The US is really 11 different nations.

My dear international friends,

Long have I labored (at least once or twice) to explain:

- US elections ("Yes, well we have to vote along party lines for the least objectionable candidate because splitting the party vote results in getting someone Very objectionable.")

- the death penalty ("but we don't even have a death penalty in my region! Yes, well, that's Texas for you.")

- gun control ("But it depends on where you live; in New York City, I think they've outlawed water pistols.")

- religious freedom ("Yes, supposedly we have a separation between church and state, but some areas just don't vote that way. Where my friend Andrea lives, she was told she shouldn't even have Buddhists praying for her.")

Now, Tufts University has managed, in one brief gun control article, to do the impossible.

They've EXPLAINED America.

http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/fall2013/features/up-in-arms.html



The country was settled in waves by very different groups of people. With different political philosophies and cultural attitudes.

If you like, you can consider that America has multiple personality disorder. First, check which America you're speaking to.