By Ira Sharkansky
JERUSALEM — We’ve known for some time that American society looks as much like a Third World country as a First.
Sure, it has a GDP that is still larger than China’s, and it is viewed, especially by Americans, as a world leader in just about everything good.
However, its social gap is the largest among western democracies.
The US has what sociologists call the “underclass”, with gangs, drugs, 14 year old mothers and 30 year old grandmothers, not too far from nice bubbles of the well to do. The country is either enviable or deeply troubled, depending on where.
Now what is said to be the greatest of the mass shootings reveals that American governments are somewhere in la la land.
It took the police a while to arrive and put an end to the carnage, more than a day to count the bodies, and another day to bring them to a morgue.
The President made a statement keyed to lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals and transgenders, without a mention of Islam.
“This is an especially heartbreaking day for all our friends — our fellow Americans — who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub — it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights.
So this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American — regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation — is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country. And no act of hate or terror will ever change who we are or the values that make us Americans.”
The killer had been interviewed at least twice by the FBI on account of statements he had made. Yet the FBI wasn’t certain. And he had no trouble acquiring an arsenal with an assault rifle and lots of ammunition.
It’s not hard finding columnists ridiculing the White House. So far no record of Arab politicians clucking their tongues, but we know enough about the attitudes of Saudi and Egyptian leaders to fill in the blanks. Even Iranians, despite the agreement on nuclear activities that caused the Saudis to pout, haven’t stopped marching against the American devils.
I’m sure to hear from Americans who don’t like what I write about the US. They can insist that they are not living in a bubble, but admit that there is no reason to go to places that are unattractive, i.e., outside their bubble.
They’ve been lucky that a grandchild hasn’t been caught in a school or college massacre.
The US Ambassador to Israel has said in decent Hebrew that it’ll take a while to be certain about the motives of the killer. He’s in line with his boss that authorities are investigating, and until they are sure, no one should jump to conclusions.
There’ll be other mass killings before all the facts are in about this one, and the President may never have to couple the words terror, hate crime, violence, and Islam.
The US like other countries is a complex place. It may score high on mass killings and individual murders, but its sport fans are well behaved compared to Europeans. The news from France and the Euro 2016 is rampages in the stadiums, spilling out onto the fields, and continuing on the streets, involving football hooligans from Britain, Russia, Ukraine, and Germany. There is a lot more injury associated with the American games of football and hockey than in European sport, but American fans are a lot calmer than European cousins.
It may have something to do with the price of tickets, and who can afford to watch mayhem on the field or ice. The average ticket price for the New York Giants and New England Patriots is above $120, a hundred times higher that what Dad paid for us to sit in the grandstand of Fenway Park 60 years ago.
A British football fan can buy a ticket for about a quarter of those American prices. However, it will take more serious work by anthropologists to determine why Europeans generally face only a fraction of American’s chance to be murdered, but a much larger chance to encounter hooligans near a stadium.
No surprise that commentators from all over are competing with their assessments of Orlando.
Some of their Israeli colleagues are claiming superiority for our security personnel. Some are moaning that we are all suffering from Islam, while others warn of Islamophobia. Those concerned about what are now called LGBTs are noting the similarities between the American-Afghan and the ultra-Orthodox Jew who murdered a young woman in Jerusalem’s gay parade.
Hillary is doing well by those who see this as an attack against gays and lesbians, while Donald gains among those who see Islam at its core.
The President used the occasion to make another pitch for his flaccid posture about guns.
“Today marks the most deadly shooting in American history. The shooter was apparently armed with a handgun and a powerful assault rifle. This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, or in a house of worship, or a movie theater, or in a nightclub. And we have to decide if that’s the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision as well.”
He does well as Soother in Chief.
“As we go together, we will draw inspiration from heroic and selfless acts — friends who helped friends, took care of each other and saved lives. In the face of hate and violence, we will love one another. We will not give in to fear or turn against each other. Instead, we will stand united, as Americans, to protect our people, and defend our nation, and to take action against those who threaten us.
May God bless the Americans we lost this morning. May He comfort their families. May God continue to watch over this country that we love.”
It’s his roles as Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief that could use some work.
He can start by seeing who in the FBI gave the killer a pass, and sending them to a place where there are no Muslims, guns, or LGBTs.
If anyone can find such a place in la la land.
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Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University. He may be contacted via ira.sharkansky@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)