One belief that feeds my #misanthropy is that people are mindful and conscious. E.g. "I could settle this family dispute away from innocent bystanders, but it'd be more fun to use a gun at a captive viewership"; "I could wait until the 'wearing bright red in daylight while crossing an intersection at a walk signal' pedestrian is safely away, but I get more attention from the eyewitness drivers by approaching her fast"; "I withheld my vote because citizens and resident aliens are too complacent"
@cosullivan I guess you don't follow "Never attribute to malice behaviour that can be explained by stupidity"!
@marbles 23 years in the US and escaping a mass shooting at my fave cafe taught me stupidity and malice can overlap.
@marbles imagine all those affected by mass shootings, traumatized and scarred. One'd think their numbers would be enough to make a difference. Some are now affected by more than one shooting.
Think of those who remember jan 6 2021 insurrection and chose to withhold their 2024 vote. They're US citizens, I am not; isn't it reasonable to expect they know their nation better than I do; ergo, most down there are satisfied with their current situation, not apologetic or remorseful.
@cosullivan I looked up the statistics on deaths from gunshots per year. It's 47,000 in the USA. 58% of those are suicides. In the UK it's around 130, of which 100 are suicides. Even allowing for the USA having 5 times the population, those are alarming statistics.
@marbles firearms fatalities per capita are higher than those of the UK here, not surprising given our geography and the gang and extortion activity