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Quo Vadis, America? Beyond the Map’s Edge, and Back Again
“You’re off the edge of the map, mate. Here there be monsters.” said Captain Barbarossa during his swordfight with Captain Jack Sparrow. A few days ago, one particular monster took his AR-15-style rifles — purchased without license, registration, or background check — and slaughtered a classroom full of children.
America is not the only nation that has experienced school shootings, but we do experience several times such atrocities than the rest of the world combined. The perversity of this statistic is compounded by the fact that nearly half our elected representatives refuse to even consider effective gun control, but instead (and falsely) point the blame at immigrants, mental health issues, and even the transgender community.
How much worse will it get? As long as half the nation is enthralled by right-wing media, with its continual drumbeat in support of the rise of fascism wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross, much worse indeed. So far in 2022, as of May 25th, America has had 214 mass shootings —an average of nearly 1.5 mass shootings every single day — resulting in over 17,300 deaths. For perspective, that’s well over half as many civilians as have been killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As horrific as that comparison is, nothing substantive will be done about the root causes of…
