RandomPoster
Platinum Member
- May 22, 2017
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In 2017, 73 people were killed in the US in mass shootings. This amounts to about .00002% of the population. 3000 people are killed every year in the US from improperly handled food, mostly from restaurants and supermarkets. This amounts to about .0009% of the population. Alcohol related accidents kill far more innocent people than either. Even anti-vaxxers are likely killing more people than mass shooters.
If we improved safety standards on food processing and handling and managed to reduce the deaths by 1,500 a year, that would save more lives than preventing all mass shootings. However, even if we did and one deranged, racist working in a buffet in a predominantly minority community intentionally poisoned 50 people, it would draw more attention because of its dramatic nature. It would be perceived as a national crisis because it would be easier to sensationalize and tie into a narrative.
In 1980, the murder rate in the US was 9.8 per 100,000. In 2017, it was 5.3 per 100,000. That progress is overshadowed by the hysteria around a sporadic number of mass shootings. No one screams about the massive numbers of murders that occur on a more steady and less dramatic scale across the country because there is no boogeyman to scare the public with. It's mostly people killing members of their own race, gender, and often their own community for reasons that have nothing to do with politics.
If we improved safety standards on food processing and handling and managed to reduce the deaths by 1,500 a year, that would save more lives than preventing all mass shootings. However, even if we did and one deranged, racist working in a buffet in a predominantly minority community intentionally poisoned 50 people, it would draw more attention because of its dramatic nature. It would be perceived as a national crisis because it would be easier to sensationalize and tie into a narrative.
In 1980, the murder rate in the US was 9.8 per 100,000. In 2017, it was 5.3 per 100,000. That progress is overshadowed by the hysteria around a sporadic number of mass shootings. No one screams about the massive numbers of murders that occur on a more steady and less dramatic scale across the country because there is no boogeyman to scare the public with. It's mostly people killing members of their own race, gender, and often their own community for reasons that have nothing to do with politics.