TEHRAN – Noting that Joe Biden has created chaos inside the U.S. in his early months of presidency, an American writer says that the U.S. administration is sparking political tensions around the world. 

"In mere months, the Biden Administration has unleashed mayhem in major American cities while stoking political and military tensions too many places worldwide," Charles Ortel tells the Tehran Times.

The American investor and writer interested in lasting peace adds that "unwise and irresponsible government spending initiatives, as well as punitive and likely ineffective tax proposals, are crushing the value of the U.S. dollar."

When it comes to homeland security, observers point to 14,400 gun-related homicides in 2019.

Killings involving a gun accounted for nearly three-quarters of all homicides in the U.S. in that year.

That's a larger proportion of homicides than in Canada, Australia, England and Wales, and many other countries.

Nowhere in the world is gun control more controversial than in the United States, where gun possession is constitutionally protected but where murders (including mass murders) committed with guns are extremely common; the United States has by far the highest homicide-by-firearm rate among developed countries. Proponents of increased gun control in the United States argue that limiting access to guns will save lives and reduce crime; opponents insist that it would actually do the opposite by preventing law-abiding citizens from defending themselves against armed criminals.

Ortel, an opponent to gun control, argues that "when it comes to statistics in the United States about violent crime (see FBI data, for example), a crime involving illegally owned guns is a concern, but crime (excluding suicides) involving legally owned guns is not significant."

Following is the text of the interview:

Q: People in the world cannot understand why Republicans in the U.S. are opposed to gun control while once in while, Americans face murder cases with guns. Is that a matter of financial links with gun lobbyists or cartels?

A: Across the world, crime is a constant. 

In America, we have a constitutionally protected right to "keep and bear arms". Going back into our history, this right was enshrined not merely to assist residents in protecting themselves from criminals but also as a check against absolutist tendencies of some public servants who may decide; instead, they are "rulers".

When it comes to statistics in the United States about violent crime (see FBI data, for example), a crime involving illegally owned guns is a concern, but crime (excluding suicides) involving legally owned guns is not significant.

Certainly, gun manufacturers profit from the sale of legal guns. But given movements to defund police forces and rising violent crime, rising demand for legal guns is natural and expected.

Q: What changes could Trump bring to the Republican party? Some observers say Trump is directing Republicans instead of following their principles. Can we describe Trump as a Republican, basically?

A: For decades, "country club" Republicans have worked hand-in-glove with many multinational companies to outsource jobs and incomes internationally. Some have also welcomed illegal immigration, thinking that presence of potential undocumented workers will put downward pressure upon wages.

One key element in Trump's thinking is that government policies should promote job and income growth inside our own vast market, which remains the largest in the world by far. This means simplifying supply chains inside the United States and not scattering these through chokepoints worldwide.

A second key element is to reduce our foreign military entanglements. After all, many key American allies are today rich nations and not challenged as they were in 1945.

A third key plank is to "drain the swamp" by reforming the ways in which tax-exempt entities shape narratives and trade cash for influence across vast swaths of the media, academia and the nonprofit sector.

Q: How do you assess Biden's performance in his first 100 days? Was he successful in bringing calm and stability back to the U.S. political scene?

A: In mere months, the Biden Administration has unleashed mayhem in major American cities while stoking political and military tensions in too many places worldwide.
Meanwhile, unwise and irresponsible government spending initiatives, as well as punitive and likely ineffective tax proposals, are crushing the value of the U.S. dollar.

Already, Jimmy Carter's woeful record over four years from 1977 to 1981 is starting to look good by comparison.

Q: Some observers say that America (as a society and government) tends to endorse discrimination inside and abroad. Do you think that America can lead the globe through discriminatory policies? 

A: Quite the opposite. In America, people of all backgrounds have abundant opportunities to follow their dreams. There are countless examples of poor people facing desperate challenges who rise in short periods of time to great success.
Outside our borders, American governments under each party have had mixed records, particularly since 1989. Here, we have done a poor job of promoting true national interests and have been too quick to embrace corrupt, unregulated, globalist institutions.

Q: What is your comment on American exceptionalism? Do Americans consider their country a part of the world that needs cooperation, or is there a kind of supremacist attitude among American politicians? It seems that Trump and most Republicans follow such a policy. 

A: The world might be much better off if we solved problems one person, then one family, one neighborhood, one city, one state, and one nation at a time, rather than rushing to try to solve "global" problems.

Looking at U.S. data, for example, Americans spent more money on "government" than all but a handful of nations generate annually on total economic activity.

All nations have important moments in history and the potential to contribute greatly to the human experience. However imperfect it may have been, the American governance model, enshrined in our Constitution, was positively exceptional. 
Could we and others do more? Of course.

The foundation for true success starts inside each of us, not at global Symposia or in slogan-slinging. To the project of self-improvement and renewal, may each of us soon return.