Most countries around the world value the principles on which the United States was founded. People continue to come from all over the world to experience its freedoms and opportunities. According to the World Bank, the philanthropic giving of Americans is more than twice as much as the next country, as is the foreign aid provided by the United States to other countries in need. Most Americans support global human rights, and expect the United States to be a paragon of democracy. There is much to be respected about American democracy.
But we would be foolish as a society to overlook the dark sides of our culture. Unfortunately we do not seem to be as good about or capable of looking ourselves in the mirror and recognizing our faults and ways to improve on the American experiment. We would benefit from remembering American democracy is often considered an experiment, suggesting it is something we should continually strive to refine and improve. We are in trouble if we cannot take a healthy look at our shortcomings as a society and attempt to rectify them.
We must therefore face the reality that as the most powerful and generous democracy in the world, we are by many measures also the most violent country among developed, industrialized nations. From Los Angeles to Newtown, Seattle to Miami, whether in an urban or rural area, we must begin to reckon with violence in America. No region, no population, no socio-economic group, no race, no ethnicity, is exempt.
Consider the following:
- A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds in the United States, and a classroom full of children die every week (more than 5 a day) as a result of child abuse – the worst record among industrialized nations (Childhelp)
- Nearly 300,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month, 100,000 students carry a gun to school each year, and more than 3 out of 4 say they have been bullied in some fashion (National Institute of Health)
- The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children younger than 15 years of age is nearly 12 times higher than among children in 25 other industrialized countries combined (CDC)
- The United States has the highest rate of youth homicides and suicides among the 26 wealthiest nations (CDC)
- More than 90% of video games evaluated, appropriate for children 10 years or older, contained violence, and more than 2 out of 3 teens have regularly played video games with violent content (Harvard Health)
- An average of 150 acts of violence and more than 15 murders occur on U.S. television each week, with crime/action series comprising half of exported programs (Center for Media Literacy)
- Every 9 seconds in the United States a woman is assaulted or beaten, and up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually (Domestic Violence Statistics)
- An average of 1 school shooting per month (175+ total) since 1997, and more than 5 mass shootings per month (450+ total) since 2005 – 1 every 6 days – occurs across the country (Brady Campaign)
- Americans are 7 times more likely to be murdered than people in 16 other industrialized countries studied, and 20 times more likely to be killed by a gun (National Academy of Sciences)
- The U.S. ranks as the 88th most peaceful country out of 158 countries evaluated (Global Peace Index – Institute of Economics and Peace)
We must ask ourselves as a society – presumably a civil society – whether we are satisfied with the pervasive violence reflected by these statistics. In essence, are we satisfied being the most violent of all industrialized nations? Are we satisfied with the culture, and glorification, of violence in the United States? As more and more people come to reflect on these realities we must begin to take responsibility for and reverse these trends.
What are we to do? After the most recent mass shooting, at Shady Hook elementary school in Newtown, much attention is being focused on controlling assault weapons. And in a civil society, rightfully so. Unfortunately, an estimated 3.5 million AR-15 assault rifles alone are already on the streets in the United States. So while controlling assault weapons is one important piece of the puzzle, alone it is not the answer.
Much focus has also been given to mental health. Again, this is critical, as how can a truly civil society turn its back on those who have or who are trying to help those with mental health issues? But finding a way to identify those with mental health issues which lead to acts of violence, and then stopping them before acting, will be challenging at best when simply considering issues of personal privacy.
So what are we to do? We need a comprehensive, integrated violence prevention action strategy which addresses the root causes of violence and to which adequate resources are given to implement, evaluate and refine as needed. The underlying causes which lead to acts of violence must be addressed in addition to those factors which facilitate acts of violence (e.g., inappropriate access to weapons). Both approaches must be pursued with the intentionality, commitment and resources needed. In essence, violence prevention must become a priority, central to the concept of civil society.
We should also begin looking for places where a re-allocation of resources to support violence prevention makes sense, where perhaps we have drifted with policies and programs of the past without reassessing the real need for them today. Here are just four examples, and many more can undoubtedly be identified:
- The U.S. spent more on defense in 2011 than the countries with the next 13 highest defense budgets combined, more than three times the defense budgets of Russia and China combined (Peter G. Peterson Foundation)
- Overseas weapons sales by the United States totaled $66.3 billion in 2011, or more than three-quarters of the global arms market (valued at $85.3 billion). Russia was a distant second, with $4.8 billion in deals (NY Times)
- The U.S. has 30% more people in prisons than the next largest prison population – China, which has 4+ times more people – tying up funds that could be reallocated to programs that prevent violence (NationMaster)
- Spending on prisons and related services ($70 billion) continues to increase while spending on education is decreasing, while research indicates incarceration rates are the highest in areas with the lowest-performing schools (The American Prospect)
These trends pose some critical questions. As a society do we desire to live in and contribute to a safe world? The vast majority of Americans would say yes. Do we need a defense budget three times Russia and China combined to achieve that goal? Polls show that most now say no. Do we need to incarcerate many more people than China, with a history of repression and more than 4 times as many people? Since it is clear that a higher education is associated with less incarceration – and less violence – it certainly makes sense to re-direct resources into educational programs.
Violence prevention cannot be an afterthought. Otherwise we will continue to address the issue of violence from more of a reactive than preventative posture. So while gun access and mental health initiatives represent fundamental parts of the equation, they will not be adequate by themselves to reduce the number of tragedies we have witnessed the past 15 years. We must commit to change as a society, beginning with our own actions and attitudes, developing our own leadership in violence prevention, and extended to those serving in positions of public leadership.
In closing, let us consider the sage advice and admonitions of some who have helped create and sustain the American experiment in democracy. John Adams contributed this rather dire prediction:
- Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.
Using the words of Adams as an incentive for action rather than a self-fulfilling prophecy, may we instead be guided by the words of those more hopeful about the future of American democracy:
- The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults. Alexis de Tocqueville
- America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter … it will be because we destroyed ourselves. Abraham Lincoln
- I look forward to a great future for America – a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose. John F. Kennedy
So how shall we respond, individually and as a nation? Are you satisfied leaving the culture of violence in the Unites States unchanged, with the toll it takes on families, communities, and society as a whole? Are you willing to accept unchecked the consequences of violence, undermining the quality of life and creating a culture of fear? There is much to be done, beginning now, to reverse the inertia leading down this path. Some ways to start include:
- Removing violent video games from your home
- Nonviolently intervening to protect someone who is being berated or bullied
- Becoming aware of and modifying our own violence-oriented or -inducing language
- Helping our children become media-literate to recognize how depictions of violence in our society reinforce the culture of violence
- Supporting leaders who understand and are committed to addressing the underlying causes of violence
- Starting a Family Hui, Lead4Tomorrow’s peer-led positive parenting program nurturing healthy families and putting our children on a path of nonviolence
- Forming a Violence Prevention Action Team, Lead4Tomorrow’s cross-sector partnership program addressing violence in your community
- Contributing to Lead4Tomorrow’s Violence Prevention 2030 initiative, creating and implementing a comprehensive violence prevention action strategy
- Supporting organizations in your community working to reduce violence.
Please join Lead4Tomorrow and a growing host of other organizations and individuals in making violence prevention a priority, as a core value and cornerstone essential to the sustainability of any civil society. Join us on the path toward a safer and more compassionate world.