Episode 88

88: Body Count

Published on: 13th June, 2022

Body Count

The Radical Secular is sponsored in part by Kanibal & Co.

(00:00) Intro and T-shirts

(6:45) Gun violence death statistics and rationalizations. Economic impact. Survivor guilt. America's violent history. Domestic violence.

(21:53) Examining the "why?" How many weapons do Americans own? A public health analysis. Comparison to other nations. The role of history denial. The deliberate suppression of gun violence research. GOP science denial strategies.

(39:30) Thom Hartmann's "The Hidden History of Gun Violence and the Second Amendment." What was the rationale for the second amendment, and who was covered by it? The connection to slavery and Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan. The European invasion. The settler myth. Demonization and victim-blaming of the Native American population. Motivations of Thomas Jefferson and how other enslavers changed the text of the second amendment. Reinterpretation of the second amendment by the Heller decision. The making of the gun myths through glorification of violent outlaws. Teddy Roosevelt's slander of Native Americans.

(01:18:42) A single gunshot ended Reconstruction. Post-reconstruction disarming of black freedmen. The philosophical implications of open carry. The NRA failure to defend black people with CCW gun permits. How guns were treated in the "old West."

(01:25:34) Demographics and motivation of mass shooters. Why have political leaders failed to act?

(01:41:17) The relationship between citizens, government, and society. The creation of two Americas following the Civil Rights Act. Reagan's delegitimization the US government. The marriage of gun ownership with opposition to a government of universal civil rights. The GOP death-cult feedback loop between shootings and fear that leads to more right-wing voting.

(01:53:03) A proposal for common-sense gun regulation and buybacks (that's certain not to pass).

(01:57:15) Wrapup and Outro

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Show notes:

GUN VIOLENCE ARCHIVE

The Economic Cost of Gun Violence

The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment by Thom Hartmann

Number of mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and June 2022, by shooter's race or ethnicity

Two Professors Found What Creates a Mass Shooter. Will Politicians Pay Attention?

Republican Congressman Quits Race After Backlash Over His Gun Stance

A striking number from a new poll on guns

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