The Taint of
Violence at the Heart of the U.S. Republic (La Jornada, Mexico)
"One shouldn't forget the fact that governments set an example for their societies and that the U.S. has always taught its people that destruction, death and armed violence can resolve anything - even if Washington's attacks on other countries have failed to achieve their objectives and have complicated problems they were meant to resolve, as has occurred in the Middle East, where its devastating incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq created an atmosphere that fostered the expansion of al-Qaeda, and subsequently, the emergence of Islamic State."
At least 10 people were killed and seven others injured in another
indiscriminate attack, this time at the Umpqua Community College in
Roseburg, Oregon. Authorities reported that the 26-year-old attacker, identified
as Chris Harper Mercer, was killed in a shootout with police.
The tragic episode precisely follows a well-work script that
is repeated with terrifying regularity in various parts of our neighbor
country: a resentful individual without a significant criminal record decides
to murder as many people as possible, chooses a school or mall, empties one or
more firearms which he then turns against himself or is killed by law
enforcement.
Cowboys and U.S. Gun Culture: Reaffirming Heroism and War (Prensa Libre, Guatemala)
Given these recurrences, when asked whether Americans have
become desensitized to such massacres, President Barack Obama expressed exasperation
at his failure to convince Congress to put in place measures to regulate
the possession of firearms – and he recognized that doing anything to prevent such
barbaric acts from occurring again in the coming weeks or months would be
impossible.
Certainly a law that would permit government to set minimal
controls over arms sales would be a step in the right direction, but that
wouldn't prevent -as it doesn't in countries where such laws are in force -
these lethal devices from continuing to fall into the hands of murderers.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
However, in the U.S. the problem appears to go deeper, and
relates to a state in which historical traits render the exaltation of violence
and death legitimate methods of action. One need look no further than the fact
that right now there are six death row inmates awaiting execution in various U.S.
prisons over the course of the next week. Another example of this ethical deviation
is that Washington now rains bombs over distant Syria under the pretext of
safeguarding the security of its citizens, who, judging by the facts, face a far
more serious and concrete domestic threat: any day an imbalanced person could decide
to end dozens of lives, come armed to the teeth to a busy location or his own place
of study or work, and commit a slaughter such as the one which occurred yesterday
in Roseburg, Oregon.
One shouldn't forget the fact that governments set an
example for their societies and that the U.S. has always taught its people that
destruction, death and armed violence can resolve anything - even if Washington's
attacks on other countries have failed to achieve their objectives and have complicated
problems they were meant to resolve, as has occurred in the Middle East, where its devastating incursions into Afghanistan and Iraq created
an atmosphere which fostered the expansion of the al-Qaeda terrorist network,
and subsequently, the emergence of Islamic State.
Unfortunately, unless the United States undertakes a
profound transformation of politics, social ethics and government, massacres like
that which occurred yesterday will remain inevitable.
