Thoughts about America by an expat

A person can kill a lot more people with a gun, and disturbed people with guns are fucking dangerous. Don’t make it easy for them by making it easy to get a gun. But equally, look for the problem behind this deranged behavior.

The problem lies in the way we live. We are missing that profound and natural understanding, that the health of each individual benefits the health of everyone. One’s sadness is everyone’s. A collective norm to maintain mental health would foster awareness and create a safe environment to discuss personal and familial issues more openly. None of these behind closed doors abuses leading to more disturbed states of mind that develop unchecked in isolation. The community wouldn't pry into private matters, they wouldn't  judge, there would be concern and a willingness to help. 

Humans have an innate attraction to community. True community is not only missing in our societal setup, we miss it intuitively and this lack manifests emotionally as anger and frustration, as loneliness. Our current way of life breeds discontent and disconnect. Cyber socializing and consumerism can’t replace that desire for a real community where one is fully accepted for who they are, flaws to talents. To survive, we need community which in turn leads to a connection with all things.

What we think is community these days demands a certain conformity and behavior. In a true community, yes there are duties to perform for the welfare of the group, but equally, the survival of everyone relies on mental health and that health is promoted through acceptance.

But why guns anyway? An NRA love affair with guns is just another search for a group to belong to and feel empowered by. As well, this gun obsession equated with protection, strengthens the isolation and dog eat dog mentality that is poisoning everyone. Criminals versus the decent citizens. Foreigners versus locals, unemployed versus employed, men vs women, teenagers versus adults, and on and on. Our modern way of life, epitomized in the American way of life, doesn’t allow for weakness. Repressed vulnerability is like a land mine awaiting its explosion, especially in a male.

BELOW ARE TWO BOOKS THAT EXPOUND ON THE NECESSITY OF PROPER COMMUNITY. Both excellent.

M. Scott Peck

The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace (Simon & Schuster, 1987) ISBN 978-0-684-84858-7

Malidoma Patrice Some

Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman, Tarcher/Putnam (1994). ISBN 978-0-87477-762-8