids, we were out roaming the streets till all hours. When my kids were little, they weren't roaming the streets at all hours, but they definitely rode their bikes around the neighborhood, took walks, and went to their friend's houses without an escort. I think they were the last of the 'unstructured' generation. Now it seems that kids are enrolled in all sorts of extracurricular activities that are structured, and come home to homework and videogames or social media. And that's assuming that their parents can afford such things.

I'd say that we need to get back to a place where a parent can afford to stay at home at least PT (although that screws single parents big time of course). And screen time needs to be reduced, but I don't see that happening anytime soon, as you go out and everyone in the family has their face buried in a phone. We're losing the ability to socially interact with others, and I think that's a huge factor behind the fear.

[k9krap]

Greed. The entire GOP runs on greed. It’s why they are so pro gun.

[k9krap]

This is grooming. 

[minx]

Oh pleeeeze. That's definitely a toy gun, as the NRA doesn't allow the real thing at it's meetings, cause folks may get hurt!

[k9krap]

But there are displays, and this was probably one of those.

[minx]

Oh, it's okay to have a display of inert guns to play with. Just as long as they can't go off and hurt someone at the conference.

Once they're out and about, then it's fair game.

[k9krap]

I’ve been watching LivePD the last hour or so and it’s been mostly “shots fired” calls, with some domestics thrown in. Except for the coed that drove into a golf course pond. 🤣🤣

One of these calls is in FL, where they are now searching for people that are shooting up houses.  At one house, they found 9 shell casings!

When I was a child, my dad was nearly killed by someone that shot a gun into our house.  It turned out that a man’s mentally disabled adult son had somehow gotten control of his gun.  The bullet came through the picture window and dad said he felt the breeze as it narrowly missed his skull!

We are doomed as a country.

[bobathon]

I sure seems like we have a fear problem that many people assuage with a firearm.