Review of "The Wild Bunch: Gods, Guns & Gangs" by John H. Sibley

Author John Sibley lives on the Southside of Chicago, where the Black Disciples street gang was formed in 1958, in response to other violent gangs in the area.

Black Disciples street gang

Lawlessness is still common in Chicago's west and south sides, as evidenced by the constant crackle of gunfire at night, and the shootings that take the lives of both adults and children.


Family members of a shooting victim console each other outside Chicago's Stroger hospital


Police investigate the scene of a shooting in Chicago on July 4, 2020

Gang violence in America is not limited to rough neighborhoods, however. This is demonstrated by the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn Joe Biden's election.




Insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021

Sibley notes that The Black Disciples worship Satan while the January 6 insurrectionists are radical Christian Nationalists, as shown by their banners, flags, crosses, signs, t-shirts, and prayers. On both sides, the militant groups take inspiration from their view of God.


The insurrectionists are radical Christian Nationalists

Is violence an intrinsic characteristic of human beings? The author suggests that it well may be, as seen in brutal films like Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969), Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and James Samuel's The Harder They Fall (2021).




Scenes from The Wild Bunch




Scenes from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood




Scenes from The Harder They Fall

For macho viewers, these motion pictures hark back to "the good old days" when "men were men." Movies like these make Sibley think of Dylann Roof killing black churchgoers and the deaths of Michael Brown and George Floyd - the kinds of crimes that are currently tearing the country apart.


Dylann Roof shot nine members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina

Sibley was particularly struck by Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, which was inspired, in part, by the bloodshed Peckinpah saw when his Marine Corp battalion was stationed in China after WWII. The battles between the Maoists and the Kuomintang, and the devaluation of Chinese life, profoundly affected the future director. The Wild Bunch also reflects the horrors of the Vietnam War and presages civilian use of assault rifles for mass murder. The author observes that the film "shows us the reality of violence as an unholy but unavoidable truth."


Chinese Kuomintang forces fire on Communist Army forces


My Lai Massacre in Vietnam (1968)

Sibley compares Peckinpah - who changed the way we view violence - to artists like Goya and Picasso, musicians like John Coltrane and Miles Davis, and boxer Muhammed Ali, all of whom "touched our humanity with their vision, sound, or word."


Fight With Cudgels by Francisco Goya

Sibley goes on to analyze violence from a spiritual point of view, noting the Elizabethan belief that, when God wants to punish humanity, he chooses the worst people - like scourgers and sinners - to carry out the task. For believers, this could explain the shooters who carried out the mass killings at Columbine High School (1999), Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012), Pulse Night Club (2016), Parkland High School (2018), and other places. The perpetrators, whatever their reasons, are almost always young men, who Sibley views as "the most dangerous people on the planet."


Eric Harris (left) and Dylan Klebold perpetrated a massacre at Columbine High School


Omar Mateen carried out a mass shooting at Pulse Night Club

The author notes that America has a preoccupation with violence that can be found in music, movies, television, and video games. Sibley further posits that this tendency may be rooted in epigenetics - the phenomenon of behavior and environment influencing the way genes are expressed. Sibley suggests the characters in Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch did not have a genetic predisposition for violence, but became brutal because of environmental determinants.


Video games demonstrate America's preoccupation with violence

Violence isn't the only problem facing humanity today. The author cites social theorist Jacques Attali, who believes our future is also jeopardized by climate change; increasing obesity; the use of drugs; scarcity of food, water, and oil; financial crises; damaging technologies; waves of immigrants; the moral bankruptcy of the wealthiest; and other factors.



In Sibley's opinion, climate change in particular should be seen as "a civilization wake-up call." The author thinks we must change everything about our economy to avoid climate disaster, which means reining in the greedy minority and redistributing wealth.

The narrative is insightful and provides much food for thought. Does the human propensity for violence, greed, racism, xenophobia, etc. doom our future? Can we better ourselves? That remains to be seen.

Thanks to John Sibley for a copy of the book.

Rating: 4 stars