Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Violence Begets Violence

This ought to be obvious, but apparently many people have difficulty understanding that when you (or your country) hurt people, it tends to make them want to hurt you back.  Violence gets into a community and eats away at the social glue and everyone's sanity.  This article explains how violence generates more violence, and the "war on terror" fuels terrorism.  As the old saying goes, fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.  It does not make you safe, even if powerful people claim it does.

If you want peace, you must practice it, even if you're not very good at first.  If you want other people to be peaceful, you must teach the skills of peace.  You must uphold and promote the values of peace.  Yes, this may require more effort than hurting people, but the rewards are usually greater also. 
Tags: community, news, politics, safety
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  • 5 comments
raindrops

raindrops

July 13 2010, 22:39:26 UTC 10 years ago

A short philosophical statement which still speaks to the science of what they are saying: Peace is not the absence of War, it is the presence of Justice.

Concurrent with that, violence *does* have a place in a peaceful and just world. The unjust are rarely inclined to give themselves over to the carriage of justice, and the violence they would use to escape accountability must be countered.

Actual Justice, and therefore Peace, on this rock that we call home would require - among other things - the dismantling of most corporations, redistribution of wealth and resource rights, and actual accountability of government at every level.

All of those things require at least the capacity to use violence where necessary when the unjust who wish to preserve their privilege resist with violence.

Even if no one were fighting anywhere on the planet, it would not be a peaceful planet until Justice for all became reality.
drewkitty

drewkitty

July 14 2010, 01:40:22 UTC 10 years ago

"The unjust are rarely inclined to give themselves over to the carriage of justice, and the violence they would use to escape accountability must be countered."

This is precisely what the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is for.

Precisely.

I am not convinced that chasing after Perfect Justice will bring about Peace. I'll settle for working justice that people moan and whine and argue about, but feel no need to riot over.
ysabetwordsmith

Hmm...

ysabetwordsmith

July 14 2010, 01:49:45 UTC 10 years ago

>> A short philosophical statement which still speaks to the science of what they are saying: Peace is not the absence of War, it is the presence of Justice.<<

I think that peace is a set of skills and a positive, cooperative social atmosphere. Justice is an important part of that, but not all of it.

>> Concurrent with that, violence *does* have a place in a peaceful and just world. The unjust are rarely inclined to give themselves over to the carriage of justice, and the violence they would use to escape accountability must be countered.<<

There are other ways to counter violence than more violence. They're just harder to use. Aikido is an excellent example of a nonviolent response to violence: it allows the aikidoka to neutralize the threat without anyone getting hurt. And a really talented aikidoka can defuse the conflict before it devolves to a physical level.

>> Actual Justice, and therefore Peace, on this rock that we call home would require - among other things - the dismantling of most corporations, redistribution of wealth and resource rights, and actual accountability of government at every level.<<

I suspect that's true.

>> All of those things require at least the capacity to use violence where necessary when the unjust who wish to preserve their privilege resist with violence.<<

I'm not convinced of this. We've tried fighting for peace. It doesn't actually produce peace. Which is not to say I'm a pacifist; I'm not. I'm just aware that violence is a choice, which leads to certain ends, and there are other options. You just can't see some of them if you're standing on a battleground.
raindrops

Re: Hmm...

raindrops

July 14 2010, 03:28:39 UTC 10 years ago

>>There are other ways to counter violence than more violence. They're just harder to use. Aikido is an excellent example of a nonviolent response to violence: it allows the aikidoka to neutralize the threat without anyone getting hurt. And a really talented aikidoka can defuse the conflict before it devolves to a physical level.<<

We apparently have different definitions of violence. Once the aikidoka neutralizes the threat, s/he then must maintain the hold upon the aggressor until such time as the aggressor is no longer a threat. This is a transaction of violence, no matter who instigated it and no matter who neutralizes the aggression.

>>I'm not convinced of this. We've tried fighting for peace. It doesn't actually produce peace. Which is not to say I'm a pacifist; I'm not. I'm just aware that violence is a choice, which leads to certain ends, and there are other options. You just can't see some of them if you're standing on a battleground.<<

The major problem with that is that this rock *is* the battleground - and the prize. We're all standing on it.

MLK and Gandhi achieved tremendous things with the combination of non-violence and media coverage. Non-violent resistance *without* modern media would have been summarily crushed, and ended up as historical footnotes. By modern media, I mean the contemporary media of their times.

The contemporary media of our time is controlled by immortal, amoral corporations which have extremely vested interests in the continuation of eye for an eye for an eye conflict "resolution."

Also, try using Hiji-Jime on General Dynamics, see how long that keeps them down.
raindrops

raindrops

July 13 2010, 22:44:55 UTC 10 years ago

And I left out part of what I meant to say. The article concludes:

The antidote to this virulent problem is a better understanding of the truth of what wars and other forms of mass violence are really about.

Read this to get an idea of why that really isn't true: How facts backfire.