Just the facts...

[sleigh]

The following graph is from the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).  It shows, from 1960 to 2010, the number of deaths per 100,000 people due to assault.  The difference between the USA and all other OECD countries (the Austria, Astralia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Finalnd, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, S. Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK) is both compelling and striking. 

The graph says to me that we are an appallingly violent country. Why is that?  I don't claim to know, but I'd be interested in your thoughts.

ETA: It should go without saying, but:  well-reasoned, polite discussion here is fine.  Disagreement is fine as long as it remains polite.  Name-calling, profanity, bigotry, and general asshole-ry are not.  I will delete comments I deem unfit -- though I'll be away for a few hours.  Play nice!

Comments

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

I'm going to guess that this graphic is what is messing up my Friends page - would you/could you be kind enough to put it behind an lj-cut?

As far as your question, it's not a new question, and I'm unaware of anyone providing a plausible explanation about why the US is such a violent place.

I've heard the theory that the sharp drop from circa 1980 on does seem to be associated with the removal of lead from gasoline...

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Oops -- I put the graphic behind a cut -- hope that fixes things. Otherwise, I'll cut it down in side...

No, I don't know of a plausible explanation either. I can make several hypotheses, but proof... [shrugs] Removal of lead from gas isn't one I'd had, I must admit. :-)

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

B. will be able to come up with the article about why violence and danger are good for society. It had to do with prisons....

K.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

It's only tangentially related -- it talks about the relative reduction in the crime rate in the U.S. over the recent decades -- but it's very interesting and provocative (http://nplusonemag.com/raise-the-crime-rate).

B

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Digby writes (http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-real-crime-is-talking-about-causes.html) about the politics of making this argument. There's also this (http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/unconscionable-and-unacceptable-by.html).

B

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

The book Freakonomics makes the argument that legalized abortion accounts for most of the reduction in the crime rate. This conclusion has been debated by others.

B

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

It's certainly an interesting indictment of the prison system...

But even though, yes, there's a distinct downward trend to the "deaths by assault graph in the US since the 1980s, our death rate is still double or more that of the other nations on the graph.

The Digby article places the blame on the availability of guns, and I that's certainly one hypothesis I would have, but proving dirt cause-and-effect is difficult. Social dynamics are complex, not simple. I doubt there's any one single reasons, but several factors, all of which contribute.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Speaking guns, Jadon Alexander has an long take on that: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/if2nht