USA

Editor,

The USA is a violent society.

Killing is a key element in the way the American psyche works.
Killing criminals, killing terrorists, killing enemies.

Defining moments in American history are battles, wars, military victories, military defeats. Military service is extolled, military hardware is admired, military engagements are cheered.

Gangsters shoot each other on and off screen. Violence is the instrument of choice, the only effective instrument in the American lexicon, to vanquish invaders from outer space, perceived threats from competing societies, imagined violators of one's community, one's home, one's family, and one's person.

Who should we bomb? Who should we kill?

Always in self defense, of course, because Americans are exceptional, the good guys, the defenders of freedom and justice.

Kill, kill, kill.
Shoot, shoot, shoot.
Bomb, bomb, bomb.

It is the American way of life. And of course millions of Americans can give you a thousand reasons why we must be armed, we must kill, we must shoot, we must bomb. It is the way Americans think.

"Thank you for your service."

Thank you for killing for me, bombing for me, shooting for me.
Someone has to do it.
The world is violent. The world is full of threats.

Stand your ground.
Defend, defend, defend, defend.

Re: "A Ghastly Ritual Repeats Itself" (9/19/2013)