Thread by @mariliacout

1) "It could have been worse" means "why are you making such a fuss over a few deaths?"

First, repeated demonstration of lack of empathy. Second, deflection.

rawstory.com/2019/09/it-cou…

2) Unfortunately, I've read that from people I respect. Let me explain something: mass shootings are a completely different social (and psycho-social) phenomenon than the ones shown on public statistics of daily gun deaths.

3) The variables more strongly associated with gun deaths in public statistics are "black", "male" and "young". If we break down the mass of gun deaths by multivariate analysis we will see clusters.

4) There is, for example, a cluster of deaths described by "suicide", "male", "white".

5) Mass shootings are statistically negligible in the mass of gun deaths. They are, however, extremely important as a specific social phenomenon.

6) Nobody would consider defunding the BAU, for example. Yet, serial killer-caused deaths are statistically irrelevant.

7) So while mass shootings do not represent a significant quantitative contribution to the gun-death burden in the USA, they are very important and highly correlated with white supremacy and misogyny, for example.

8) Indeed, the fascist in chief is correct: everything can be worse. Much worse. The far-right cabal may (although now the probability is still low) cause a violent state of ungovernability.

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