Is the United States a violent society?

Question

.
In all seriousness, we hear so much about other nations, despotic so-called leaders, etc.
But
even knowing that we have probably the best or at least one of the best justice systems in the world, and given all of the categories which we define our crimes, are we not also a violent society?

ah a freeman
ask ask yourself how the Iraqis feel about this country, as it wreaks unending savagery, death, destruction, maiming,and other maladies on their people under the Bush administration.

as a matte rof fact, there are nearly a million dead Iraqis my friend....it wasn;t just Saddam who 'killed his own people - out government is just as responsible for deaths as Iraq's former president.
and the question had to do with the United States. Period.

Answer 1

Yes the US is very violent, becuase there are many violent people

Answer 2

As you can tell you are getting very simplistic answers to your complex question. America is the freest country on earth. We have freedoms that even other so called free countries in Europe and elsewhere don't have. Americans have the freedom to do right. But they also have the freedom to do wrong. As you can see in Iraq, when some societies are given the chance at freedom, even in a limited way, they take those freedoms and do totally destructive things with them. Some people in the world can never be free because they lack the moral structure to operate in freedom. If every other country in the world had the freedoms Americans enjoy that would be the only way to fairly compare the violence rates of peoples around the world too each other. I personally will never surrender my freedoms no matter what destructive things some might do with their freedoms. I could write a lot more detail on this subject but there isn't the time in this forum.

Answer 3

We are no more violent than other civilized countries around the world. The problem is that we glorify and reward violence with celebrity, which breeds more violence.

The fact that we have so many people in prison doesn't mean we have more violent criminals, per se. It also is due to the fact that we waste HUGE amounts of tax revenue fighting a losing battle against inanimate objects (e.g. drugs, guns, etc.). Banning inanimate objects has never worked in American society or elsewhere. It only makes those objects more profitable and only available to criminals. (http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No2_KatesMauseronline.pdf).

Other countries with more gun control laws have HIGHER violent crime rates. See the above linked article from the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy.

Our country is PORTRAYED as violent because violence sells news ratings. Sex, drugs, killing, and rape sell news stories. No one wants to watch news about good things. Look at the headlines of any newspaper, news show, or news web site. It's either murder/rape/violence, sex, or scandal/immorality.

When someone commits mass murder to become famous, what do we do? We don't ignore them and let their dying wishes go down in flames... No, we oblige them and make them famous. So now, every suicidal loser who would have previously just killed himself now feels daring enough to kill other people before killing himself so that he becomes famous. And our news media allow this! It's absurd, and it's insulting to the victims and their families.

Our society isn't statistically any more violent than any other civilized society, despite what you may hear or read. Check the statistics for yourself at the USDOJ or FBI. We just glorify it more.

Oh, and to the person who suggested that a Michael Moore movie will be an answer to this question, how can you seriously believe anything he says is objective. It is SO ridiculously biased, it's absurd. Here's a link pointing out some of the fallacies in his movie, "Sicko". (http://abcnews.go.com/Exclusiva/story?id=3568278&page=1) John Stossel pretty much put that one to rest.

His figures are all wrong. Comparing infant mortality rates that aren't calculated the same is not valid. We deliver babies earlier than any other country in the world, and we do heroics they wouldn't consider. Other countries force abortions on women and then don't count them as infant mortality.

Answer 4

Why separate out the US from the rest of the human race? Are people in he US human beings? Yes. Are human beings violent? Yes. Is the US more or less violent than other countries?

Ask the Rwandans who slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis. Ask the Iranians who lost a million people to Sadam Hussein's savagery. Ask the Shi'ite and Sunni, who've been slaughtering each other for thousands of years. Ask the Jews who were murdered by the Nazis.

Why pick on the US? I'm sick of people blaming the US for all the world's problems. Here's an idea, if you don't like it here, move to Rwanda, or Iran, or Iraq.

Answer 5

Our country is more violent than many other Western countries, partly because our society has always glorified violence and aggression, it's not a recent event. Don't we still have many citizens who mock pacifists and those who want peace or call people cowards if they want to use diplomacy, and call them traitors? We also have access to lots of guns and ammo that some of the other Western countries don't, but that doesn't explain our love affair with fighting, wars and death. The American way of life has often been a violent way of life. I hope we can change our direction, before it is too late.

Answer 6

Our justice system is corrupt. It has more people locked up than any other country in the world and half of them are in for crimes that never harmed anybody else. Americans hate freedom, they love prisons and harsh laws and punishment. This is the only country in the civilized world that still has the death penalty and the people love it, they love executions and the fact that innocent people sometimes get the axe doesn't even register on them. Where does all this hatred and violence come from? Talk radio, churches, unprincipled politicians. You cannot appeal to evil human instinct without stimulating it.

Answer 7

No the u.s. is not a vilent socieity. If it was we would inforce our immigration laws too the fullest. Dispite an influx of illeagle immigrants we chose too take a live and let live approach too their violations of our immigration laws. If we were violent then we would fully inforse the laws that require immigration too be done in a legal manner. Instead, we choose too allow illegals from countries like Guatamala too remain here dispite their illegal status. This is done because if we deported people too Guatamala wi would often be signing their death warents so we allow them too stay here illegally too protect them from their own governments which are in turmoil.

Answer 8

Depends on the demographic you are comparing to.

Compared to world powers like England, Canada, etc, the USA is considered a high violence country.

Compared to just about every other country in the world, not even close. Read up on third world countries (especially ones in Africa) and you'll be horrified on what happens on a day to day basis.

Mass genocides, public executions, etc etc etc etc.

Answer 9

Human being are violent. But life is much cheaper in many other places in the world...trust me.

I do love the UFC though.

Answer 10

On average, the US is a very violent culture. The extreme lawless attitude and criminal ethos of a small part of it skews the numbers on the society as a whole.

Answer 11

Yes