The Ultimate Sign of American Collapse by Umair Haque

[Blecht]

This guy doesn't pull any punches: The Ultimate Sign of American Collapse

Americans, I think, see mass shootings as a social problem. They aren’t. They’re something far more abnormal — and telling — than that. Mass shootings — ultra regular ones, more than one a day — are a sign of social collapse. America’s mass shooting problem is perhaps one of the ultimate signs — and forms — of how societies collapse. They encapsulate almost perfectly how societies come undone.

The signs of American collapse are everywhere you look. From its sclerotic politics, where nothing ever gets done — except regress into theocracy and authoritarianism. To its economy — in which the average American struggles to make ends meet, lives and dies in debt — while the ultra rich grow ever richer. To its society, in which young people have little to no chance of a decent life, and downward mobility is now the norm. Right down to its culture, where Instafluencers and comic-book heroes act as numbing, dumbing agents.

It’s in this context that mass shootings should be understood. There are symptoms of a collapsing society, but none quite ring alarm bells like regular massacres.

I’d never say that mass shootings aren’t about guns. Of course they are. But they are also about so much more. They are social collapse in one dismal, gruesome act of ultraviolence.

I discovered the author because of this interview:

He articulates a lot of the things I've been feeling since I first saw how the Tea Party appealed to so many when Obama won.

[vlyons]

1. Boy he got that right

When people have no hope of ever getting ahead to living a decent life, what the hell?

[Sanity Claws]

2. Ring of truth

[Irish_Dem]

3. Russia said they would destroy us, and they have, with the help of the GOP.

The American people are docile, helpless, compliant after decades of being beaten down by the GOP.

[mahina]

4. I'm interested to read his work but found his laughter when describing our worst sorrows

extremely off-putting.

If he intends to be interviewed in the future he should avoid that habit.

[Blecht]

6. He's definitely not TV friendly

He admits as much.

I agree that it is off-putting. But if you push past that, what he says boils things down well.

His writing is unedited and all over the place -- and that's part of its charm.

[mahina]

8. I do look forward to reading him however that habit makes anyone question where his interests lie.

Anybody who gives a shit about us would not be laughing at that

[Blecht]

9. Music is where his main interests are since he left the mainstream media world

[Brenda]

5. I've been reading him for awhile now

on Medium. He is a gifted writer - getting right to the point and connecting all of the dots of our daily chaos.

[link:https://medium.com/@umairh|

[rownesheck]

7. This is exactly why I'm an advocate

for open borders throughout the entire world. It's coming faster than I realize, but I might need to get the hell outta here!