Give Peace a Chance

From Reuters:

The United States is among the least peaceful nations in the world, ranking 96th between Yemen and Iran, according to a new index released on Wednesday that evaluates 121 nations based on their peacefulness.

According to the Global Peace Index, created by The Economist Intelligence Unit, Norway is the most peaceful nation in the world and Iraq is the least, just after Russia, Israel and Sudan.

Lest you think this is a radical anti-US propaganda study, The Economist is their magazine and it's decidedly anti-socialist and pro free market capitalism.

The index was compiled based on 24 indicators measuring peace inside and outside of a country. They included the number of wars a country was involved in the past five years, how many soldiers were killed overseas and how much money was made in arms sales.

Domestic indicators included the level of violent crimes, relations with neighboring countries and level of distrust in other citizens.

The results were then reviewed by a panel of international experts.

So, we aren't a peaceful country, what with our arms sales and our military budget that exceeds the GDP of most nations on earth.  We aren't a peaceful country with our militant pro-gun lobby that explains that it's our right, even our duty, to own fully automatic weapons.  We aren't a peaceful country with our drug-war that's turned even marijuana into such a profit center that gangs are willing to fight all-out gun battles in the streets.  We aren't a peaceful nation with our school shootings.  Even our defense contracting industry, which sells lethal weaponry to every side of every conflict and to every criminal on the face of the planet, isn't peaceful.

I'm telling you, Norway looks better and better.

- rick, peaceful.

Comments

[Sideon]

Whatever happened to the "make love, not war" movement? Love the underwear pic :) If nations threatened to withhold sex because of conflict and war, the world would be one big ole happy orgasm. The US military and arms budget alone could supply the entire world with condoms, lubricant, sexual aides, and other forms of birth control.

Hey Bush - Bring it on.

[Cynthia Bagley]

Hey guy... we were in Germany for five years and no guns are allowed, but it didn't stop the killing. One guy next to our village killed his girlfriend with a knife.

Cyn

[CV Rick]

That's a classic Strawman, Cynthia. I never said that reducing gun violence would end all murders - so you're countering an imaginary argument. I also never claimed that murders don't happen anywhere else - so again you're countering an imaginary argument. What I do say is that free access to guns increases gun violence and increases gun murders in the United States - that's a real argument.

[Cynthia Bagley]

Nope CV no strawman... what I am saying is that reducing guns does not reduce murders--murders just get committed using another type of weapon. And because I have lived in Japan, Africa, Panama, and Germany, I am using the examples that I know and understand because a lot anti-gun sorts use Europe as an example of a no-gun utopia. No offense.

In England, cops were not allowed to carry guns until recently. During that time, gun violence in England rose. Today, their cops have guns... they now do not have the gun violence as before.

In Germany (I was there five years), they do not have the miranda rights that we enjoy. When a girl was raped and murdered, all of the men were required to get a DNA test. Also, if a cop there says STOP... you STOP or find yourself beat with a BIG stick or pistol whipped.

I live in an area in the US where anyone over 18 could be carrying a gun. We don't hear about the gun rage that others talk about in other areas like California.

I have been around guns all my life. My father had a 22. He also had a bow and arrow, which I considered more dangerous than the gun. I have a 38 pistol. I have only shoot those guns in a gun range.

I believe that anyone who uses guns should be trained. I view a gun as a tool.

Yours, Cyn...

PS... what makes the US great is that we can live peacefully in a country with different opinions.

[CV Rick]

Yeah yeah yeah . . . I've lived on four continents, in at least 7 countries and have been to dozens of others. I've also lived in a dozen states . . . blah blah blah . . .

It was completely and totally a strawman, Cyn. You might want to look up the definition. Your claim seems to be that murder rates are not affected *at all* by gun proliferation. Please support that with facts that don't include appeals to authority.

I own a handgun, a shotgun, and two rifles, just to give you perspective. I'm not, however, self-deluded about the affect of gun violence on a society.