Recently, I found the article "Shooting At Fort Myers Nightclub Kills 2, Injures More Than A Dozen" on NPR and it made me really think.
This summer I am studying in China for 6 weeks, I spent three week in Xi'an Province and now I in the Guangzhou Province. As a political science major, I have a western view of communism so I had some preconceived notions about the Chinese people and society. What I have to acknowledge is that in any capitalist society there is wealth but there is also always poverty and corruption.
My stay in China has not blinded me to the recent gun violence in the United States. US Citizens' 2nd Amendment rights dates back to the colonial period. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is one of the largest and most powerful US public interest group. The NRA educated Americans about gun control and use but firmly promotes the Constitutional right to bear arms.
The civil rights and liberties safeguarded by a democratic system of government are important aspects for human dignity because it afford ample political participation and individual will. Citizens have the choice to support personal interests and to abstain; such as possession of firearms.
These freedoms are about guaranteed in communists societies. In China citizens are not allowed to personal weapons, only the government and government forces. How can I reconcile the absence of this liberty and many others?
The mass media has spread the atrocities of the "Tianamen Square massacre" which shed light on the government censorship as well as the limited to no civil participation. In 1989, hundreds of Chinese students were killed by government troops in Tianamen Square, Beijing because of their protests in opposition of the government administration and policy. So, while many Americans neglect the opportunity to engage in civil discourse whether due to apathy or the lack of knowledge nor financial resources, the Chinese "fight" for a opportunities to protest, for free speech. The circumstances and events of this article follow that a civilian opened fire at Club Blu Bar and Grill, restaurant and bar during a night club party in Fort Myers, Florida. Not to mention that this shooting followed a month after a shooting at an Orlando night club which killed 49 people. Does the same homicide occur among Chinese citizens in such a multitude as in the United States?
Who is to say that the latter of communist government is inferior to a democracy? Our western view dictate the abundance of many freedoms for a civil society yet there is a huge distrust of government even with the political processes provided to constituent. These include the justice system as well as the legislative process to rebuke or reform policies.
It seems that these two systems may cross paths in the attributes of human socioeconomic wellbeing but the former, a democracy, remains the safest government system because it provides leeward for civil engagement and politics. Even if China's policy(s) prohibits Chinese citizens from owning firearms so there is no gun violence. Even my Chinese classmate asserts, in China we don't have that so it is much safer."
Foremost, I have arrived at the essential question. In light of proliferating gun violence in the US, it seems foolish to protect the right to bear arms while many Americans perish. Even so, the NRA persists that the right to own firearms dates back to the colonial period when "the British State" imposed policy's apart from colonial representation. During the revolutions personal possession of firearms were a pivotal mode of protection for civilians from British Invasion.
Why does a democracy trump communism?
