Congress and America's Trickle Down Culture of Fear and Suspicion

It's saddening as an American to watch the events in Dallas from overseas. I spend most summers in Japan, where the type of violence that Americans take for granted is unimaginable. My friends here look in horror and amazement at what transpires in the U.S. and constantly ask what's wrong with my country. It's a difficult question to answer when asked by people who live in a society largely without these problems.

You don't experience mass shootings or really much crime of any kind in Japan. Murders, thefts, and other crimes do happen and occasionally someone goes after a group of people with a knife, but an event like Dallas or Orlando or Sandy Hook is improbable in Japan. Part of the reason is that ordinary people can't get weapons like AK-47s or even handguns, although they can own hunting rifles. The result of this is that there is never any reason to fear a mass shooting--or any kind of shooting--in Japan.

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