“And so the requiem continues. A painful elegy for a nation careless enough to lose its innocence on a weekly basis, one which can expend extraordinary resources looking for water on Mars yet is apparently incapable of finding a way to keep its people safe in cinemas, colleges and churches.”-Gary Younge, The Guardian
Yet another senseless mass murder in the US: This time around at a community college in state of Oregon.
All in all, a week has not passed this year so far without a mass shooting occurring somewhere in America; 264 mass shootings have occurred in America this year (January to October),* and a further 994 mass shootings in 1,004 days.**
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Thus see below:
The second amendment to the US Constitution gives all Americans the right to own guns Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
And then the Final act:
President Obama praying on behalf of the saddened nation for the dead and their families, knowing well that very soon he will be praying again
Photo:usatoday.com
Now lest we forget:
The U.S. spends more on defense than the next seven countries combined (2014)
China+ Russia+ Saudi Arabia+ France+ UK+India+ Germany= $601bn
USA= $610
U.S. defense spending compared to other countries | pgpf.org
So, the US spends astronomical sums on its defense budget to protect itself against the nasty outsiders, whilst its own citizens carry on killing each other more than ever before. This gives hypocrisy a new meaning, for sure.
Where is security now, one can justifiably ask?
Perhaps security comes not from the barrel of a gun, but from more equality, shared prosperity, cooperation, love and sympathy; less of market forces, destructive competition, individualism, materialism, consumerism and such likes- Being more for the common good, so to say:
What might an Economy for the Common Good look like?
And this is what I had written in 2012 on yet another mass murder in the US, inspired by the wise words and sentiments of Pete Seeger: Where Have All the Flowers Gone? When Will They Ever Learn?
Another mass murder in the US: When Will They Ever Learn?
See more:
America's gun massacre blues seem to play on an endless loop | Comment is free | The Guardian