Written by Walter Hecht   

What is the root cause of violence in America? From Ferguson to Baltimore to Waco, Texas, why is the US such a violent place to live? Some blame guns which are certainly a factor as a force multiplier. Others blame the decline in church attendance, but countries in Europe have lower rates of church attendance and are much less violent. Is the violent content of movies and video games the source of our society's violence? Not the source, but a contributing factor in my opinion. No, the source of America's violence is the free-market capitalism economic system, so-called by its supporters. I label it cut-throat capitalism. As long as we value each other only or primarily by earnings or how much each of us contributes to profit will violence in our society continue and grow. To reduce violence, we must love each other and value each other as human beings, not as cogs in a machine, to be discarded when worn out and our useful economic lives are over.