A comment on a Facebook post I read:
“People just need to stop crapping their pants and running for the gun shop every time something bad happens and start thinking about why it happens here more than in any other first world country.”

It is certainly something endemic to North American society.

1 possibility…

Perhaps because “dog eat dog” is a mantra that too many follow? A cornerstone of America’s social contract is “The American Dream” – that anybody, no matter the social strata from which they originated, can become prosperous in whatever form is meaningful to them. And that places an exorbitant amount of emphasis on the results of being an individual in society (Prosperity!) rather than than process of simply being an individual in society (Community!).

It’s a carrot at the end of a stick that every American and immigrant to America is aware of. And it places individuals in direct competition with each other within society itself – for power, for money, for prestige, for attention. It creates winners; but you can’t have winners without losers.

The American Dream is merely a game show, and there are no parting gifts.