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Regarding Christine Emba’s May 16 Tuesday Opinion column, “Why do Americans want guns? It comes down to one word.”:
“An armed society is a polite society.” That’s the National Rifle Association-approved credo that struck me in the article. It’s gaining widespread acceptance, especially among gun owners. As Ms. Emba wrote, there are now 120 privately owned guns for every 100 Americans. That’s the highest ratio in the world and more than twice the next country’s. Those stats are alarming — but not nearly as alarming as a slogan that translates to “Respect me or I’ll kill you.”
The anti-societal implications are unnerving because the slogan is aimed at the general population. It’s beginning to define not only our nation but also how we view one another. I’m 75, and that belief would have been totally unrecognizable in the United States when I was young — not even one lifetime ago. Its offspring are flagrant rudeness, road rage, violent entertainment, exploitative pornography, mass shootings and widespread drug abuse — all gaining ground and goaded by the internet. It feels as if we’re up against a contagion with no antidote.
Or maybe good ol’ reliable Alexa could tell ChatGPT to compose the solution for us.
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