Why are Americans so Vengeful?

Like compared to Europeans, Canadians, and most other First Worlders? I'm an American, and it's pretty obvious to me that American culture puts vengeance on a pedestal. I mean New Zealand police don't even carry guns, but we shoot people just for looting TV sets.

Just think about it I mean. America has the largest military the Earth has ever seen, and most people in America don't feel outraged about using it for whatever reason, unless a lot of American troops die and a lot of American money is wasted. Bombing entire nations into the Stone Age is acceptable retribution to many Americans for killing 3,000 of us.

Most Americans continue to support the death penalty even though most Americans also believe innocent people are occasionally put to death. I guess it's a price worth paying to exact full payback? To be fair, most Canadians also supported the concept of the death penalty until very recently, and even now it's probably a 50/50 split, but many European countries oppose it by a vast majority. If you compare Hong Kong's crime demographics (a place with no death penalty) to culturally and socially similar Singapore's (a place that uses it so much Texans might blush) you will see no evidence that the death penalty has any kind of deterring effect.

And let's face it, the reason Americans are gun-crazed isn't just because of the Second Amendment. It's because a lot of people here just love the idea of blowing someone's head off if they intrude on their property. Not to mention people love guns because they wanna feel like they're in a Hollywood movie or on the TV show Lost (love the show, but how many hundreds of gun scenes are in it?) The argument that banning guns would increase crime because only criminals would have them is wrong. If that were true, Australia, Canada, and Britain would have far more gun-related murders than the States. Besides, otherwise law abiding citizens who loved guns could still obtain them illegally if they wanted to badly enough, so it wouldn't be that ONLY thugs had guns, it would be simply a lot less people in general would have guns.

The worst thing too is Americans are especially unforgiving of the less fortunate. We hate people who go on SSI yet re-elect those who steal billions of dollars. Isn't our indignation misplaced?

The point is, I would like to see a change from this vengeful and militaristic attitude in America. I would like us to become a peace loving and forgiving kind of people. Until then, I'm gonna laugh every time I hear people talk about Americans being the best people on Earth.

reply to post by m1991


Well, we decended from one of the most barbaric people that ever walked the earth....it's in our DNA

reply to post by m1991


I think your info and the way you opinionize your content makes this obviously an "Op Ed" piece.. Did you conduct a survey to arrive at these conclusions? And BTW when you say Americans are "This and That and Feel like This and That" You are talking about yourself too.. If you are an American....

Originally posted by bluemirage5
reply to post by m1991

 

Well, we decended from one of the most barbaric people that ever walked the earth....it's in our DNA

You mean the English?

Originally posted by CherubBaby
reply to post by m1991

 

I think your info and the way you opinionize your content makes this obviously an "Op Ed" piece.. Did you conduct a survey to arrive at these conclusions? And BTW when you say Americans are "This and That and Feel like This and That" You are talking about yourself too.. If you are an American....

I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about the 'average American'. I mean it's proven fact about 2/3 of Americans support the death penalty and a similar number think an innocent person has been put to death. It's also proven fact most Americans are fanatical about guns and resent people who are on public assistance.

reply to post by m1991




It's not just Americans, Its preprogrammed in us to be greedy, selfish and only look out for number one. Americans just do it more openly. But thats what you get from being the "Free"est Country in the world, right?



This is more a rant really and you know the old saying, if you don't like it you can leave

our military is nothing what it could be and not even close to what is has been time and time agian made out to be.

the second ammendment is a right not by government but by the us constitution and what passes for the second ammendment is nothing but a bastardization of what freedom was meant to be and the secure the rights of every single person in this country.

the death penalty so what dont want to be killed to commit a crime punishable by death and get convicted by a jury of your peers.

that op wreaks of liberalism where their is nothing remotely remsebling liberalism in there meaning freedom.

you have a problem with the military and the second ammendment then you have problems with the us constitution.

Originally posted by bluemirage5
reply to post by m1991

 

Well, we decended from one of the most barbaric people that ever walked the earth....it's in our DNA

Which ancestors and what DNA?

As long as we do not get to the point where everything is "turn the other cheek". Which seems to be what certain factions of people want. There is a time and place for everything, although in recent history we have taken things to extremes. Every now and then, people need a good ass kicking. I am not changing my attitude, I am going to call a spade a spade, and if I offend someones pride in the process, oh well, get some thicker skin.

To be quite honest, over the last decade or so, I think the American people are becoming more and more passivists. We, to some extents have lost the "Don't tread on me" attitude, until some disaster happens and then the people come together, then after it is done, we are right back to stabbing each other in the back. Or, we the American people demand action on something, and then turn around and complain about the method in which it is done.

