my freakonomics moment...

it is 4.30am in the morning and i don't think sleep will coming around anytime soon...
i am kept awake by a constant nagging reminder of what I've heard over BBC hours earlier...
"An Armed Society is a Polite Society"
this line keeps repeating itself in my head and I'm left wide awake contemplating its idiosyncrasy...

yes statistics have shown that in certain states of America, with the introduction of concealed carry laws, crime rate has shown sizable decrease...
as a fan of Steven d. Levitt, i am reluctant to believe that because people are allowed to carry concealed guns thus result in the deterrent of crimes...
there are so many other factors of which, can disprove the theory that more guns in society= less crime...

firstly, statistics have shown that most criminal who commit crimes are usually in their earlier 20s to 30s according criminal psychologist...
if recent statistics have stated that crime rates have decrease, wouldn't the fact that potential/ current criminals belong to the late gen X-ers and pioneer gen Y-ers? (the generation with higher education and employment rates)
wouldn't the generation that has taken over the most susceptible years of potential criminal activities have any effect on crime rates?
the post 9-11, hurricane Katrina and Virginia tech spirit too might have caused the decrease in crime rates too?

a statement like "an armed society is a polite society" is derogatory to modern day civilized societies who have chosen to live without arms in their homeland...
it denotes hints of aggression, manipulative's and most of all a society built on the basis of elitism...
like a propaganda war message, almost Nazi-like, where people are made to feel that a piece of metal is what makes a civilized world...

yes we do not come from a civilized world, we've witnessed both wars and countless of revolutions...
yet we feel the need to feel superior to our forefathers because of the education and knowledge that has been learnt from their mistakes...
as a student of history, and as an adult of the future...
this vicious cycle will not end just because it has already happened once...

while global disarmament is the only way to uphold unconditional peace and equality...
it is both unrealistic and unattainable...
partial disarmament is the first step to gaining back what a civilised society really is...
we cannot always control another plane crashing into another skyscraper, or predicting another dictator from claiming weapons of mass destruction, or even stopping a country from nuclear testing with UN sanctions...
but what we can control is allowing citizens to Carry weapons masquerading as protection guidelines...

we live in a world where carrying a weapon will guarantee our safety...
where children are brought up around these weapons and will later learn how to use one in their lives...
even with strict permits and background checks, there is always room for error...
in the US, gun stores outnumbers MacDonald's, 23 to 1...
one step for homeland security, a giant leap back into primitive human ages...

and then i realized...
"An Armed Society is a Polite Society" is not right at all...
it should have been...
"An Armed American Society is a Polite American Society"...










some societies have chosen to be civilly arms free...
and i am thankful to be in one...