the environment of paranoia
I watched Bowling For Columbine earlier today on Sundance... not because I particularly care for the "art" of Michael Moore, but because the idea of watching a movie that follows America's obsession with guns was intriguing, and I suppose boredom was setting in at the end of spring break. It seemed more objective than I was expecting, or maybe that was the grand illusion. If you're going to give Moore credit for anything, at least give him a bit of credit for making things happen, not necessarily big things...but things, for example: getting kmart to stop selling bullets. I'm not sure if this has really solved anything, and it certainly wasn't Moore himself that made this happen, but rather his influence and the presence of his cameras.
The constant comparisons between the US and Canada are abundant: Canadians have just as many guns as the US, watch the same violent movies, play the same violent video games, have similar ethnic diversity, have just as much poverty with even more unemployment. Yet there are striking differences such as the presence of universal healthcare, the phenomenon where people don't lock their doors at night, and then there's the obvious "gotta love 'em" pacifistic attitude many have in nearly any situation. So the question really is, why are there thousands more deaths by gunshot wounds each year in the US than in Canada when there are similarities in reasonable aspects people would think to compare: i.e. volume of weapons, violence in the media, ethnic diversity, poverty, ect?
The question, if even answerable, is nearly impossible as there are too many variables to consider. However, it did make me think--how much does our environment influence us? This question could be applied especially to children and adolescents, but also to adults. If I moved to Canada tomorrow, would I simply stop being prudent about locking my doors and just let anything or anyone in? Would my environment make me feel more comfortable and allow me to change my perspective? People often wonder how environment affects children, but this seems too obvious. If two children had nearly identical SES and opportunities, but one was the child of divorced parents, and the other had parents who were still married, would the difference in family life cause one to be a criminal and the other a white collar success? Cause, now that word may be questionable, but the contribution seems relevant without a doubt. By the same token, if two adolescents ran with two different social crowds, how would this contribute to their "success" in life?
No matter what environment someone grows up in, there are attributes to a person that will remain. Although much of who we are is a result of our environment: the support, instruction and guidance we're given by our families, elders, religion and society, a person still has to have the ability to make decisions, and understand the consequences. This seemingly simple concept proves to be a difficult task for a lot of people. To me it seems all too obvious, but then again, maybe I just grew up in the "right" environment which gave me all of the "right" tools...
Well, for now I'll just go to bed, with my 44 secure in the cabinet and two deadbolts on the door. Trust my neighbors-- what? Americans are certainly guilty of a shameless, nearly soul- penetrating habit-- paranoia.
k
The constant comparisons between the US and Canada are abundant: Canadians have just as many guns as the US, watch the same violent movies, play the same violent video games, have similar ethnic diversity, have just as much poverty with even more unemployment. Yet there are striking differences such as the presence of universal healthcare, the phenomenon where people don't lock their doors at night, and then there's the obvious "gotta love 'em" pacifistic attitude many have in nearly any situation. So the question really is, why are there thousands more deaths by gunshot wounds each year in the US than in Canada when there are similarities in reasonable aspects people would think to compare: i.e. volume of weapons, violence in the media, ethnic diversity, poverty, ect?
The question, if even answerable, is nearly impossible as there are too many variables to consider. However, it did make me think--how much does our environment influence us? This question could be applied especially to children and adolescents, but also to adults. If I moved to Canada tomorrow, would I simply stop being prudent about locking my doors and just let anything or anyone in? Would my environment make me feel more comfortable and allow me to change my perspective? People often wonder how environment affects children, but this seems too obvious. If two children had nearly identical SES and opportunities, but one was the child of divorced parents, and the other had parents who were still married, would the difference in family life cause one to be a criminal and the other a white collar success? Cause, now that word may be questionable, but the contribution seems relevant without a doubt. By the same token, if two adolescents ran with two different social crowds, how would this contribute to their "success" in life?
No matter what environment someone grows up in, there are attributes to a person that will remain. Although much of who we are is a result of our environment: the support, instruction and guidance we're given by our families, elders, religion and society, a person still has to have the ability to make decisions, and understand the consequences. This seemingly simple concept proves to be a difficult task for a lot of people. To me it seems all too obvious, but then again, maybe I just grew up in the "right" environment which gave me all of the "right" tools...
Well, for now I'll just go to bed, with my 44 secure in the cabinet and two deadbolts on the door. Trust my neighbors-- what? Americans are certainly guilty of a shameless, nearly soul- penetrating habit-- paranoia.
k
posted by Kim at 8:21 PM
3 Comments:
Just a note about this post... strangely enough, there was another school shooting today on an indian reservation in Minnesota where eight were killed. What a truly sad thing for students to have to go to school and worry if they'll be gunned down by their peers. We need to teach our children to solve problems without violence, but yet our own country does not follow this advice. Shame on us, if only that could lessen my sadness.
Certainly the deaths attributable to guns are smaller in number, but speaking as someone who has lived in Canada all her life, I can tell you the majority of us do lock our doors! Maybe that isn't the case in much smaller centres, or in rural areas, but we sure as heck do it in the cities.
Fair enough, I'll take it from a native--I was just making a generalization about the door locking thing, just like Moore does (and annoyingly so) in all of his films. I should strive to avoid generalization, but that makes argument even harder.
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