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[Moff]

not much to be added.
yes, a lot of men have assault rifles at home because of the mandatory military service, but no ammunition for it

guns are very easy to get, however you are not allowed to use or carry them unless you are going to a shooting range. a license to carry is next to impossible to get unless you work in private security or the like

if someone else would carry a gun he would be considered a psycho and people would call the police on him.

crime rates are low because we have very low poverty. certainly not because many people have assault rifles at home with no ammunition.

 

[Walpurgis]

I've never understood what "homogeneous culture" means as an explanation for decreased violence. Don't most shootings (and most crime in general) happen between members of the same ethnic group?

Edit: that article you posted has nothing to do with violence. This homogeneous culture business seems a lot more like baseless speculation than an explanation based on being a "student of history."

It is just people trying to pretend that there isn't a problem and that other countries aren't handling issues better. USA is more homogenous than Canada and a lot more violent. There is also more murder in the USA than Sierra Leone while Sierra Leone is WAY less homogenous.

Sierra Leone is ranked 160 while the USA is ranked 111 if you sort by rate.

 

[Chichikov]

I've never understood what "homogeneous culture" means as an explanation for decreased violence. Don't most shootings (and most crime in general) happen between members of the same ethnic group?

It's usually code for no dark skinned people, as evident by the amount of people who think that switzerland is a homogeneous country.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Homogenous culture, low population, low poverty rates, minimal to little gang activity would be my bets.

Ding ding ding.

America has a different setup and requires different regulations. We got a completely different situation going on compared to Switzerland or Australia. It requires different solutions.

It's usually code for no dark skinned people, as evident by the amount of people who think that switzerland is a homogeneous country.

Unfortunately it sure looks like it wants to be.

Coincidentally saw this on imgur today.

Shit I'd give up one of my guns for my wife to be able to have 16 fucking weeks paid maternity leave. But 8 weeks unpaid leave it is...

But hey, I went to the range last week and that was cool....

 

[Abounder]

Conscription can be great for individuals and society at large, something like 70% of the Swiss people support it. Learn gun control, teamwork, get to know your fellow citizen, appreciate nature, and you'd lower the obesity rate too. America would also fight in fewer wars.

It'll never happen in the USA though...even the draft is basically obsolete and you'd be labelled as a fascist anyway even though military life is more like the scouts than not

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Conscription can be great for individuals and society at large, something like 70% of the Swiss people support it. Learn gun control, teamwork, get to know your fellow citizen, appreciate nature, and you'd lower the obesity rate too.

It'll never happen in the USA though...even the draft is basically obsolete and you'd be labelled as a fascist anyway even though military life is more like the scouts than not

Shit, I'd be down. A nation will be ALOT less likely to be filled with chicken-hawks with mandatory service required.

 

[Abounder]

Shit, I'd be down. A nation will be ALOT less likely to be filled with chicken-hawks with mandatory service required.

Amen to that, added that as a late edit as well.

 

[danwarb]

Ding ding ding.

America has a different setup and requires different regulations. We got a completely different situation going on compared to Switzerland or Australia. It requires different solutions.

The same solutions would work if they could be applied. Less poverty and better gun laws.

 

[entremet]

The same solutions would work if they could be applied. Less poverty and better gun laws.

I would agree, but this also the nation where a one of the most lauded Presidents (Reagan) used thinly veiled racism to say basically fuck you to black people.

A lot of the push back on social programs and anti poverty programs comes from poor rural white populations, who are afraid of "black welfare queens" abusing the system.

There is a clear "other" based on skin color.

US racial politics are very complex.

Heck, look at the creation of ghettos, funneling crack into black communities, and targeting blacks via the drug war.

Those practices had decimated up and coming minority communities, leaving some younger folks turning to gangs and gang infighting, which makes up a lot of the gun violence in the US.

Federal, state, and local governments have always looked as Blacks as the "other", while giving set asides to Caucausian immigrants to buy land, own homes, and such.

That huge schism that been going since post the Reconstruction era has been like a continual boot to the throat on the black community, so when you have some black youth turn to gang violence, we're looking at the outcomes, but not the underlying causes.

Why were Irish and Italians, ethnic minorities at the time, allowed to integrate into American society? Because once they adopted American culture, they were considered white.

So, it is complex and many of these factors is why comparing the US to Switzerland is silly.

Gang violence is a problem. But when we created are ignoring because its convenient too. As long as I move--I'm speaking rhetorically--to a better neighborhood, I don't have to deal with the underlying causes of gang violence.