Monday, May 05, 2003

  Published on Monday, May 5, 2003 by the Raleigh News & Observer
(North Carolina)

Lessons in Death, Born in the USA
by Michael Schwalbe

Young American men are the most violent group in the industrialized
world. In 1992, after the first Gulf War, the homicide rate for
American men between 15 and 24 was 37.2 per 100,000. That1s ten times
higher than the next country on the list, Italy, and 60 times higher
than England.
Homicide is now the second leading cause of death among young
American men. Why do they kill so often? The comparison to European
countries suggests that part of the answer has to do with lax gun
control. Easy access to guns in this country ensures that violence
will more often be deadly.
But as Michael Moore1s film Bowling for Columbine shows, the problem
isn1t just guns -- it1s guns plus the readiness to use them on other
people. Which means that we need to look at what American boys are
learning that inclines them to kill.
The deadly lessons are ones that link manhood to violence.
Boys learn that being a man means being tough, never showing weakness
or fear, and never backing down. They learn that confrontations are
opportunities to make someone else back down, and to come out on top
of the other guy.
This idea of manhood invites an escalation of conflict, as threats
and intimidation must be met with counter threats and displays of
even greater menace. When no one can back down, violence is
inevitable.
The lessons are pervasive. They1re taught through sports, action
films, rap videos, even professional wrestling. Every boy soon
figures it out: the man who gets the most respect is the one whose
capacity for violence puts him on top.
Societal context is also important. In 2002 the World Health
Organization issued its World Report on Violence and Health, a
massive review of the literature. The authors found young men1s
violence to be associated with income inequality, lack of trust in
the criminal justice system, erosion of the social safety net, and a
decline in economic opportunity.
The causes of violence are thus complex. Yet the stark contrast in
homicide rates between the U.S. and Western Europe and Canada, when
many other conditions are similar, suggests that something sets the
U.S. apart in fostering violent masculinity.
So what1s different here? Two things: capital punishment, and the
ready and frequent use of military force.
Whereas almost all other industrialized nations have grasped the
counterproductive absurdity of killing people to show that killing is
wrong, the U.S. government continues to teach the lesson that killing
is a legitimate and effective way to deal with people who behave
badly.
The use of military force -- from assassination to bombing to
invasion -- also teaches that violence is the preferred means of
resolving human conflict. Uncle Sam makes for a mean and bloody role
model. The celebratory language now being applied to the rapid U.S.
occupation of Iraq will just make things worse.
Thank George Bush, we are told, for taking decisive action, despite
world opinion. Learn from this not to be swayed by appeals to the
values of peace, cooperation, and patient diplomacy. Learn that it is
a sign of weakness to listen to others.
Revere our troops, we are told, for being tough enough to do a job
that was made harder by the civilians who got in the way. Learn from
this not to let empathy and compassion deter you from taking what you
want. Learn to put tender feelings aside, so you can do what will win
the favor of bigger men above you.
Relish the liberation of the Iraqi people, the celebrators insist.
We1ve given a vicious bully his comeuppance, and the townspeople are
happy. Learn from this to seek heroism by vanquishing violence with
greater violence. Be faster on the draw.
There is indeed reason to worry about soldiers coming home with
haunted minds and warped souls from having witnessed the gory results
of the invasion. Will some of them be walking cluster bombs, ready to
go off if mishandled? We1ve seen it before.
But the fallout will go beyond the lives of ex-soldiers. It1s the
non-soldiers, the boys and young men hungry for cues about virtuous
manhood, and who are now being exposed to toxic celebrations of war,
about whom we should worry. Expect more fist fights, road rage,
battered women, sexual assault and rape, and school and workplace
shootings. Even as we have sown, so shall we reap.
The lessons of the war celebration will be clear, if often only
implicit. Real men, we will be given to understand, don1t flinch from
violence in a harsh world. Nor are they given pause by body counts,
untidy liberation, or the cries of disemboweled children. Real men
are sure of themselves and rise above such things, just as they rise
above the weaker vessels who cannot.
The celebrators will also steer us toward the false inference that
our fears can be overcome by destructive force. They will in fact
lead us away from seeing that the use of violence to dominate others
is not the solution to our fears but their source. They will not
teach us, except by negative example, to stop creating monsters and
monsters of ourselves.

Michael Schwalbe is associate professor of sociology at North
Carolina State University. He teaches courses on gender and social
inequality. He can be reached at MLSchwalbe@...
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