Fear and hysteria are the two words often mentioned in the wake of 9/11. To this I would add ‘insecurity’.
The comments that followed the two TMV posts on the gun issue bring to light the hidden fears. That it may not be the ‘terrorist’ alone, but also the state that may take away individual liberty by intruding/impacting into one’s personal/private life.
Guns, it seems from these arguments, would provide ‘security’ and ‘peace of mind’ (as opposed to fear) in all circumstances – a panacea for all fears/threats/insecurity.
In human history, ownership of guns/arms were traditionally associated with honour and valour. However, in the comments in the TMV posts on guns, it appears that a majority of American readers own a gun out of fear and insecurity.
One can understand these arguments in the American context where an individual continues to rotate/operate fiercely on his or her own axis, and finds it difficult to merge a significant portion of this high individualism in the societal framework within a nation.
This may be because America’s relatively isolated geographical/political position until two or three deacdes ago. Also, its history, in not too distant past, of being a nation of forcible settlers in an alien land, and then forced to protect one’s turf many a times on an individual basis.
The US government understood this psyche of the people and was liberal in allowing the use of arms/guns at an individual level. Even in recent times the gun ownership has been supported by Presidents Reagan, Clinton and Bush.
That this fear/insecurity psychosis continues to haunt the Americans even after two centuries of freedom and peaceful existence, is a matter of concern. Probably this has something to do with the violent/barbaric manner in which the native tribes were subdued by the new settlers.
Do these memories of blood and gore still haunt the subconscious mind? Is it the fear that what the settlers did once to the natives could be done to them by some others?
The 9/11 episode brought to the surface the latent fears/insecurities of an avarage American. Now everything appears threatening. In this scenario the US administration has also done its bit by its thoughtless actions, and helped fan the fires of insecurity among its populace.
Agreed that these are much more trying times for the Americans than for rest of the people elsewhere in the world. But to say that we have nothing to depend on but our guns, appears to me a a rather simplistic solution in the present day complex world.
The US administration’s response to the highly complex international developments can be seen as an action at the macro level corresponding to the average thinking of the vocal Americans at the micro level. And it has all got to do with arms/guns/soldiers/tanks/fighter planes/enemy and so on.
A vital tool in international affairs called DIPLOMACY rarely figures in the lexicon of the present US administration in the context of resolution of conflicts. In a highly complex world there are bound to be conflicts. But what is needed is unlimited patience and astute diplomacy to avoid further complicating the issue and prevent unnecessary human suffering.
There is another dimension to this gun issue. The metaphor of gun/arms is not limited to ‘fear and insecurity’ but also for conquering and sustaining an unsustainable lifestyle. With the limited resources at hand one is tempted to reach out to other countries (even forcibly by using guns) to ensure smooth supply of resources.
In other Western countries an average citizen has learnt over the centuries to merge their high individualism with the societal demands/mores/needs without fear of losing one’s distinct identity/freedom.
Maybe the United States is a young nation and may take many more years to fall in line with the thinking of the European nations (or maybe not).
Here are some intresting quotes on the subject:
“A man with a gun is a citizen, a man without a gun is a subject. Our forefathers knew this to be true….. Why do so many of us question their wisdom?”—D. Michael Wiechman, May 14, 1996
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”—Thomas Jefferson, Proposed Virginia Constitution, 1776, Jefferson Papers 344
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”…Dwight David Eisenhower(1890-1969), 34th President of the United States.
“The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun.”— Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983)
“There are some circles in America where it seems to be more socially acceptable to carry a hand-gun than a packet of cigarettes.“— Katharine Whitehorn quotes
“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”—Mao Tse-Tung (or Mao Zedong)—1893-1976
“A Canadian is sort of like an American, but without the gun.”—Unknown?
“A lot of children know absolutely nothing about guns other than what they see on T.V., and those are the wrong things.”—Marion Hammer
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.