Because people have the right to carry guns in the USA and we all pay the price for it. Freedom ain’t free.
The founding fathers of the US believed that a well-regulated militia was essential to the security of a free state, and explicitly wrote that clause into the second amendment. Karl Marx also supported gun ownership, for the workers to retain their power and even effect a revolution. What’s common to both of these is the idea of a collective defense, a “well-regulated” maintenance of order.
The Heller decision changed all that (and MacDonald vs Chicago took it further). It essentially made the “well-regulated militia” clause have no effect at all, as if it was just a rhetorical flourish.
The context can be clearly seen from writings at the time. The People’s Militia was a real thing all over the US, and e.g. Washington complained bitterly about how inferior their discipline was to actual troops.
Since Heller, we’ve also had massive militarization of police. The actual militias have been considered terrorist organizations. And the NRA idea that anyone has a right to carry a gun anywhere has become embraced by Republicans. Even red flag laws are viewed with suspicion. But the original Republic had the collective concept of a militia — completely neutered today.
Ironically, the people who talk about individual rights are also the ones who do it because the idea of the People’s Militia was swept aside in an age where Big Government has the monopoly on force and protects us all. The idea of regular people coming together and forming an armed militia (eg to resist tyranny) is far more anarchist and dangerous to governments, than disconnected lone nuts with guns.
exe34•9mo ago
thank you for writing this - I had been wondering where the well regulated militia was in the midst of the technofascist coup, but this makes sense - the "well regulated militia" is more of a superstitious thing they say when defending the right to carry a deadly weapon, it doesn't mean what it sounds like it means anymore.
foxyv•9mo ago
The United States is a weird mix of third world country and obscenely rich playground. I can walk ten minutes and go from an area of profound poverty to a shopping center selling $10,000 outfits and shoes. I see 10 million dollar houses sitting a block away from homeless camps being burned by city workers.
It's no surprise that our police are aggressive and homicidal. They have to be in order to keep such an out-of-balance society working.
josefritzishere•9mo ago
In America, if something makes money our government will do backflips trying to engineer it into legality. The same companies that profit by these means donate to policy-making lobbies, PACs, and directly to politicians, legally, despite the obvious conflict of interest. There is also almost no barrier between being a lobbyist and government employment. In most arenas it presents as corruption and profiteering. But in our failures on gun control and policing... the consequences are fatal.
(spelling)
coffee--•9mo ago
The article also makes note of the number of gunshot wounds in victims. Police seem to empty the clip far too often.
EGreg•9mo ago
The founding fathers of the US believed that a well-regulated militia was essential to the security of a free state, and explicitly wrote that clause into the second amendment. Karl Marx also supported gun ownership, for the workers to retain their power and even effect a revolution. What’s common to both of these is the idea of a collective defense, a “well-regulated” maintenance of order.
The Heller decision changed all that (and MacDonald vs Chicago took it further). It essentially made the “well-regulated militia” clause have no effect at all, as if it was just a rhetorical flourish. The context can be clearly seen from writings at the time. The People’s Militia was a real thing all over the US, and e.g. Washington complained bitterly about how inferior their discipline was to actual troops.
Since Heller, we’ve also had massive militarization of police. The actual militias have been considered terrorist organizations. And the NRA idea that anyone has a right to carry a gun anywhere has become embraced by Republicans. Even red flag laws are viewed with suspicion. But the original Republic had the collective concept of a militia — completely neutered today.
Ironically, the people who talk about individual rights are also the ones who do it because the idea of the People’s Militia was swept aside in an age where Big Government has the monopoly on force and protects us all. The idea of regular people coming together and forming an armed militia (eg to resist tyranny) is far more anarchist and dangerous to governments, than disconnected lone nuts with guns.
exe34•9mo ago