Frederico Miguel
Block: 4
Winter Break Enlightenment
During
2014’s Winter break I traveled to the U.S. with my family and friends. I have
previously been in the country before, but this was the first time I went to
one of the most beautiful and well-managed states in the American nation. Texas
is for sure the best state I have visited so far. One of the great things about
this state is the amount of freedom citizens have and how they behave even
without many strict laws. One thing that intrigued me was that people could
carry as many firearms they want to protect their self and property. For
example, if someone tries to steal your car, you may shoot him or her. Indeed
this might not seem as a great solution for some people but it is obvious that
the thief will feel reluctant to try anything if they know they might be killed
in the process.
Since many
people still hunt in Texas, many of the firearms are strictly used to practice
this sport. Therefore, children are taught and educated so they can have a gun
in the future. This process create a schema where people are familiar with
firearms and know the dangers one can make to a living been.
What really
bothered me throughout my vacation was that I could not see the same system
been implemented here in Brazil. Personally, I see in the newspaper a lot of
thieves and “favela” leaders with all the firearms and the citizens are in the
hands of an unprepared police. This is why the violence in this country is
growing. We could be doing something if only our culture and laws were
different. Less than 1% of the Brazilian population knows and carries firearms
according to the military. In Texas, this number jumps to 35.9% according to
the Washington Post. Here in São Paulo, the Newspaper Folha said that every 35
hours a person is kidnapped. Why doesn’t that happen in Texas? The reason might
be on the education each individual receive and their means of protection. Even
though one might say that guns increase the amount of violence, I say that guns
don’t kill people, but people do.
First of all, i want to start with a question. Is it actually legal to shoot someone in Texas after they steal your car? Obviously, you can do that, you have the ability to do that, but don't you think that there would be legal repercussions?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on your idea of a gun schema in Texas. Using and knowing how to use guns seems to have become part of Texan culture, and the fact that everyone knows about guns and how to use them safely and properly is probably the reason that Texas can be as safe as it is while still having a huge percent of its population be gun owners.
As to your final comment about how people kill people, not guns, i agree 100%. I believe that if you were to give 35% of the people in any other state, one that is not used to having guns, in the US guns, then the amount of deaths there would increase. This would happen because that state does not have the same gun schema as Texas. To Texans, guns are tools, but to others, they are weapons.
Juan, responding to your question above: "Yes, an 1868 Cattle Ranchers Law in Texas which still is in effect to date states you can shoot anyone that trespasses onto your property can be shot because they deem harm to you and your livelihood." "It is also important to note that Texas enjoys one of the LOWEST violent Crime Rates even in it's major metropolitan areas and almost a non-existent petty crime rate vs other states in the Nation." WikiAnswers.com
DeleteFor what I read about the topic, this article published on Wiki Answers seem pretty reliable due to their numerous sources from governmental institutions.
Fred, while I'm glad that you're engaging in comparison and constructive thought about your country, other countries, and the relative value of different systems, you've committed several errors in reasoning. Don't worry. That's why you're in this class, so you can examine where solid ideas come from and to try to create them yourself. So, here are a couple of the mistakes you committed:
ReplyDelete1) overgeneralizing: you have taken a few personal experiences and tried to generalize from them. You got a little taste Texas, not a big drink, so it's dangerous to make big claims from the little bit you've got.
2) cause and correlation. This is a biggee. It would be impossible for you at this state to attribute Texas' crime rate to citizens' familiarity with guns. You are actually claiming to know that because citizens' have guns, there is a low crime rate. Only the most highly trained sociologists would go after this one, and even then there would be no way to create cause with all of the variables in the system. The best you could hope for is to prove a correlation, meaning that there is some relationship between gun ownership and crime. Even that would take years of data crunching to sort out.
I know it's tempting to use the data you've gathered, personally and on websites, to suggest either a cause or a correlation, but you just can't. So don't try. Instead, approach this from a ToK perspective. Don't feel like you have to make a claim and then support it. Instead, examine what the sources of your knowledge are telling you and how much you can rely on them. Remember the 3 s's. That would be a great way to approach this.
Feel free to rewrite this from a ToK perspective, one that carefully examines any relationships that might exist and questions the source, self, and statement. Use the truth tests.