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Another Day in the Death of America

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    Another Day in the Death of America

    I was moved to buy this on the back of Gary Younge's recent R4 programme.

    Have read the blurb, the intro, and the author's note.

    That all of this is reduced to the mundane defies belief.

    #2
    Another Day in the Death of America

    I read this last year - depressing but sensitively written book. The problem is not with the book at all, which was grimly engrossing from start to finish, but in your own reaction. All you can do is shake your head and say, "Fucking hell. America. Fucking hell."

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      #3
      Another Day in the Death of America

      The right claims there is no gun problem. The left says the problem is the lack of laws.

      But the reality is that guns are a religion for a lot of people in this country, and their voting patterns, bumper stickers, and overall behavior shows that this religion is more deeply held than whatever brand of pseudo-Christianity they might espouse. Because these people will vote for anyone who does what the NRA tells them to do, no matter what their religion or moral behavior happens to be, but they wouldn't vote for Jesus Christ himself if he supported background checks.

      And it's because of that fervor that we cannot pass the laws we need or get appeals judges who will stick to what was once the general consensus on the meaning of the 2nd Amendment - militias.

      It feels lazy to just say "the problem is the culture," without offering a solution, but if kids getting slaughtered doesn't change the politics of guns, I don't see what will.

      It's maddening, to say the least.

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        #4
        Just bumping this up as a reminder that first, this book is both a moving portrayal and spot-on analysis of US gun culture. And second, that it's not just about random schoolyard massacres - it's the dumb and unnecessary everyday shootings that are almost more shocking because they barely even make a local headline. Geographically, the killings are all over the place, and are thus somehow factored into the daily death stats so no one except those directly affected even blinks.

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          #5
          Ordered a copy yesterday, having been reminded by the thread - thanks, imp.

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            #6
            Went out and bought a copy at lunch on the strength of this thread.

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