What's so great about guns?

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Sunday August 19, 2012 · 2:03 PM PDT

2012/08/19 · 14:03

Inspired by a documentary on BBC3 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/... - I write this with respect to the shootings in Aurora, Colorado, but it is equally applicable to any mass shooting.

For a very long time I have thoughtfully engaged with the debate about gun control, but within limited frames; political D vs. R, thinking of the “big picture”, interpretation of the Constitution (hello Scalia you loon), and of course the whole rural vs. urban dimension.

But I don't want to get into those narrow debates. Politics are transient, the Constitution is no more than a document, albeit one treated, in some quarters, as a pseudo religious text. And few seem to appreciate that these are starting points, and not the end of discourse.

I have lived in various places in the US, and appreciate and respect the different cultures. But, if my friends' guns in rural Missoura is all there is to them, then that would be sad.

I actually find it very simple, the counterfactual. Would the US be better without guns? If you have strict gun control, maybe allowing hunters to hunt, and what do you lose? Not in terms of pablums or principle, how would your life be different?

I am genuinely curious, because for a European, the US debate seems disconnected from reality. The rejoinder to what I say being the typical, well, if we had someone in there with a gun, then things would be different, but when has that ever happened?

I am happy to engage in debates about the 2nd amendment, but that is a rather arid debate don't you think? Isn't the better debate around what a civilised society looks like and what that implies?

The US vs. the European Social Contract

UKDem

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Sunday December 20, 2009 · 12:50 PM PST

2009/12/20 · 12:50

In a sense I can understand Americans who don't want to pay taxes because they don't see where it's going.

Poll

80 votes Show Results

Would you pay higher taxes for better public services?

80 votes Vote Now!

Would you pay higher taxes for better public services?

Yes, it will reduce my overall expenditure

70 votes

No, and keep your hands off my Medicare

5 votes

This poll is totally skewed, you commie Brit!

5 votes

Reflections on comity in US politics

UKDem

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Sunday November 08, 2009 · 11:50 AM PST

2009/11/08 · 11:50

A dreadfully dull title I know, and being a Brit I could probably come up with something more sensational, given our newspapers. But I digress; it's a little over thirteen years ago since I started my studies at UIUC, and much has changed since then, namely the tenor of American political debate.

Poll

52 votes Show Results

Is the US more politically divided now?

52 votes Vote Now!

Is the US more politically divided now?

Yes

43 votes

1 vote

No more so than before, but the parties are

8 votes

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