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On Balance | Mass shootings now define American exceptionalism
- Congress has failed to pass laws to curtail access to the kind of weapons used in mass shootings
- US politicians are too distracted by culture wars to address problems such as climate change and global food shortages that will kill far more people
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American exceptionalism has been on full display in the past few weeks owing to an uptick in mass murders committed with assault weapons.
This national pastime – now arguably more ingrained in the country’s culture than baseball and July 4 barbecues – is so horrifically compelling not only for the way it tends to target schoolchildren and racial minorities, but also for the pathetic political battles that ensue, prolonging the spectacle and giving the country’s critics much to roll their eyes at.
It should be no surprise that the Chinese government has tapped this vein, given the condemnation it faces for any number of its hard-line domestic policies, including mass incarceration of Uygurs and other religious minorities in Xinjiang for vocational training or cultural genocide, depending on whose version you believe.
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“The gunshots shattered the American dream that all men are endowed with the unalienable rights to life and liberty, and lead people to reflect on the US-style human rights,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing in April, in response to a reporter’s question about the spate of mass murders in the US.
“Do US-style human rights mean everyone has the right to pull out a gun and fire at others at will?” he asked. “Are arbitrary killings that plunge the people into horror and despair also part of the US-style human rights?”
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Obviously, the answer is yes. If not, the US Congress would pass a law to curtail access to assault weapons.
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