A lot of it has to do with the militaristic society that's been created since the world wars and the symbiotic relationship it has with religion. People are going to kill if the reasons that are presented are logical in their eyes and the eyes of the people who give them the information, which politicians and others around them elegantly place before them.

reply to post by m1991

I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about the 'average American'. I mean it's proven fact about 2/3 of Americans support the death penalty and a similar number think an innocent person has been put to death. It's also proven fact most Americans are fanatical about guns and resent people who are on public assistance.

Do you have sources for these claims? I like guns, but certainly don't consider myself fanatical. I don't think any reasonable person would either.

Originally posted by MRSeuphoric1
reply to post by m1991

 

It's not just Americans, Its preprogrammed in us to be greedy, selfish and only look out for number one. Americans just do it more openly. But thats what you get from being the "Free"est Country in the world, right?

This is more a rant really and you know the old saying, if you don't like it you can leave

edit on 2-9-2011 by MRSeuphoric1 because: (no reason given)

See that's the lie people believe. That humans are inherently evil. I don't think that's true. And how the hell are we the freest country in the world? You can't even open a lemonade stand in this country without a stack of paperwork for crying out loud.

And that old saying is one of the most obnoxious sayings there is and every time it is uttered from someone's lips, it doesn't lose any of its original obnoxiousness. I would love to leave the United States, except I have family here and also it's extremely difficult for me to even visit other countries because of the difficulty in getting a passport.

Originally posted by neo96
our military is nothing what it could be and not even close to what is has been time and time agian made out to be.

that op wreaks of liberalism where their is nothing remotely remsebling liberalism in there meaning freedom.

you have a problem with the military and the second ammendment then you have problems with the us constitution.

I think the OP is just young (20 years old) and don't realize that the exact things he quoted is exactly what makes America so great. If we still followed the constitution (instead of breaking away from it at every opportunity) then these are the responsibilities that come with such privileges.

reply to post by m1991

I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about the 'average American'. I mean it's proven fact about 2/3 of Americans support the death penalty and a similar number think an innocent person has been put to death. It's also proven fact most Americans are fanatical about guns and resent people who are on public assistance.

I'm sorry, m1991, but your generalizations about Americans are a little over the top. I don't know where you get your data, and I think these are assumptions on your part.

However, if we want a society that is less violent, it would help if we'd stop subjecting ourselves and our children to hours of violent images and words and then turn around and act like it doesn't have a profound effect on the psyche.

See that's the lie people believe. That humans are inherently evil.

reply to post by m1991




Do not put words in my mouth I never said evil. (& I don't believe we are evil.)

And how the hell are we the freest country in the world. you cant even open up a lemonade stand without a stack of paperwork.

While your example is iggnorant at best, yes our freedoms are slowly being taken away, YOU have to fight for that thing your blasting.....The Constitution

And that old saying is one of the most obnoxious sayings there is and every time it is uttered from someone's lips, it doesn't lose any of its original obnoxiousness. I would love to leave the United States, except I have family here and also it's extremely difficult for me to even visit other countries because of the difficulty in getting a passport.

Excuses, just BS. If you want to leave, leave. Just denounce your citizenship, file for a passport, wait 4 monthes, then get on a plane and dont look back

reply to post by m1991


Canada, Australia, and Great Britain are vastly different in terms of culture and demeanor, as you've actually pointed out yourself in the upper part of your thread. What works for them will not necessarily work for us here in the States.

Personally, I've seen no less than 4 criminals chased off with a gun in my life. One of them was brandishing a huge knife at my grandma when my grandpa came out of the back with a 12 gauge. He held that thug with his shotgun until the police arrived to cart him to jail. But I suppose that my grandpa protecting his family is somehow uncivilized.

reply to post by m1991

Why are Americans so Vengeful?

Because we are angry, ee-ville people possessed by corporate sponsors and driven by greed to make everyone on the planet hate us!

*ahem*

No, not really... but if it helps.

reply to post by MRSeuphoric1


Excellent posts.. I think it's another Smear America and Americans issue and at the very least unresolved resentment..

reply to post by m1991

See that's the lie people believe. That humans are inherently evil. I don't think that's true. And how the hell are we the freest country in the world? You can't even open a lemonade stand in this country without a stack of paperwork for crying out loud.

m1991, I ABSOLUTELY agree with your statement above. Humans are NOT inherently evil. Humans are CONDITIONED this way in their upbringing. Claiming that we are "inherently evil" relieves us of the responsibility for changing our bad behaviors and the violence that we teach our kids as they grow up.

this thread irks me

for the simple fact canada and the us and even central and south america

now where did most of us come from eh?

EUROPE!

meh.