Papers by Peter Alexander Meyers
This paper is a radically truncated version of a longer paper, of which yet a third version will ... more This paper is a radically truncated version of a longer paper, of which yet a third version will be published as chapter 10 in my book The Position of the Citizen After September 11 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, forthcoming in 2003
Let's not kid ourselves. Serious gun laws are not going to be passed. If passed, they will be eas... more Let's not kid ourselves. Serious gun laws are not going to be passed. If passed, they will be easily evaded. Legislating the use of guns is like raising the debt limit: it can help a little, but not for long. For a sustainable solution a different sort of discussion will be needed. The Trump regime will make this more difficult-if that is possible-but the energetic disgust and anger kindled by Las Vegas can help move us in a new direction. The starting point is obvious. Gun use and abuse in America today have taken centuries to develop. The rates of gun violence have varied over time. Although traditions of gun culture may once have had internal checks and balances, these are clearly failing today. A self-protective, one might even say ethical, resistance to guns has been severely undermined. The reason is large but clear. The most important instrument we have for formulating and controlling everyday action-our imagination-has been off-loaded to screens and boxes with industrial abandon. This is the underpinning of our cinematic culture and it sustains the abuse of guns. Although the saying "guns don't kill people, people kill people" sounds clownish even to those who believe it, we can turn the National Rifle Association's rationalizations for gun fetishism into a basis for serious public reflection. Wayne LaPierre-like many delusional conspiracy theorists-appears half right. The relation between guns and their shooters is a complicated terrain. It is especially difficult to survey it from the point of view of the citizen.
Will the Euro, and Europe, survive? In one predominant scenario the answer hinges on Greece. The ... more Will the Euro, and Europe, survive? In one predominant scenario the answer hinges on Greece. The image of a Europe without Greece is being sharply tuned to produce worldwide anxieties. What actually happens in the coming years, however, may depend on which of the key actors are able to abandon this view. We normally think of fear as a problem. In politics, however, as anxiety shapes beliefs and motivates actions, it presents opportunities. That is why opinion-makers have correctly identified the possibility of a Greek exit as a source of power. It seems like the ultimate threat and bargaining chip.
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Papers by Peter Alexander Meyers