Bowling for Columbine and American Violence - Essay Example

But according to Moore, this fear began since the first pilgrims arrived to inhabit this new continent. "The Pilgrims came to America because they were afraid of being persecuted'. Then what happened They encounter the Indians and are afraid of them, so they kill them; then they start becoming afraid of each other and start seeing witches and burn them; then they win the revolution, but they're afraid the British are going to come back. So someone writes the second amendment that says 'Let's keep our guns because the Brits could come back'" Fear of others and the facility of access to guns can only result in violence like the Columbine episode.

At the beginning of the documentary, Moore shows he can receive a free gun by opening a bank account. Later on, he discloses that the bullets used to kill 12 students and a teacher at the Columbine high school in Littleton, Colorado, were bought for 17 cents each from a Wal-Mart supermarket. This combination of fear and the accessibility of guns make it ideal for tragic events like Columbine and Flint to happen. Moore confronts the vice president of the National Rifle Association, Charlton Heston, and asks him: "why do so many Americans kill each other with guns and why do so many of them feel they need to be armed Heston replies: "We have a history of violence,", "perhaps more than most other countries".

But what Moore shows is that our foreign policy has been based on fear of outsiders, and that our actions have caused more violence than what it officially meant to prevent. In one of the most dramatic segments of the film, Moore lists a series of violent crimes committed or induced by the hands of the United States, while he plays the contrasting song "What a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong. The Vietnam war, the military coup in Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, giving weapons to Iran, training Osama Bin Laden; these are just some of the events that Moore mentions.

Violence rules in our country, not only because it is an easy form of control, but because our economic and politic policies depend on it.Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two boys responsible for the Columbine massacre were probably two scared, insecure, isolated teenagers, who decided to draw some desperate attention to their lives; unfortunately their rage found weapons as the medium to make their statement. In the same way, President Bush decided to make his statement in Iraq, not in the least diplomatic way, but by directly attacking this country.

What is even more outrageous is that a big part of the country supported this decision. Why Because it is a natural response of a human being who is afraid to seek for protection, and many people thought that the government's policies would keep us protected from external attacks.But, what about our internal problems Real problems like poverty, racism, obesity, etc. are left behind because the government is too busy planning a war, and the reconstruction of the cities the U.S. has destroyed.Some of the critics of Bowling for Columbine argue that he manipulates the truth, or that he even lies in his documentary.

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