This isn’t anything new. It’s the thing no one wants to talk about but it’s one of the factors which makes the so-called American exceptionalism a big negative. Follow the money. The second amendment is very simple. It permits people to arm as part of a well-regulated militia. It doesn’t allow everyone to carry a gun everywhere. Almost everything that we can’t fix in this nation can be attributed to the bribery called lobbying.. Our gun violence can’t be fixed because of lobby money. Big Pharma has for years prevented medicare from negotiating prices which results in US drug prices being the highest in the world. Climate control necessary to save our lives is prevented primarily by the fossil fuel industry. The planet will survive. It’s billions of years older than we are. It’s we the inhabitants that won’t survive. Back in the Eisenhower administration we built the interstate highway system ignoring public transportation. Anyone who spends any time in Europe knows what public transportation should be. Our train system in garbage. And I’m not referring to the crashes. Moving around by train in the US is a disgrace. Why did it happen? Follow the money. The teamster union, together with the auto industry and the fuel producers pushed for roads, not trains. Recently, I experienced a miserable flight to Europe on a United Airlines flight. I researched it and found out that 4 or 5 inches have been cut from the space between rows so that more passengers can fit in the plane. Money again. How come the Department of Transportation hasn’t done anything about it. I’m sure if it tries there will be legislation to stop it. At one time, I assumed the supreme court would save us. But they are a big part of the problem, as venal as any corrupt legislator.
I could go on but US industry which is stronger and more influential that ever in our history is killing us. The business model of most of our industry is profit over or to the exclusion of everything. And any attempt to stop it is fought with money via lobby corruption. It’s no joke and it’s getting worse as the discrepancy between rich and poor gets worse.