[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

And somewhere down this rabbit hole is the nature vs nurture debate.

I find it interesting that America, as it is currently constructed, is one of (if not the) last nations organized of a new people. Of course the Native Americans were here for centuries, if not millennia, but the settlers who came from Europe were by nature a "different breed" who literally risked everything getting into a boat and heading to the great unknown in search of a better life. That takes a special make up. Not all have it. Thats neither good nor bad, just notably different. Then you have westward expansion and the law of the gun culture. Its undeniable that those willing to be aggressive survived far better than those who were not. It was Darwinism at play in the human game. The result is that those that survived were an aggressive breed of a select daring sub sample.

I'm not excusing the behavior or absolving the responsibility for the actions. But its a thought thats always intrigued me.

That sort of ignores that Canada has a very similar history, has a harsher climate and geography, but nowhere near as aggressive a culture (guns or otherwise).