"Both as an economic system and as an ideological edifice, USA is one of the most violent places on earth.

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Nickie Sekera

I bear witness to so much heartbreak in social media over recent events with the loss of so many innocents in a most vicious massacre. Incidents as this have us all searching for the 'Why?' and 'How?' as we cast stones of culpability in so many directions. Industry and agencies with agendas look for advancement opportunities in the wake of such events while emotional motivation is elevated. We

need to keep our eyes on this big picture with discernment. I am borrowing some information here from an academic friend who compiled a list which directs our thinking toward a significant aspect of our American culture - one that we are all victims of as we all participate in the perpetuation of.


"Both as an economic system and as an ideological edifice, USA is one of the most violent places on earth.

USA ranks number one in:

1) being the world' largest merchant of death (arms export);

2) having the largest Armed Forces with over 1,000 bases around the world;

3) fighting, with absolutely no interval, the largest number wars, both covert and overt, in the history of wars and conflict since its founding as a republic in 1776;

4) endowed with the greatest amount of arms budget;

5) building and running the largest espionage edifice that engages in assassination and incarceration, and torture of anyone SUSPECTED - not proven - of being an enemy of the USA (throwing away the foundation of American jurisprudence - that one is innocent until proven guilty);

6) having a nominal civilian control of the Pentagon (hardly any civilian presidents most of whom don't have any military experience would feel confident to resist the pressure from the Pentagon - for more toys and more wars because toys and wars profit certain segments of American society and American economy);

7) allowing the President to decide who among the 'enemies of the USA' to KILL routinely;

8) having the greatest number of civilian deaths from gun crimes in the industrialized world;

9) incorporating the violent and militaristic language of war - war on poverty, war on diseases, war on terror (Americans are conditioned to love wars and guns by the culture industry called Hollywood, and celebrate everything national and local with the display of military prowness - not dissimilar to former USSR or China or India, in this respect);

10). having foreign policy complex that does NOT have "peace" as a pillar or value (I have heard this repeatedly with my own ears from various US officials that "peace" is not a value for State Department), despite rhetoric to the contrary - always unilateralism that decides what Washington does;

11) fiercely defending Death Penalty - many death row inmates are black males, Hispanic men and working class whites many of whom are wrongly convicted - Rumsfeld's "the Old Europe" has moved away from such Dark Age practices and policies;

12) locking up the largest number of people - again disproportionately minorities and working class individuals - behind bars which are popular with the provincialistic, American exceptionalist voters; and finally

13) having the institutionalized habit of never counting the people the US Armed Forces have killed around the world - dismissing them as nameless statistics otherwise known as "collateral damage" - while glorifying the death of their own members of the Armed Forces, again many are from working class and minority backgrounds.


Are we stlll expected to be shocked that this society, this economy and this political system has produced a trend in massacres in schoolyards, shopping malls, university campuses, churches, mosques, and cinema halls?

How many people did you or your kids kill in their video game today?

It's culture and the cult of personality. How can each one of us participate in changing this? We should all be held responsible.