Learning the reason prompted me to do a quick Internet search for the incidence of firearms as a cause of death in the United States. I learned today that firearms are now the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S. (See this and this also.) This inconvenient truth will no doubt be vigorously denied by the same patriotic right-wing Republican evangelical/Protestant white supremacist types who denied that the COVID-19 virus actually existed and that it could kill people. These types will insist that the right to keep and bear arms is part of America's "Christian" heritage. In saying this, they will conveniently elide the fact that Christ told Simon Peter to put away his sword, since "all who take up the sword shall die by the sword". (Matthew 26). In considering those who rabidly cling to their guns I am reminded of analyses I read about how the Vikings eventually had to abandon their ancient Greenland settlements even though the Inuit were able to remain and thrive. The reason is that the Vikings tried to import a culture and way of life that could not survive the reality of their new environment. Yet the Vikings stubbornly clung to this culture and way of life, even as some of their spiritual and cultural descendants are now clinging to a culture and way of life that has no future. This can only end badly.
One other thing - I'm still working on the next installments of my series on precarity. We will shortly start learning more about artificial intelligence. Beware - some of the discussion will turn rather geeky...
