ive lived all over the world (minimum of two years each in south of france, japan, australia, korea), but spent the most amount of time in korea--korean is my first language--, and this claim by some of the users on this thread that japan (and here i omit switzerland, since i cannot speak for it, having little firsthand knowledge of it and its culture) is more 'developed,' i have to point out, is a logical fallacy. the cultures are just too different, intrinsically, to be making comparisons when discussing cause-effect gun ownership, etc.
instead of this concept of a nation being more 'developed,' (what does that even mean? are you referring to their economic status, the GDP?) i ask that you think about the pervasive culture in the different countries. one of the core beliefs instilled into children in korea and japan has to do with 'personality': a set of teachings designed for a young mind to learn about the self in the context of society, its ethics, morals, and really, becoming what it is to be 'human.' in fact, 'ethics,' 'social studies,' and 'morality' are mandatory subjects up until high school in the korean national curriculum, when thereafter students can choose one rather than take all of the humanities courses. i mention this because these are cultures that, in discouraging certain behaviour, have actually birthed a lonely-death phenomena: students under tremendous stress for various reasons, will take their own life, rather than hurt --or even notify--anyone else. korea and japan both have very high student suicide rates, and a lot of it is because it just doesn't occur to them to take anyone else's life with theirs. on a somewhat related note, divorce is still a societal taboo here, and couples stay together for the children, though figures for divorce are definitely on the up.
this, of course, does not mean there aren't incidents where there are murders. murders occur, most usually from flashes of passion/jealousy or problems with money, but it's just never been on such a grand scale or as often as in the US. and sadly, in these post globalisation times, even in korea and japan, freak murders seem to be happening with more frequency--which is interesting (in an academic sense), because the emphasis on traditional cement humanities taught in school has shifted to a mix & match curriculum catering to future Psys, Park seris, and Kim Yu-nas. in short, what used to be reigned in with societal conditioning, is now starting to be 'released' for the better or worse.
on the flip side, some of the users here blame poverty, and lack of education for these incidents. well, in the case of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, various news sources (including the NYT) made a point of reporting that Adam was a 'loner' Honors student, from a 'rich, affluent' home, in a 'rich' insulated neighborhood. one source even added that the boy's father--who was hinted to be separated-- is someone fairly high up working at GE.
yes, some people are sick--but they are clinically ill, and the American health system has severely failed them. talk of reforming gun laws is fine and dandy, but it won't really get anyone anywhere. worse, it's counterproductive. what's really dire is another look at the national health care, especially for the mentally ill, as well as better counseling and support for broken homes and their children, of whom more and more are falling through the cracks in the school systems, friendships, and the greater healthy society.
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