It's so hard to tell with early Manics when they're being sincere, when they're being sarcastic, and when they're just saying something controversial for the sake of being controversial. That said the gun control element of this song doesn't seem sincere to me, and Finland's quote seems to back that up.
As for the anti-American sentiment of the song, I think that while it's criticising America, I think it's also criticising both Americans who believe that their country is the only one to suffer the problems discussed (i.e., the song is saying that the USA's problems are no more important than anyone else's, despite what Americans might like to think) and Britons who hold up America as an example of All That Is Wrong without being willing to address the similar issues we have over here.
It's so hard to tell with early Manics when they're being sincere, when they're being sarcastic, and when they're just saying something controversial for the sake of being controversial. That said the gun control element of this song doesn't seem sincere to me, and Finland's quote seems to back that up.
As for the anti-American sentiment of the song, I think that while it's criticising America, I think it's also criticising both Americans who believe that their country is the only one to suffer the problems discussed (i.e., the song is saying that the USA's problems are no more important than anyone else's, despite what Americans might like to think) and Britons who hold up America as an example of All That Is Wrong without being willing to address the similar issues we have over here.