Gun violence in the USA

It’s not the Second Amendment to the Constitution, stupid

This gun violence is not rooted in the capitalist inclination by gun manufacturers to sell weapons. It is not fueled most by patriotism or the Constitution. It’s not born from the Civil War. Its roots go much deeper.

Average Americans are nice people. I saw plenty of them to conclude that.

Yet, American society is cruel and violent. If you lack money, connections, health, or happiness, you’re out. Go fend for yourself. Where did that come from? You could say that this comes from America never having been influenced by Socialism. True as that may be, that’s too recent.

I guess that all the hardness goes back to the founding times of the Republic. The Land was stolen from the Natives, who were murdered like flies. Mainly by firearms! The Land was worked by Black Slaves. They had no rights, not even a right to live. Survivors from slave traders were stolen from Africa. This double genocide laid the basis of the USA.

A primitive Christian notion was used to justify the indefensible. There were supposedly two superpowers, God, and Satan, Good and Evil, and two types of people, the worthy saintly, and the unworthy evil ones.

When the modern entertainment industry broke loose, films falsely portrayed US’ history as the White man’s victory over primitive blood-thirsty natives, and of the cultured Whites over animalistic Blacks.

This grew generations of White racists. Laws have been changed and shame has come up. But the old brainwash is not gone so quickly.

After that, a new group of wicked people was ‘found.’ Communists were the new danger. Innocent folks were destroyed for the good of ‘progress.’

When that became old-hat, the next group to target were poor ruthless criminals vs. the police. The latter were always decent, the former vile.

It seems to me (a psychological sidebar) that pursuers are mainly people who were extra oppressed when very young, later in life still feeling beleaguered, given a chance now to oppress others. Not for revenge but because they still felt the victim — even while victimizing others.

There seems only one route to making American society as sweet as Americans: to do what Germany has done. The only real way to be truly proud is to reject shameful historic ‘glory.’ A smart Reparations program for the Natives and Black alive today could finally make the US take a corner. Germany has succeeded. Yes, it still harbors 20% hard-core anti-Semites but they are outside of national consensus.

A world without racism will also make White’s lives better. A world without sexism will finally return men their lives. Total respect for young people will give a better life for people of every age. This is not to say that agents of oppressions are the true victims — we are not. But, both the over-privileged and the wronged are standing to gain by a humane society.

If you can go to Europe and risk being slaughtered in order to defeat the Nazis, if you can put a man on the moon, then you certainly can make a nicer society, with protection of the socially weaker, and a total ban on anything that smells after racism. (Just (pardon the pun) to aim for life without gun violence is too little.) You can do it. The whole world expects you to do it. We’re all waiting to see it happen. Please, make it fast.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1