Guns vs. Corruption

As I type this blog post, I’ve got CNN on in the background and they are covering yet another mass shooting. This time it’s in Munich, Germany where guns are very tough to get. While Germany is still in shock and trying to comprehend with how to deal with the pain, for Americans it’s a daily affair. How did we get here? If you ask any die-hard card carrying National Rifle Association (NRA) member, it’s not guns that kill people but people kill people. That logically doesn’t even make sense. But, since the NRA is one of the most powerful lobbying groups inside the beltway, we are left with daily shootings.

While I was traveling in the US last month, many people would ask me questions about India since I’ve been living there for the last 11 years. Many would ask about the state of corruption since the new Modi administration has been in office for the past 2 years. Even before I could get a word out about corruption the same standard phrase would be blurted out “they really need to do something about corruption and lock up those politicians who take bribes.” I would explain to them the Modi administration is doing it’s best to try and curb corruption but there is only so much the government can do. I’d quickly change the topic to talk about gun violence in the US and why can’t the most powerful nation on Earth figure out a way to solve this mass shooting epidemic. Then they would remain silent and you could see the anguish on their face.

It’s so easy to say, they should ban guns, they should eliminate corruption but it’s not a simple process. Guns are so ingrained in the American ethos and part of the American Constitution. It will take a joint effort to restrict certain types of weapons and I’m not sure it will happen in my lifetime. While corruption is everywhere and more so in emerging markets like India, I’m not so sure you can easily wipe it out. You can curb it by using technology and transitioning to a cashless society but humans will be humans.

What is painful about the gun violence is that humans are dying and it seems there is no end in sight to the madness. At least with corruption, some politician might hit the jackpot and earn billions but people are not dying in the process. (Okay, the one caveat is that some of the Indian government programs to help the poor with getting their daily nutrition have been targeted by politicians. Which has led to some “leakage” in the programs.)