Is violence part of America's DNA?

I recently shared a picture on Facebook posted by an American friend with the description, “The biggest genocide in human history didn’t occur in Nazi Germany, but on American soil. 100 million Native Americans were slaughtered and lost their homeland.” The figure given is probably inflated – there were unlikely to have been that many Native Americans in those days – but the fact remains that a lot of them were killed and all their land was stolen.

I shared that post in the hope it would convince peace-loving Americans to do some soul-searching in the wake of the cruel killing in Zimbabwe of the lion dubbed Cecil. The culprit is still at large because the US government refuses to extradite him to stand trial in Zimbabwe. 

The pleasure of hunting and then inflicting pain on animals that are unable to defend themselves is incomprehensible in my society. Why the US government must protect this man is beyond me.

Yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which earned the US the dubious distinction of being the only country to have used an atomic weapon against human beings, in the process vaporising some 250,000 souls and severely injuring many more.

Violence seems to be ingrained in US culture, and to this day Americans cherish their “right to bear arms” and oppose any attempt to change that constitutional amendment. They appear to have forgotten that the “Wild West” has long since vanished. Will the day ever come when Americans recognise that violence can never be a sustainable solution to any of the serious problems the world is facing? 

In truth, America remains a country I love. That’s not because I grew up there and benefited from a US education, but because of the ideals that its founding fathers stood for 239 years ago. “All men were created equal and they are endowed with certain unalienable rights. Among these rights are the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” states the Declaration of Independence. If America had remained faithful to those founding ideals, the whole world would be a far better place in which to live. 

Prachyadavi Tavedikul