This a copy from an email from a friend. His reply after I sent him the attached essay. Very astute. Thought I would share.
Arts stuff doesn't provoke violence anything like political ranting. Take video games: Video game sales records are approximately the same in Canada as in the US, but that country doesn’t have a mass shooting problem at all. And the highest proportions of extremely violent video games sold are in the Netherlands and Japan. No mass-shooting problems in those countries either. For one thing, they don’t allow civilians to own mass-slaughter firearms like the US does. For another, they don’t have the hate & vengeance glorifying Republican Party.
There were 26 mass shootings when Obama was president in 2016. During 2017, the first year of Trump’s presidency, mass shootings almost doubled to a total of 47. On 2018, the number much more than doubled that 47.
So I think Burgess is correct here. Film, literature, and so forth don't make a real difference in violence levels. But social/political hate-speech sure seems too.
2
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
5 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I clicked on the link and found an article that starts with this title:
“If A Clockwork Orange Can Corrupt, Why Not Shakespeare and the Bible?”
Anthony Burgess on the Reception of Kubrick's Film Adaptation
I didn't see any murder rates or mass murder statistics. Did you post the wrong link?
BD66
Level 8
June 3, 2019
0
My friend's commentary on the article. The article is from 93 the year the author died. Just type in mass murder rates.
WHO is in office at the time this happens doesn't matter. it's an issue of how undiplomatic our politics have turned the last 20 years.
JeffMesser
Level 8
June 3, 2019
0
Murder Rates are expected to decline another 7.6% in 2018 (Trump's second year) relative to 2017 (Trump's first year), and those rates are already significantly lower than in 2016 (Obama's last year).
BD66
Level 8
June 3, 2019
0
It never says MURDER rates. Read.
BD66:
@Beowulfsfriend I don't trust those statistics. I do trust the FBI statistics which state murder rates went down from 5.4 per 100,000 in 2016 to 5.3 per 100,000. All indications are that the murder rates went down below 5.0 per 100,000 in 2018. So, if you want to credit Trump for a significant decline in murder rates, be my guest, but I believe it's too early to draw that conclusion.
@Beowulfsfriend Mass murder(4 or more deaths per incident) are at 150 this year as of Virginia Beach. Nearly one a day. There are multiple sources for this statistic. That’s a bit different than crime rates/homicide rates.
BD66:
@CarolinaGirl60 So it's Trumps fault that mass murder rates are up (source please), but not Trump's fault that the overall murder rates (mass murder rates and non-mass murder rates) are going down?
Here is the source that overall murder rates are going down:
@BD66 That’s not what I said...there’s a difference in definition between ‘crime’, ‘homicide’, and ‘mass shooting’ or ‘mass murder’.
Some sources differentiate, some lump many types of deaths under ‘crime’.
I was pointing that out. I don’t know WHO to blame. Wish I did, and what to do about it.
BD66:
@CarolinaGirl60 The reliable sources I can find all show murder rates went down significantly in Trump's first 2 years in office. They have been going down at a steady rate for the past 200 years, but people have been deceived by the media and other propaganda sources into believing that the world is actually more dangerous and either:
- It's necessary to give up our 2nd Amendment rights.
- It's the fault of Donald Trump.
@BD66 I agree. I’m no Trump fan, but both 1 and 2 are simplistic.
For one thing, even in the REMOTE chance of the 2nd being repealed, how would the government possibly enforce it? That’s a genie not going back in the bottle. I’m a gun owner, from a family that owns/collects them. We were trained in gun use, safety, storage, and care from childhood. I would not object to more regulations regarding training or trigger locks...but those measures won’t affect folks who don’t follow laws. That’s the problem that needs to be solved, and it’s impossible. There’s just no workable solution, yet.
Then, it’s easy to blame the current administration. I despise Trump, but he’s not acting alone.
That’s why statistics are good: numbers are just numbers! I like to look at separate sources, usually 3 or more, and see if they add up.
Murder rates were lower in 2017 (Trump's first year) than they were in 2016 (Obama's last year):
BD66
Level 8
June 3, 2019
0
Violent Crime rates were lower in 2017 (Trump's first year) than they were in 2016 (Obama's last year):
BD66
Level 8
June 3, 2019
0
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.