ye na yeah....

Is working fewer hours a good thing?

Bragging about relative poverty rates in poor countries is not a good look. Even when you take health-care spending into account, median disposable income is simply far better in the United States. You're doing two things, you're describing poverty in relative terms, and then you're bucketing poorer locales by country to improve their relative score. By the CIA's figures, the poverty rate in Germany, Belgium, and the United States is virtually the same. Meanwhile, Turkey, Albania, Russia, and Uzbekistan are all doing better. Does that sound like a sound methodology to you?

The right to bear arms can't be extricated from the wider relationship Americans have with their government. Americans want freedom from government, see the covid-19 response. You don't get to pick and choose, either you have rights that are inherently reserved to you, or you are a servant of the state (see: UK).

Finally, you're couching this in very emotional terms. High profile mass shootings make up a very small percentage of homicide deaths. Homicide in the United States varies significantly by state, and the relationship between homicides and gun ownership is very weak. Before we embark on a national crusade to strip Americans of gun rights, we probably want to understand why Idaho, Vermont, and New Hampshire have very low rates of homicide, despite relatively high rates of gun ownership, and why Maryland has such a high homicide rate, despite relatively low gun ownership. For that matter, we probably also want to understand what's driving higher and lower homicide rates around the world.

the biggest issue in American gun ownership has always been that the market reacts to control with overbuying.

if Biden even sniffs at gun control the gun stores will have lines out the door. ammo will disappear. Obama was the best gun salesman in 100 years, i can't even tell you how many AR platform clones we sold during his tough on gun talk era.

then of course that means tens of millions of guns over a set period in the hands of Americans. and maybe 99.9% of them never see a crime committed with them. but .1% of that many means a lot of criminal guns out there on the streets, or stolen from a family gun cabinet to shoot up a kindergarten classroom.

the biggest problem that we see now is that a varied steady approach is the only feasible solution. increase steps to buy guns (which will cause a massive buying spree before it takes effect), increase armed presence in the schools we can get it into, increased safety measures in schools like locking doors that are bullet proof, and increase mental health services and watchdogs. but with the sheer volume of guns that are in the hands of Americans, both legal and illegal, its a tough nut to crack. its like trying to kill cockroaches with only your boot, and there may be no exterminator to call in. the world can laugh all it wants with narratives that its a problem we're just refusing to fix, but the reality is legally we may not be able to fix it any time soon without a massive amendment to the constitution which seems impossible.

ironically many of the same people who distrust the SCOTUS based on abortion rulings also somehow trust them to not strike down gun laws that would be created to fight gun violence. as if a conservative court is going to rule favorably on this but also ban abortion. they just want to mock the US, not actually look at what and where we can do to fix it.

This post was edited by thesnipa on May 25 2022 08:49am

sure. but most people are lazy. you can make your own food too, for a fraction of the cost at walmart, and its better for you. yet the # of households with a garden from 1940 to 2020 dropped through the floor even with a new fancy gardening craze.

Where there is a Will, there is a Bill.
Mainly because both are short for William.

if a 280 lb champion MMA fighter was trying to rape you would you fight it or just lay there?

Trick question.
I'm the 280 lb MMA fighter.

does it not bother you how hollow and easily debunked your talking points are? you claim that america's rejection of science is somehow indicative of your love of "freedom from government", yet on the other hand you have some of the most comprehensive laws to surveil and restrict individual freedoms and private affairs in western culture. you have a police force that brutalises and violates you without much accountability, you have the largest prison population in the history of mankind, you have corporations that own your politicians and pay them to prevent any legislation that would protect citizens against exploitation. your alleged "freedoms" are a myth. you get guns as a distraction, cultural wars to keep your attention away from the oppression you suffer, you're made to hate and fight your fellow citizen over bullshit superficial distinctions, and you're too ignorant to realise that. meanwhile your children keep dying because you were successfully brainwashed with jingoism, bigotry, and religious zealotry.




right wing covidiots rejecting science is not a sign of "freedom", but one of morons choosing partisan political narratives over common sense. if anything it's a demonstration of how easily americans are manipulated into hurting themselves and each other if just ONE person decides it's politically expedient. "freedom", lol...