The staggering proliferation of guns in the US is but a symptom of this fear. It looks as though Americans are preparing to arm themselves against an imminent intruder. But from whom do we need protection? “Maybe from zombies,” Chomsky observes. “Whoever it is, we just have to have guns to protect ourselves. That’s not known elsewhere in the world. Maybe in, say, Syria, a country that’s warring you might find something like that. But in a country that’s not only at peace but has an unusual security and a great degree of freedom, that’s quite remarkable.” Perhaps, as Chomsky suggests, our American brand of paranoia is simply a luxury, almost a recreation, which we can indulge only because we have the time and means—the freedom—to do so.

As insurance against a crumbling dream, guns offer a fast and easy kind of consolation that plays very well with American thinking, i.e., that surely something in my life—some unseen advantage, some undiscovered asset—will deliver me from the lousy hand I’ve been dealt.