Michael Moore: Free College, Health Care, Generous Benefits Will Reduce Gun Violence
Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore has a new editorial [1] in the Hollywood Reporter. It argues that gun violence in America would be reduced if the government provided a generous social safety net and free college tuition.
Moore writes that other countries, such as Japan, whose citizens watch violent movies and play video games as much as Americans have much fewer gun deaths because their citizens are provided for by the government:
"Unlike in other civilized countries where people take care of each other — with free health care, generous compensation for the unemployed, free or nearly-free college education, strict laws on credit card debt and junk mortgages, serious help and treatment for the mentally ill, aid for aging and infirm people and the list goes on and on. From Ireland to Italy to Norway, from New Zealand to South Korea to Morocco, governments all over the world have discovered that the real way to reduce violence is to simply take care of each other."
Some other excerpts:
It's the fear of getting killed that is getting a lot of us killed. But it's also other fears that are winding us up and making a few of us go crazy enough to take off on a shooting rampage. Unlike in other civilized countries where people take care of each other — with free health care, generous compensation for the unemployed, free or nearly-free college education, strict laws on credit card debt and junk mortgages, serious help and treatment for the mentally ill, aid for aging and infirm people and the list goes on and on. From Ireland to Italy to Norway, from New Zealand to South Korea to Morocco, governments all over the world have discovered that the real way to reduce violence is to simply take care of each other.
What separates us from everyone else is the way we force the members of our society to live in a constant state of fear: fear of going broke, fear of losing your job, fear of getting sick, fear of getting old and being without. We know that there's no safety net for us here in the USA. We are the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" nation, the "you take care of yours and I'll take care of mine" and the "your problems are not my problems" society. Most of us find a way to cope with all of this. We suck it up and take the ulcer for the team. But then there are the few that can't. And with easy access to any kind of gun — and as much ammo as they want — they find a way to act out their frustration and aggression. Not because they saw Kill Bill. But because they live in the home of the brave. That is something we can change.
But first, it will require some of that "bravery."
Moore's new film, "Where to Invade Next," will be released February 12.
Source URL:
http://cnsnews.com/blog/mark-judge/michael-moore-free-college-health-care-generous-benefits-will-reduce-gun-violence 
