Gun Culture And Wellness Culture Come From The Same Place

The Lede from Alan Levinovitz at Huffpo no less.

Fear. Suspicion of established authority. A feeling of intense disempowerment. People turn to guns for the comforts that others get from oils and energy crystals.

Alan Levinovitz On Assignment For HuffPost

Gun culture and wellness culture may seem like they have as much in common as an AR-15 and essential oil. But don’t let superficial differences between Gwyneth Paltrow and Wayne LaPierre fool you. Members of their respective communities are actually seeking the same kind of existential comfort: safety and security in a fallen, dangerous world, where the only person you can really count on is yourself. Whether it’s wielding a weapon to protect your family against home invaders or taking natural supplements to protect your body against invasive toxins, the allure of the fantasy is identical — and it explains the profound appeal of both when empirical evidence doesn’t.
I’ve spent the last four years studying how people end up believing in a range of medical pseudoscience, including reversing cancer with a raw vegan diet and avoiding vaccines in favor of homeopathic medicine. They are united by a set of shared concerns, all built around grains of truth: frustration with arrogant and uncaring doctors, suspicion of corrupt government scientists and a heightened sense of environmental risks. Their discontents metastasize rapidly, eventually causing severe emotional pain that demands to be addressed. This process is often catalyzed by tragedy — a devastating medical diagnosis in oneself or a loved one — and the realization that standard approaches can’t guarantee a solution. As a consequence, the afflicted immerse themselves in personal narratives of redemption outside mainstream medicine, which come paired with reassuringly detailed instructions on how to defend yourself against suffering when the authorities can’t, or won’t, help....