Nevertheless, violence has solved many problems.The problem is that these acts of violence usually end with bloodshed and murder. All the people that die in wars are somebody's relative, mother, father, brother, sister, cousin etc. and someone loves them. This is what pains me about violence. I recently finished reading "In Cold Blood" which is a book about the murder of a family in Kansas in 1959. The 2 murderers were eventually hanged but throughout the book esp. the section on their last days, you come to see them as human beings...they have feelings and even though they may be insane, I do not agree that we should have killed them.
If we all abstained from violence and maybe tried some other forms of resolution, then we would not need to use naked force to protect ourselves. This seems unlikely ever to work out, but why? ... Why can't we try it? Maybe it's because it's in our blood? I don't know. Let's see - if the world had no violence, it would be great.
I do agree with some points Allison makes on this topic, particularly where she says that "violence equals power". People use violence to prove their strength and dominance over others. For example, with the American Indians and their extinction. In order to obtain the land, they killed the Indians. They considered themselves to be powerful and superior to this race. If you're a power-hungry person, I guess you would look at violence as the only method.
It all depends on which side you're on. Sometimes the peaceful people are forced to fight because they are attacked. Although, some refuse to commit any acts of violence and are injured or killed. Violence is unfair; if you're against it, you're hurt and if you're for it, you win. Human life should be treasured and how one person can hurt another intentionally just baffles me.
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I too feel like if I live in a bubble. Though I didn't grow up in a very sheltered way, I would constantly hear about the violent acts and femicides that occurred next-door in Mexico, I still felt secure and protected. I've also seen the Pulitzer Prize photographs in the Newseum and the violent ones are the most striking ones. Images like the one of a man hanging from a tree, or a man about to be shot to death, are the ones that received the most emotion from me. It all goes back to the idea that violence is unfamiliar to me. I've never seen it happen in real life and I've never taken part in it. But the more I think about it, I've realized that violence arises because we live in fear. We fear other's actions, we fear that we may be robbed of power, so what do we do? We attack before they attack us. It might sound illogical, but I think that besides self-defense, violence can also arise from fear; fear of others; fear of instability; fear of not being the first one to act.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.traffick.com/uploaded_images/EAdams-709798.jpg
ReplyDeleteOne of the most poignant and famous pictures of all time depicts a Vietnamese soldier just before executing a Viet-Cong prisoner by shooting him in the head. The picture was taken by the media to show the one-sided nature of the conflict, with a brutal regime backed by a brutal U.S. occupancy. The reality behind the picture is infinitely more complicated and heartbreaking.
The man about to die, with horror and sorrow casted on his face, had recently brutally murdered the best friend, and friend's entire family, of the executor. The image this photo captures is in truth more personal and horrifying than we could have imagined, and I believe it shows the absolute futility and idiocy of violence.