Why do YOU think Americans kill each other so much?
To be honest, I really don't know. Entertainment is part of it - but the media is a reflection of the American psyche, not a producer of it. Racism is part of it - but it tends to be an outward expression of existing anger (it's an excuse.) Bluntly, I don't want to be unarmed in the same town populated by my countrymen. We're almost Klingon... If you lived in America, you might consider purchasing a firearm... it's just how it is. Of course, lots of us don't. It isn't exactly Baghdad. It certainly isn't Tokyo. What is it? (It's a country where the blacks in the South were banned from owning firearms for a long period of time... for a very simple and horrible reason - it made it easier for the KKK to do their thing. (A concrete example of gun control being used to kill people.)
There are many different attitudes, of course. I'm not even speaking generally for all Americans. I'm speaking for my kind. I'm a bit more literate and educated than most; but I find myself in agreement with a certain brand of American more often than not... At least I know I'm not alone.
Our comedies are based on anger, almost exclusively revolving around sarcasm. Our tragedies tend to fixate on violent revenge or explosive endings. Our horror films are based on helplessness in the face of violent predators. Our heroes are immune to pain. Our heroes are the gunslingers; not the pacifists. This is not a cause of the attitude, it is a reflection of it.
Could it be our lower class pedigrees - the mutts of Europe, Africa and elsewhere? Flouridated water? Drawstring garbage bags? Ketchup in packets versus bottles? The threat of nuclear annihilation? Being blamed for everything that is wrong in the world? Most of our ancestors came here to escape being criminals in Europe (Even ye olde Puritans, whose dark obsessions with witchcraft invoke that spectre of the public hanging). But Australia was populated with the worst convicts - and they aren't as violently obsessed as we are. Maybe we have dark memories, Jungian archetypes, of the aristocratic oppressor lording it over us and our families, leaving us with the horrible rage of the traumatized abuse victim lashing out, over and over again.
We are obsessed with the "can do". This often leads to ideas or attempts that seem grandiose to others. Moon landings... (Mars?) Wars. Always wars. Injun hunting.
We are often a cruel people. We have little sympathy for the failures of others. Mercy is not something we are fond of. Weakness should be overcome; our papers are full of stories of handicapped ones who "overcome" their disabilities. We aren't extremely interested in coddling those who choose to wallow in their weaknesses. There is a national contempt for all those who show weakness in the face of oppression. That's why we can't imagine backing down. Why Kerry is a traitor for what he said when he came back from the war.
I have noticed that we ignore that which we disagree with. Nonresponse generally means disagreement, not tacit agreement as in other countries (I think???).
Tend to be religious fanatics? I don't know what your definition of fanatic is - please elaborate. Most folks I know don't really believe in anything much. We tend to look down on and mock those who speak of Jesus as if he was in the room. But on the other hand, we all pray... shrug... and we generally don't trust somebody who refuses to believe in ANYTHING higher than themselves.
We were founded by a bunch of slaveowners who were obsessed with the Roman Republic. Maybe we have some of that 2000 year old karma lingering around us. Hubris. Nimrod loving Masons finally got to create their own nation and wow! It's proud, violent, pragmatic and grandiose....
And I love the place. It's like being high on speed or something.
CZAR