Gun violence- are you a victim or know somone who was?

You're not in Poland anymore?

 

LOL!

 

I like that place already!

 

That is an interesting statement---that they don't value life the way most people do. Because individually, Filipinos are very loving and caring, and can be devastated by the death of a loved one, just like anyone else. But there is an indifferance to life that runs through the culture. Until the last days of the Cory Aquino presidency, a person could show up dying at a hospital emergency room, and if he or she did not have money to pay, or demonstrate that they could pay, they would be left to die in the parking lot. People watch out for each other, and care for each other, neighbors for example, but in a fit of anger could turn around and kill someone for revenge.

Certainly the horrors of the Japanese occupation played a role in this. But I also think that Spanish Colonialism played a very large role. In my travels and living around the world, it seems to me that any former Spanish colony has produced cultures today that are definitely dysfunctional in a way similar to the Philippines. I suspect a lot of this has to do with the repressive catholicism that forced upon a relatively sexually free indigenous culture. The resulting sexual repression was juxtaposed against a directive to the colonizers to 'intermix with the locals and produce as many half-breed offspring as possible.' I mean this as a historical reality and context, and should not be used to justify any racial prejudices as I will point out in a moment.

Politically it was very effective. Was it wrong? It wasn't as fatal for the indigenous people as was Manifest Destiny here in the US.

If anyone is interested in this indifference and tendency to violence there is a fictional movie---Metro Manila----which is still on YouTube (Search: Metro Manila full length movie) that is subtitled and explores this theme and how it plays out in the Philippines. It is spun off from a true event of a man who held up a Philippine Airlines flight and planned to jump out of it with a homemade parachute. He chickened out at the last moment, but the stewardess kicked him out the door and to his death (the movie is not about that hold-up but about a fictional security guard who previously worked in the factory of the man who did the hold-up). You can learn more about this movie in a post I did several years ago in the threads on existentialism. I posted a YouTube preview and might have even posted the movie there.

BUT IS THIS INDIFFERENCE TO LIFE UNIQUE TO THE PHILIPPINES OR EVEN FORMER SPANISH COLONIES? I think that the Philippines and these other cultures probably represent, more than anything else, an exaggeration of conditions anywhere else. Gang members here in the US, or kids shooting up schools, just like Isis members in the Middle East, display the same indifference to life as a thug in the Philippines. It is the same problem that is at the root of the increasing violence in America. Christians refer to the godlessness of society, other people talk about the decline in standards of education---yes these are all symptoms. I relate it to the end-conclusion of such dynamics in Western culture as group ethic, dualism, objectivism and rationalism. It started with a growing decadence in Europe in the late 1800's which began breaking down traditional values. American consumerism maintained a social cohesion which allowed it to blossom into what it is today. In short, we are living in the Age of Nihilism. But it is a global phenomenon, and not exclusively Western. The Arab Spring was largely a rebellion against the corruption, indifference to life, and the power dynamics that plagued Arab countries just as they do decadent Western ones.

Perhaps our coming to terms with technology of the last century and a half is also a part of this. This has brought about countless cultural changes in Arab and African countries as much as it has Western countries. But we cannot rule out how such problems bear the unmistakeable mark of Western Colonialism, and the Nihilism of today is culture wide in what is a Modern Global culture----largely defined as American pop culture.

Like Trump, his rise to power was based on fear mongering, creating scapegoats, divisive tactics, and a call to Nationalism. There is a global rise in Nationalism and Fascism. In some places it has been halted in its tracks, in others it has pushed forward. This is all part of this growing Nihilism. As Nihilism reared its head in Europe near the end of the 1800's we had a rise of Nationalism and Fascism resulting in two World Wars. Nietzsche called it.

A culture needs truth, value, and meaning to remain viable. It cannot be riddled with alternative facts and fake news. And to the Christians I might add that, sorry, the Bible, God, and the church may be your answer, but it cannot provide truth and meaning to a post-enlightenment global culture where you have a diversity of ideas and beliefs.

