Ebbie - For sure, there are tens of thousands of communities in the USA that do not meet the extremed example I was giving...and I know that. I've lived in small town USA. Most of the time things seem pretty safe and peaceful in American small towns and smaller cities.

I think the aggressive conduct of the USA government itself may be the most important point of all. The USA has an estraordinarily aggessive government, and that affects the attitudes and expectations of American citizens. It can't help but do so.

pdc - Good point.

Kat - It's true that crimes are more easily committed when guns are available. However, legislation that tries to make guns less available frequently ends up hurting the wrong people, and merely complicating the lives of a lot of entirely peaceful gun owners who are not threatening anyone and don't intend to.

I think it would make more sense to establish greater social justice all around...thus reducing people's level of fear. But that would involve transforming the basis of the whole society, transforming the health care system, transforming the media, and so on, and that is what the $ySStem is not prepared to do. It will not address its own institutionalized negativity and inequality, because it's run by those who profit most from keeping things just the way they already are.

Sounds kind of like France before the Revolution...

- LH