Bipartisan Senate group proposes ‘no fly, no buy’ gun measure

[David Horn]

(03-26-2018, 10:24 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: If the USA goes full bore reactionary, the blame will largely fall with the American people themselves, for how they voted and didn't vote. It could happen; Russia and Turkey recently voted in dictatorships for themselves.

Don't discount this possibility.  In a recent article about the power of gun culture, a long-term gun researcher made the point that guns are the new justification for manhood.  She found that men, almost entirely men, justified their social position in the past as the breadwinner. That's under threat everywhere.  So, the new justification is "protector".  She found that many of her subjects had never owned guns prior to losing their good jobs in manufacturing, but claimed a new image as a protector of their families and neighbors in a threatening world.  It's hard to overcome that emotional impact short of a new and better career they can wear with pride.

People like Trump, and Erdogan in Turkey among others, feed easily on this need for redemption and meaning.  Overcoming that will take time and, most importantly, a new economy with a culture to match.