By the way---an example of Duterte's policies and the associated gun violence----police are required to meet a quota in terms of drug arrests. The number of drug users and pushers in the Philippines is no where as high as Durterte claimed, so cops end up going into barrios and low income communities and knocking on random doors, and then hold the occupants at gunpoint. They could shoot them as drug users, even though they aren't, but they give them the choice to allow the police to arrest them and then they can 'voluntarily' sign up as a drug user seeking rehabilitation. The idea is that if they seek rehabilitiation, they are supposed to be immune from being shot. However there also seems to be be a quota on extrajudicial killings because when they do not have anyone to shoot, they go to the list of people (including the innocent ones) who have signed up for rehabilitation, and start shooting some of them. People are also encouraged to turn in suspected drug users and pushers who in turn are murdered. You can imagine that husbands of mistresses, and wives of lovers, along with those who are targets of revenge are easily removed by being turned into the police as suspected drug users or pushers.

The NRA and all their propaganda and pay offs is another example of the indifference to human life associated with this Nihilism. I certainly don't support taking guns away from everyone. But clearly, without some kind of gun regulation, we are only going to continue on this path of violence, including against our children.

 

Been around guns and people who own guns all my life. Shot my first gun at the ripe old age of 10. The only incident that I remember was when a buddies shot his brand new 72 Cuda from the back seat out the side. Dumbass didn't unload his gun or have the safety on.

 

Excellent post, MountainValleyWolf! (just soo damn lengthy jk) And I largely share your POV.

 

I heard they're above average reasonable about smoking pot as well Any insights there? What about buying/selling (for one's own consumption)?

 

Lol I have no idea how much THC is in like a gram here on average, or if that is easy and possible to be readily measured!

 

Yes, but luckily it's rare. Certainly nothing on the level and scale of the seemingly very frequent US shooting incidents. A typical shooting here involves a legally purchased hunting gun, and a weekend's worth of hard alcohol use in combination with years worth of bottled-up emotions. It's most commonly the classic scenario, where a husband kills his wife, and possibly the kids too at the end of a failed marriage. Very often a murder/suicide scenario.

Couple of cases exist, where the military had one of their assault rifles + ammo stolen, and this weapon was then used in a deadly attack. In one case, a police officer died, when his ballistic protections did nothing against the potent assault rifle. Also, criminal gangs of course settle their differences from time to time, usually drug related, but they tend not to involve civilians into these matters.

All-in-all, things could be way worse. Out here, we haven't yet had any of those Las Vegas-types of deals, where somebody starts stacking bodies 5 feet high, seemingly for no reason whatsoever.

 

We have everything you mentioned (obviously), and then some.

 

Most gun violence here in the Netherlands is with illegal guns. From pistols to semi and full automatic. The recent increase is because of an abundance of it in east european countries who dump it for (relatively) cheap on the international black market. Internet helps with that too.

 

What weapons are considered legal weapons there?

 

I'm not sure. With illegal i mean they don't have a permit for it. Its almost all organized crime causing the gun violence in my country.
The only legal guns I know something about in my country are hunting rifles.

 

If you're referring to me he had been doing yard work for several months not year. Less than 5 months more than 3.

 

I would have had NO PROBLEM putting the scumbag down if I could have. In another time in this country we could have. No longer considered civilized if we do so now.

 

Oops, my bad. I don't know why i was thinking it was 3 yrs. I stand corrected. Thanks.

 

Well, I don't think no one would argue that he should have at least gotten an ass whoopen.

 

Considering what he did, the way it was done, and how many lives affected, an execution would seem appropriate.

 

I had a classmate in high school who took his own life using his dad's gun. I don't believe I've known anyone other than him, who was involved in direct gun violence.

 

I've lost a few good friends this way. One of them was a shocker, because I had the impression that he was stronger and had it all together. He even helped me get through a hard time in my life, and when I found out he took his, I refused to believe it. It was totally out of character for him....