The Social Sickness Shaping Gun Violence

By Anonymous / Winter 2020

“Bang”, imagine that sound was the last sound you ever heard. This atrocious sound, is unfortunately what more and more men, women, and children had to hear in their last moments of life. Gun violence has been a major issue in the United States since 2013 and happens on a weekly basis. Many will think that the people behind the gun and mass murders are just crazy people and psychopaths. I understand that train of thought, yet I believe there is a deeper story to what has led these people to cause such mass destruction.

In September of 2017, I was at a concert called Life Is Beautiful in Las Vegas, it was one of the best weekends of my early adulthood. Seven days later, there was a shooting in a country concert festival called Route 91 Harvest Music. I had a few friends at this concert who luckily were not injured but are scarred for life, hundreds were injured and several died. Many people died due to actions of a very sick minded individual who was also wealthy and had the means to buy many semi-automatic rifles. Several days after the shooting, it was announced that his original intentions were to shoot the concert which I had attended just a weekend before. This concert where I have some incredible memories watching and listening to my favorite bands, could have been my last day on this planet. It was due to pure chance, that the shooter was not able to reserve the rooms which faced the direction where my concert was located. Many thoughts come to mind as I think about how the shooter was able to do such a horrendous thing. Why was he able to have twenty-four firearms in the first place? Why did the hotel security not think there was something strange about the number of suitcases he brought? Is he the only one to blame for this massacre?

The extent of this massacre could have been much smaller, if there were certain laws and protocols in action. Yes, there is a law in this country called the Second Amendment which states that every “U.S. Citizen has the right to bear arms”. To truly understand the second amendment, we must go back in time to 1776 as Thomas Jefferson signed the declaration of Independence. Some of the wealthiest American colonizers, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington wanted to expand westward towards the indigenous nations. Knowing that the indigenous nations would not be happy about the settlers coming westward, they decided to create the second amendment so that independent militias and settlers could take indigenous land by force. This led to massacres of indigenous people that have been living their lives peacefully for many centuries. Moreover, this country was built on “the right to bear arms” which were then used for massacres and were considered the right thing to do at the time.

Americans have become infatuated with the idea of private property as it has become a part of the American Dream (The Guardian, 2017). This dream says that hard work, owning land/property can lead to many opportunities. This is a dream that everyone wants, yet is becoming less and less achievable and thus makes people look at each other as competition. Essentially if people outcompete their neighbors they will be able to have a piece of the American Dream cake. Moreover, this makes people look at each other as enemies or targets, which leads to gun possession as people are afraid that someone will take their property from them.

This shows that the ideologies which promote the gun culture in the U.S. today essentially promote a law that was created so that people could legally use firearms to kill other people. Therefore, there is a misconception that the second amendment was created so that U.S. citizens could protect themselves. Many people in the U.S. do not know the history behind a lot of the “rights” which they are born with. As George Santayana said, “those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it”. That is exactly what is happening in the U.S. today as people have forgotten the past, and have accepted the ideology behind the second amendment as means of protection rather than destruction.

Moreover, we now live in a country where people are being atomized, where we look at each other as competition rather than teammates. We are brought up into a system that teaches us that in order to have a successful life, we must outcompete everyone else around us that are striving for the same goal. This ideology, has broken the social bonds among people living in the American society. These social bonds are crucial to our existence in solidarity with one another, as they are what makes us feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. Thus, we now live in a society where many people feel alone. The feeling of being alone in the world, can and does lead  to extreme psychological behaviors. This feeling of hopelessness is what Emile Durkheim called, “anomie” or “ruleless-ness”. What he means by “anomie” is that the social norms which we live by, do not function as social bonds anymore. As these social bonds are broken, it leads many individuals into a state of “anomie” which then leads to acts of self-destruction and mass destruction.

This idea of “anomie”, is one that is promoted by the dominant ideology in our current society known as neoliberalism. This neoliberal ideology states that there is no such thing as society, where everyone living in this society are simply individuals acting in a free market. Thus, the social bond between human beings is broken. As Martin Luther King Jr. said that we look at each other as an “I-It relationship for the I-thou relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things.”(MLK Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail) MLK saw the broken bonds between human beings, and illustrated that we cannot peacefully live in the same society when we look at each other as “I-it” rather than as brothers and sisters. The social system that we live by in this country is one that MLK would suggest is inhumane and is the reason for atomization.

Today’s society is divided into social hierarchies, where many lack access to resources which could prevent the state of “anomie”. This is the reality of neoliberalism which promised more wealth and freedom. It depended the The inequality among these hierarchies, is what leads to a lower class, middle class, and upper class, where those in the lower class have less economic and political power. The bigger the gap is between the classes, the more the social bonds shatter. Additionally, the government which is supposed to be governed by the people and for the people in a perfect democratic society, is failing the citizens. The government has chosen to serve the interests of the few rather than the interests of the many.

