Mass Shootings and Missing White Woman Syndrome
When it comes to gun control, we’re not talking about real solutions. Or even the real problems.
Search Results for: gun control
Political Identity Divides Us More Than Policy Preferences
Politics is the worst: Increased sorting could reflect identification with groups that better match our values. Perhaps Republicans and Democrats can’t compromise because their policy preferences are irreconcilable. However, this doesn’t explain why Americans personally dislike political opponents with such intense fervor. U.S. liberals and conservatives not only disagree on policy issues: they are also increasingly unwilling to … Read more
The Social Science of Identity Politics
Political scientist Sheri Berman has an excellent piece in The Guardian that covers some of the most relevant social science on identity politics and its implications: Rather than being directly translated into behavior, psychologists tell us beliefs can remain latent until “triggered”. In a fascinating study, Karen Stenner shows in The Authoritarian Dynamic that while … Read more
“Don’t like X? Don’t get one.”
I’m anti-abortion, and this meme really annoys me: This meme is addressed to pro-lifers, but it only makes sense if it completely ignores the fundamental pro-life argument: abortion kills non-aggressive, innocent humans. To a pro-lifer this meme is roughly equivalent to “Don’t like murder? Don’t commit one.” Yeah great. Solid point. Now, an abortion rights advocate … Read more
You don’t get to cherry pick Constitutional rights.
Speaking as a gun-owner and gun rights advocate, I actually appreciate this meme: This meme gets to what is, I think, the heart of the issue here: if you don’t like the level of access Americans have to guns, you should advocate for changing the Constitution. Because the fact is that gun ownership is a … Read more
Missing Fathers and Mass Killers
Damon Linker has a good piece about the violence of mass shootings: Men and mass murder: What gender tells us about America’s epidemic of gun violence. Most perpetrators of violence in all societies (this is one of those social universals) are men, and mass shooters are no exception: “Murder is an overwhelmingly male act, with the … Read more
Mass Shootings and Heroes
This is Chris Mintz. He was shot 5 times charging the school shooter in Oregon and will have to learn to walk again. Let’s reward his courage, not a killer’s malevolence.
Linker: “Democrats are going to pay a price for defending an unreasonably maximal position on abortion”
Damon Linker does not pull any punches in his most recent piece for The Week: Why liberals should support banning late-term abortions. I very much doubt that liberals will pay attention, but they should. Linker’s central point is pretty simple: United States laws on abortion are so radical that they are out of touch with both American … Read more