This commentary is by Nick Santoro, a resident of Rutland.
In a study funded three years ago by the National Institute of Justice, the research wing of the Department of Justice, Jillian Peterson and James Densley, two college professors in the criminology field, compiled a database of mass shootings (four or more of us killed) since 1966 and published their studies in a 2021 book titled “The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic.”
In a May 27, 2022, Politico article, "Two professors found what creates a mass shooter. Will politicians pay attention?", the journalist asks, "In your book, you say that in an ideal world, 500,000 psychologists would be employed in schools around the country. If you assume a modest salary of $70,000 a year, that amounts to over $35 billion in funding. Are you seeing any national or state-level political momentum for even a sliver of these kinds of mental health resources?"
You know the answer, and so do I.
The government of the United States representing us has provided $54 billion or so in military aid to "punish" the Russians. Even after 70 years, James Forrestal's famous words "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming" still incite our politicians and generals into some kind of war apoplexy. Congress and Senate voted a composite 444 to 68 to provide our borrowed money. The USA is in hock for $30 trillion.
Remember, too, that our continuous international violence during the course of my Boomer life is psychologically absorbed by everyone, and certainly subliminally adds a sense of permission to violent outcomes.
In her video "Capitalism Hits Home: America's Problem With Mass Shootings," Dr. Harriet Fraad explains that young men between 16 and 24 do most of the killing, that being bullied is always the case, and that boys have so few ways of expressing their vulnerable feelings compared to girls, and that these kids are not supported by their families. Very depressing.
The 27-minute video provides an illuminating understanding of the transformation of a kid into a murderer.
There it is. Both ends of our pugnacious, failing democratic capitalist two-party system concurring that death of Russians in defense of our 30 years of NATO provocations is more important than the lives of our children and fellow citizens.
Covid deaths, Russian deaths, proxy Ukrainian deaths, massacre deaths, sanction deaths, opioid deaths, on and on and on. Besides creating exceptional wealth for small groups of people, what this scenario tells me is that the 100,000 lobbyists in the USA working for corporate interests have been very successful at legally bribing (Citizens United) a large portion of those 535 people working at the U.S. Capitol who seemingly are still able to sleep at night with our kids' blood on their comfortable pink hands. Amazing.
Democracy is about divergent views. In order to sustain itself, a democracy needs many political points of view (political parties), as in European social democracies.
We are in the grip of a bellicose two-party corporate regime that continues to deprive us of universal health care for our physical, social and psychological well-being. Half of Americans have medical debt. Maintaining military hegemonic imperial rule around the world is more important than the lives of our children.
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Nick Santoro: How to stop a mass shooting epidemic - vtdigger.org
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