The Roots of Violence in America

“Violence is as American as apple pie”, that’s not just an abstract statement, but a piece of reality. Violence is woven into the very fabric of the system as a whole, and calling for gun control won’t fix the poisonous roots of the problem: capitalism-imperialism. The essence of what exists today, worldwide, is not a system of democracy, but of, from the leftist view, white-supremacist capitalism-imperialism, and that system creates the very hell that enforces that system, and so, signing petitions and the such doesn’t do anything, you gotta stand up make change, because of the fundamental truth that those who rule this system are not concerned with the will and desires of the masses, but instead for maintaining the system for themselves, for keeping-intact the “might-makes-right” and “dog-eat-dog” world we live in today, that they themselves created for their benefit. That is the essence of capitalism-imperialism.

Violence has its roots in the history of this country, and to this day those roots are still sprouting up and their venom is still vicious. A defining aspect of the history of this country is violent repression of people who dare stand up for their rights, as seen during the civil rights movement, but not just that, but a core aspect of this system, this white supremacist system, is the fact that it's built on violence and slavery, as seen during the early years of the foundations of this country — but also today — and that was and still IS enforced by the state with violence. Of the indigenous people who the European settlers attempted to violently eradicate, those who were armed and revolted against the genocide put up a good fight, but had inferior arms to defend with compared to the settlers, but those who were not armed at all met their complete demise. Guns protect us from tyranny, in every system, that is the purpose of guns, for protection. Yet, if you really want to change the problem that is of unjust violence, which is a real problem to confront, you gotta get to the underlying roots of the problem, and that lies with the substructure and superstructure of society, not just a few lone-wolves. What is coded into the DNA of the system IS coded into it, that’s the way it is, and you can’t fix that from the inside without knowledge.

Taking away guns from the people and keeping them purely in the hands of the police, and other institutions within the racist state apparatus is detrimental to making change. The cops will furthermore get away with their brutality and they may go further and become a force for fascism. The state legitimizes itself through violence, and taking away protection from the people makes the violence of the state millions of times worse for the grand majority of people. Instead of taking away guns from the people, take away guns from those who enforce oppression or call for it. That’s the leftist perspective.

Capitalism innately enforces violence to retain itself, thats the real violence we must be focused on, and while the citizens may use violence, this violence is usually in the context of obtaining necessary goods for survival, which are not permitted under the capitalist framework. That’s a sad reality.

When all is said and done, gun control for the masses is not the solution, a political revolution in all spheres is. Get to the streets, run in elections, and make some real hard-hitting change! Our aim as leftists is calling for no more degradation of the youth, no more gang violence, put down here because of the capitalists in office, no more drugs in our towns and cities, that were put here by the government, no more imperialism and exploitation and the spreading of structures around the world that reinforce that, no more fascism, no more colonization, no more nationalism, no more police brutality, no more of a prison system for profit, no more racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and so forth, that plagues the country and reinforces a system of violence. Once these are all put an end to, among other things here and abroad, and only then, will true emancipatory change come forth for everyone to enjoy in tranquility.