"It will be argued in these pages that there is a strong causal connection between an increasingly militarized society and the attendant rise of serial and mass murder over the past few decades. More specifically, it is hypothesized that this causal relationship has its material origins in the Vietnam War era, during which organized and sustained violence against human beings reached a scale virtually unprecedented in world history."
This excerpt is from Hamamoto Empire of Death the section titled "Sniper Culture" which is a very triggering and thought provoking title. It stood out to me because mass shootings have become an increasingly prevalent problem in the United States. Countless political debates, controversial legislation proposals, and high turnout protests have stemmed from the issue of gun reform and the numerous mass shootings in recent history. It has affected so many people of various ages and backgrounds while they were in US schools, attending concerts, and simply frequenting local bars.
It was an interesting and eye opening comment that this rise in serial and mass murders can be traced back to the horrible atrocities committed throughout the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War, not a high point in American history to say the least, and it was pointed out in this article that at least four million deaths were caused by military violence such as the bombings of civilians, not including the tens of millions of people who were wartime casualties. It is also made clear that the homicide rate in the United States climbed throughout the Vietnam War which makes sense as the government continued to legitimize the violence acts that were committed. The legitimization seemed to carry over to the civilian population within the states and applied to other horrific acts. Although horrific, this connection and the logic behind it, or the lack thereof, makes a lot of sense contributing to this "sniper culture" and the tragic tradition of mass murders.
Q: This makes me want to research more into this trend and others like it as well as their origins. If it is a pattern that large-scale historic events can shape everyday life like the Vietnam War shaped "sniper culture", we could possibly predict and hopefully prevent future atrocities that stem from other events. How would one go about researching this? Where to start? And how are patterns and predictions accurately formed from learning from history?
References:
Dempsey, S., & Dempsey, S. (2017, November 06). Cartoons: Another mass shooting. Retrieved from https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/11/06/cartoons-another-mass-shooting/
Hamamoto, D.Y. (2003). Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence.
No comments:
Post a Comment