My wife and I had a hour long discussion about the root cause of gun violence in this country today.
This would also explain why so many people believe it is the loss of "faith" that is the problem. The decline of devout Christians happened in the same time period. Which was the cause, can be debated.
This also contains many of the elements I have heard/read on here constantly by my conservative friends. I find myself agreeing with many of their points.
More and more it seems to us that the main thing, the most significant thing that changed was not the growth of the number of guns (that is just a symptom, not a cause) but what changed over the past 50 years is the destruction of the "middle class".
Back in the "good old days" most middle class families had a single bread winner. Not so much today.
Back in the good old days people were optimistic about making a better future for their kids. Not so much today.
Back in the good old days women could CHOOSE to follow a career (or any job) or stay home. Not so much today.
Most people today are pessimistic about the future and they raise their children with that pessimism, frustration and anger. That infects their children with despair, depression, anxiety, apathy and anger. And those children typically don't have a stay at home parent to support them and so they learn from peers, social media and the rage panderers. All of which feed on clicks which are driven by anger and fear.
Back in the good old days kids grew up with positive role models of success (Father knows best, Beaver Cleaver, etc, etc, etc) and positive parents that worked hard but for a reason - to make a better life for their children.
Today, most shows are depressing - post-apocolypse types and shows where the law enforcement officers that used to be like the sheriff of Mayberry, compared to today law enforcement "heroes" often that step outside the system (break the law) to catch the bad guy. Some even are the bad guy (I forget the name but there is a successful show where a serial killer helps the cops catch bad guys, or a show where a school professor turns to making and selling drugs, etc. )
The entire future has shifted from work hard and you can succeed type of optimistic parents to angry and frustrated parents that don't have the time or energy to raise their own kids. So, the kids growing up now go to school fearing they may end up murdered (and they are not always wrong).
Constant stress like that can be crippling and lead to "acting out". They learn to NOT trust the system, because the system is broken and doesn't care about them. No one cares about them, they have been murdered at school for over 20 years now and it appears no one is doing anything to save them. Even their parent(s) abandon them every day to make a living. In the "good old days" parents also worked their ass off and often kids felt abandoned, but then the reason was (in teh background) their parents were working so hard as a way to help their children. Today, their parents are working that hard because of the children - it is expensive to raise children - much more so than in the "good old days". So, the kids have to take on that guilt also - they don't have parents because of them.
Obviously am not saying EVERYONE. I am saying most of the middle class - when there was one.
And that entire change we believe comes about because of the growing death of the middle class. The inevitable result of more and more concentration of wealth in the few. More and more both spouses HAVE to work - not to get ahead, but to survive. And even that is often not enough. We have a growing homeless problem that kids in big cities see everyday. And, they are not just the mental patients, they are not just the lazy "bums" or "hobos" we grew up with. Many are/were upper middle class. I know, I was one of the homeless and it happened suddenly. Just before I had been making 6 figures as an IT consultant. It can and does disappear. When kids see that upper middle class family that went to their school last year - it takes a toll on their belief that they can work hard and succeed. Why brother when everyone they know is working hard and falling behind.
It is a very toxic atmosphere we live in and it leads to very toxic life styles. As old folks from the "good old days" we are very resilient - because most of us grew top in that positive environment. Not all families were my three sons, but the community environment was generally - "this too will pass ,and things will get better". Now it is - things are only going to get worse, nothing I do can change anything. Etc. It is hard to understand what is wrong with this "lazy generation". Why are they not all positive, happy and working to make a better future - we think and say. Which just makes it worse for the children and grand children, because many of us are constantly telling them with these comments that they are lazy failures. Some become broken, and strike out. Guns can then become the tool to express their anger and frustration at the world and everyone in it. Guns give them the power to control their lives. Guns help them be seen. They become important.
I remember a dog trainer telling me, dogs want attention. They will behave to get it, if that doesn't work they will misbehave - but they will get attention, one way or the other. Same can be said for people, especially children.
So, why doesn't this happen in other countries? Well, many of the 1st world countries don't have the disparage in wealth - another thing no so great the US leads in. And combined MOST other countries don't have a plethora of guns easily available. So, when the depressed/angry what ever act out, they have to find other means, because they don't have the easy access to guns.
Anyway, it's just a thought.
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