The lack of wealth and freedom which the neoliberal government promised, has had the American people feeling neglected and confused. During these confusing times, those left neglected by the government and their communities, are left in a stage of “anomie”. It is human nature for people to find a place where they belong. With this feeling of “anomie” and abandonment, many people had built hatred for the government and their communities. People in this stage look for meaning, when one can’t find meaning within their community they look elsewhere. Through the Internet, many social network groups are available for people to join. Many of these groups are hatred groups led by authoritarian figures who incubate their hatred online and allow it to spread (Washington Post, 2018). Although freedom of speech allows such hatred to spread online, it can become extremely dangerous when such hatred carries on offline. Similarly to the way that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson made it ok to use weapons to target the indigenous people because they were “animals” (Takaki, A Differnet Mirror) the authoritarian leaders of online hatred groups prey on the minorities in the United States.

Furthermore, these leaders create a fear of minorities such as African Americans, Jews, Mexicans, Muslims, etc…and promote hatred thoughts to the members of their group. These types of propagandas have been seen many times throughout our history and have proved to unfortunately be very successful as people like blaming someone or groups of people for the way that they feel. Additionally, being a part of a hatred group legitimizes their feelings of alienation. When such people are exposed to hateful words, messages and ideas, these thoughts become their social norm. Such norms are extremely powerful because they have the ability to influence people’s behavior. In 2018, Robert Bowers shot up a synagogue in Pennsylvania and murdered 11 elderly people. He was an active member of a website called Gab which is a website used by white supremacists (Washington Post, 2018) This is just one example of many shootings which have happened due to the influence of hatred propaganda on a social media platform.

As can be seen throughout this paper, the root of gun violence stems from neoliberal ideologies which lead to “anomie”. Those that are affected, will seek for relief in groups where the authoritarian leaders and group members share similar thoughts. Thus, leading an individual to potentially shooting people targeted by the hatred group. The question that is left to answer is, how do we prevent actions such as gun violence from happening? Moreover, how do we prevent an individual from going into a state of “anomie”?

The answer to these questions is one that is not simple as it requires the effort of all people living in the United States. People need to understand that the social norms presented by neoliberalism are ones that need to change. We are taught to “hide a part of ourselves and others that is sacred: our interconnection to others, to the planet, and to those who came before and after us.”(Twohig lecture, 2020). In today’s consumer driven world we truly forget that we are interrelated as each individual wants the best thing for himself/herself. Furthermore, we then treat others as “I-It” rather than “I-Thou”. Just like a building can be taken down and rebuilt, so can our social system. When we remember that we are all interrelated, as a nation we will be less likely to aim “our gun” at others and build a social system that works for everyone.

If we can come together and show the government that our communities and our nation is interrelated, only then can we build a system that will solve most of our ongoing issues. When people realize that, so will the politicians that are running this country. Thus, leading to gun legislation that makes such mass shootings and destructions less likely. These politicians will be more likely to support policies that rebuild the social safety net that has bean torn apart by neoliberal policy. The government will then truly be incentivized by the needs of the many rather than the needs of the few.

Due to the realization of interrelatedness, the politicians will create better access to health care and mental health care professionals. This is extremely important because there are many people with mental health issues who believe it is not okay to have an issue due to the current social norms. Having access to health care professionals will help those who suffer from any kind of mental illness, it will help them heal and realize that they are not alone. If all people are being taken care of, then they will not feel alone. Moreover, people will not fall into the state of “anomie” and won’t feel the need to be destructive or seek for meaning in hatred groups.

This point becomes clear when we turn to this example: if kids who are the future of this nation, were taught by the education system through group discussions and activities “that we all have insecurities and imperfections underneath the superficial differences in opinions and political beliefs, we all have the same fundamental needs for connection, purpose, and to matter in this vast universe.” (Scientific American, 2018), what would our nation look like? Our nation  would be filled with compassion and love for one another despite the political opinions and differences. Moreover, these kids will grow up knowing that they are interrelated and thus the social bonds will become unbreakable. They would work together to ensure that no-one is left behind and by doing so eliminates the potential feeling of “anomie”.

The world that these kids would create is a world that we can have if we work together to rebuild our social bonds and realize that we are all interrelated. I have had several moments in my life where I felt alone and abandoned and I am sure you have too. Perhaps you feel this way right now. Remember that you are not alone and spread the word that we all are interrelated. We need not to compete for land and resources but rather peacefully share the beautiful planet that we live on. Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will the reconstruction of our social system yet all it takes is a few people to start a massive wave of change. We have the power to use our freedom of speech to influence others to change this society for the better. If one person is suffering, we all are suffering as a nation and must lift each other up as brothers and sisters living in the “world house”(Martin Luther King Jr.). Only we as a nation can make sure that no more men, women, and children have to hear “BANG” in their last moments of life.

Works Cited

Alvares, Janice. “Neoliberalism: A History of Broken Promises.” NAOC, 6 Mar. 2014.

Hatzipanagos, Rachel. “Perspective | How Online Hate Turns into Real-Life Violence.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 30 Nov. 2018.

Hedges, Chris. “American Anomie.” Truthdig, 24 Sept. 2018.

Kaufman, Scott Barry. “What Would Happen If Everyone Truly Believed Everything Is One?” Scientific American Blog Network, Scientific American, 8 Oct. 2018. 

Martin Luther King, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, WCWP Systemic Analysis for Everyday Life

NoiseCat, Julian Brave. “The Western Idea of Private Property Is Flawed. Indigenous Peoples Have It Right | Julian Brave NoiseCat.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Mar. 2017.

Takaki, Ronald. Differnet Mirror a History of Multicultural America, 2012