Violence 27

Constant Violence in the USA, Part II

By Lázaro Fariñas
Cuban journalist living in Miami.
Monday 12 March 2018 | 06:56:50 PM

Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann.

The controversy over gun control in the United States has been red-hot. The numerous and repeated massacres that have been going on for many years are leaving the millions of citizens without arguments and against the wall who, in this country, support the Second Amendment of the Constitution, that which gives the right to all the people who live here to possess a firearm.

The National Rifle Association is a very powerful organization with hundreds of thousands of members and immense financial resources. It is the main advocate of the famous Second Amendment. It is the NRA that provides millions of dollars to politicians in this country to maintain strong support for the upholding of that constitutional right. By direct or indirect means, they channel all that money to members of Congress to avoid any legal changes regarding firearms.

So far, no bill of any kind aimed at controlling, changing or eliminating the Second Amendment has been able to prosper. Some presidents have tried to pressure senators and representatives, but none of them have been successful, even though some congressmen have been victims of attacks. Several presidents have been murdered in the course of this country’s history. Nine have survived attacks, but four did not survive. These were Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy.

At the moment, America has been creating a state of opinion in favor of doing something about how easy it is for citizens to acquire such deadly equipment. They are likely to make some sort of change, but I doubt that they will be able to get the amendment protecting gun ownership completely removed.

It is estimated that there are currently more than 300 million firearms in the possession of the population. This indicates that, if a law banning the sale of firearms in all states of the Union were to be enacted tomorrow morning, it would be totally impossible to remove all that arsenal from the hands of the inhabitants of this nation. To think that this was possible would be like daydreaming, rather, as an impossible mission.

But it seems that the number of weapons on the streets and in the fields is not enough. Now, President Donald Trump has come up with the brilliant idea that, in order to prevent further killings from occurring in schools, ten to 20 percent of school teachers should be armed. If we estimate that there should be about seven million of these at the primary and secondary levels, with only about ten percent being armed, it would be roughly 700,000, and almost one and a half million more if it were 20%. What do you think? Mr. Trump wants to create an entire army of armed teachers. It’s as if to say,”We were few and far between and Catana gave birth.”

The problems of this society are getting more complicated every day. As I said in a previous commentary, I do not believe that the problem of violence in this country will be solved only by the elimination of the aforementioned amendment. We must try to reverse a whole way of thinking and acting in this society. We must create a social consciousness for the citizens that is different from the one that has prevailed until now. That is not easy to do. Violence is so deeply rooted in the lives of the people of the United States that I find it almost impossible, over the years, to achieve, not eliminate, or even mitigate it.

This state of opinion, which I spoke of in previous paragraphs, has gradually been created by citizens who are aware that something has to be done. Different organizations and groups have been forming, but all in all, there are many ways to walk and little time to avoid new massacres.

Thousands of heavily armed and trained militias are scattered around the country. Hundreds of thousands of deranged  militias roam the streets of cities without medical treatment, thousands of lone wolves are locked up in their homes waiting to claw their way out. Tens of thousands of war veterans wander traumatized by clinics, alcoholised and psychologically destroyed, drug addicts, murderers, drug addicts and drug addicts alike.

I know I am showing a dark and terrible panorama in this commentary, but it is not pessimism on my part, it is the reality that surrounds us. For the good of this country, where I have lived almost all my life, where I have made a family and to whom I sincerely wish the best, I wish things were not as I am painting them.

Constant Violence in the USA

By Lázaro Fariñas

A CubaNews translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.

Posted: Monday 26 February 2018 | 06:09:11 PM
Updated: Tuesday 27 February 2018 | 02:55:25 PM

Three days after the murder of 17 people at a high school in South Florida, a gun show took place in a facility less than an hour’s drive south of the scene. The exhibition featured weapons of all types, from low-caliber weapons to assault rifles such as the famous AR15.

Hundreds of such events are held annually in the United States and are attended by thousands upon thousands of citizens who, for a small fee alone, have access to the exhibition.

The exhibitions are not only to show the different types of weapons that are on the market for sale, but also, so that those who want to buy are able to do so right there and leave with their preferred weapon.

With incredible insensitivity, the organizers of the exhibition held in Miami told the press that they could not suspend the event because they had spent a lot of money on organizing it. While the relatives of the victims of the massacre buried their loved ones, a few miles to the south, merchants of the death boasted of how well they were doing with the sales of such deadly equipment.

Any sensible person would have to wonder what madness that is? How come it’s so easy to acquire a firearm? How can one justify the fact that it is legal for an adolescent to be able, calmly, to locate a gun dealer and acquire an assault rifle that in reality only serves as an offensive weapon?

I don’t really think anyone rational has a rational answer to this question.

What kind of society has this great country created that cannot prevent firearms from being legally purchased without any restrictions as easily as you can buy onions in a grocery store?

The right to possess the weapon of choice is enshrined in this country’s Constitution and dates from the 18th century. Today, in the 21st century, the same law as it was more than 200 years ago continues to apply. And the worst thing is that the constitutional amendment that protects this citizen’s right has been almost impossible to repeal or alter, given that there is a lot of money involved in trying to prevent that from happening.

The theory of those who blindly advocate that the famous [Second] Amendment remains in effect. It says we all have the right to have a firearm for our personal or family defense. But the argument is not even as to whether that is desirable or not, but as to the type of weapon and caliber that the law allows being purchased.

Can you justify a parent having a weapon of war in his or her home? What are you doing with an assault rifle that’s only produced for combat?

No one who has the ability to respond or create laws to make it illegal to possess assault weapons or any other weapons in the hands of private individuals dares to act.

Representatives, senators, governors, mayors and even U. S. presidents who have dared to mess with the firearms industry are few and far between. The economic power of that conglomerate is so great that most politicians do not dare go head-to-head with it and create laws that prevent anyone, including crazy, insane, mentally ill, teenagers, murderers or a normal, rational person, from reaching a gun dealer and buying the gun they want.

In reality, it is very difficult to imagine what the solution to the problem facing American society could be.

We should also ask ourselves whether, by preventing arms from being bought for without limits, the problems facing this country would be solved? I don’t think that with only laws that prevent their acquisition or possession, these massacres that occur so often will end.

There are other factors involved that lead to the creation of a society as violent as the North American one. These include its own history of wars, invasions and massacres by governments, the proliferation of organized mafias, the assassinations of presidents in office, the annihilation of indigenous peoples, police abuse, high drug use, TV serials with a high level of violence, action movies, violent video games, the loneliness in which children are raised, etc., etc.

The violent acts are in the DNA of this country, therefore, I fear that unfortunately, every now and then, we will continue to see and regret events such as those that occurred in the Florida high school where 14 teenagers and three adults were murdered.