America's Culture of Violence Infects the World and Itself
Published in Al-Mustaqbal
(Lebanon ) on 10 October 2006
by Batir Muhammad Ali Wardum (link to
original)
Do you suppose President Bush will manage to blame some sort of "fascism" for the increase in random, brutal violence in America's schools? The most recent such case was an assault against a school belonging to a Christian sect called the Amish (who renounce all forms of violence and forsake worldly pleasures) and the subsequent murder of four innocent school girls?
Of course, there is no "Islamic fascism" for Bush to blame here, and surely he wouldn't accuse Evangelical Christians of fascism. But the master of the White House, who tries to play the role of America's great moralist, must know that the source of evil and violence in America is American culture itself.
Weapons are greatly revered in the United States, and after the Zionist lobby, groups that defend the right to bear arms likely have the most influence over American domestic policy. American gun culture is everywhere, whether in movies, music or even paintings and novels. Murder and weapons have become associated with the American lifestyle, even among young people.
According to U.S. Department for Homeland Security statistics, in the United States there are 20,000 murders every year, or just under 50 a day; 100,000 cases of rape and half a million robberies. These figures are high, even for a country as populous as the United States, and indicate a widespread culture of violence. Worse still, violence in schools is growing. Cases of assault and battery, murder and rape in the nation’s schools make up about 35 percent of the nation's crime total. A natural result of the culture of violence and family fragmentation, this staggering crime rate shows there has been a major disruption in basic educational values in the "leader of the free world."
We don’t want to give lectures on morality to the United States, since violence is also pervasive in the Arab world, but ours is "organized violence," and is officially sanctioned in most cases. Runaway social violence seems to be a distinctively American phenomenon; the United States is unsurpassed in this area except perhaps by gangs in Brazil, Colombia and some African countries. This makes dealing with America's culture of violence a more important issue for U.S. decision-makers than foreign wars on terrorism - but naturally, this is not among the priorities of the Zionist lobby which determines American policy.
The problem with America's culture of violence is that it has spread like a virus to all parts of the world through "cultural" products, such as American films filled with gratuitous violence, where we find American movie heroes killing dozens of people and committing crimes that stir the admiration and imagination of adolescents. The imitation of these spectacles in real life is only a matter of time, especially when violent heroes become politicians that govern people, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Before the American president dishes out accusations about fascism and violence against anyone who opposes his policies, he should make his schools safer places for learning – as is the case, for example, in Cuba, Iran, and Syria. While all of these states may be charter members of the Axis of Evil, at least they provide for the security of their citizens, something the entire American security apparatus, which spends billions of dollars every year, is unable to do.
Of course, there is no "Islamic fascism" for Bush to blame here, and surely he wouldn't accuse Evangelical Christians of fascism. But the master of the White House, who tries to play the role of America's great moralist, must know that the source of evil and violence in America is American culture itself.
Weapons are greatly revered in the United States, and after the Zionist lobby, groups that defend the right to bear arms likely have the most influence over American domestic policy. American gun culture is everywhere, whether in movies, music or even paintings and novels. Murder and weapons have become associated with the American lifestyle, even among young people.
According to U.S. Department for Homeland Security statistics, in the United States there are 20,000 murders every year, or just under 50 a day; 100,000 cases of rape and half a million robberies. These figures are high, even for a country as populous as the United States, and indicate a widespread culture of violence. Worse still, violence in schools is growing. Cases of assault and battery, murder and rape in the nation’s schools make up about 35 percent of the nation's crime total. A natural result of the culture of violence and family fragmentation, this staggering crime rate shows there has been a major disruption in basic educational values in the "leader of the free world."
We don’t want to give lectures on morality to the United States, since violence is also pervasive in the Arab world, but ours is "organized violence," and is officially sanctioned in most cases. Runaway social violence seems to be a distinctively American phenomenon; the United States is unsurpassed in this area except perhaps by gangs in Brazil, Colombia and some African countries. This makes dealing with America's culture of violence a more important issue for U.S. decision-makers than foreign wars on terrorism - but naturally, this is not among the priorities of the Zionist lobby which determines American policy.
The problem with America's culture of violence is that it has spread like a virus to all parts of the world through "cultural" products, such as American films filled with gratuitous violence, where we find American movie heroes killing dozens of people and committing crimes that stir the admiration and imagination of adolescents. The imitation of these spectacles in real life is only a matter of time, especially when violent heroes become politicians that govern people, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Before the American president dishes out accusations about fascism and violence against anyone who opposes his policies, he should make his schools safer places for learning – as is the case, for example, in Cuba, Iran, and Syria. While all of these states may be charter members of the Axis of Evil, at least they provide for the security of their citizens, something the entire American security apparatus, which spends billions of dollars every year, is unable to do.