one may start by giving television the heave-ho...
1
You forgot Steven Pinker, c'mon.
4
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." from Karl Marx "Eleven Thesis on Feurerbach.
Marx, more than any other philosopher, realized the importance of Economic factors in Human history. Why are we seeing the rise of Fascism and hate crimes? Because people are being left behind by economic forces. People dehumanize other groups when they feel their existence threatened. The more inequality, the more people's existence is threatened. You don't need a lot of fancy philosophy to figure this out.
The Right's embrace of fascism and fossil fuels are together leading to the moral and political breakdown of the world.
Marx, more than any other philosopher, realized the importance of Economic factors in Human history. Why are we seeing the rise of Fascism and hate crimes? Because people are being left behind by economic forces. People dehumanize other groups when they feel their existence threatened. The more inequality, the more people's existence is threatened. You don't need a lot of fancy philosophy to figure this out.
The Right's embrace of fascism and fossil fuels are together leading to the moral and political breakdown of the world.
50
The world is over-populated. It's obvious.
17
There would be no darkness without humans to notice it. Owls and bats learned to adapt, so can we if we try.
1
In this country, this is Steve Bannon's government for the next four years & if you fall outside of Bannon's favored base of the 'Christian' American white people Bannon believes form the "culture" of this country & have rights the rest of the population doesn't have, you're going to be toast.
The rest of the world? Bannon doesn't care. Vladimir Putin can do whatever he wants, regimes & movements that want to demonize, deport, oppress & murder their populations or those in neighboring states - it's not going to be 'our' problem. This country under Bannon & Trump is finished intervening in other countries problems, coups, wars, human rights violations & extermination campaigns.
Murderers, gangs, fascists & strong men all over the world can heave a sigh of relief.
Vladimir Putin can heave a sigh of relief.
This country is going to be, for all intents & purposes, in our own miserable chaotic bubble for the next 4 years - with the exception of wherever Bannon & Trump decide to mess around in militarily based on their prejudices & grim unfocused insights. Possible American wars & military actions against Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Yemen, anyone the Israel PM wants taken out, those may happen.
Otherwise, people of the world - you're on your own. Here, we're all going to be busy crying & praying for the democratic country we once had - & likely are going to lose now.
I want you to know how sorry I am. I didn't vote for him.
The rest of the world? Bannon doesn't care. Vladimir Putin can do whatever he wants, regimes & movements that want to demonize, deport, oppress & murder their populations or those in neighboring states - it's not going to be 'our' problem. This country under Bannon & Trump is finished intervening in other countries problems, coups, wars, human rights violations & extermination campaigns.
Murderers, gangs, fascists & strong men all over the world can heave a sigh of relief.
Vladimir Putin can heave a sigh of relief.
This country is going to be, for all intents & purposes, in our own miserable chaotic bubble for the next 4 years - with the exception of wherever Bannon & Trump decide to mess around in militarily based on their prejudices & grim unfocused insights. Possible American wars & military actions against Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Yemen, anyone the Israel PM wants taken out, those may happen.
Otherwise, people of the world - you're on your own. Here, we're all going to be busy crying & praying for the democratic country we once had - & likely are going to lose now.
I want you to know how sorry I am. I didn't vote for him.
29
Dark times indeed. I'd like to tell readers about a young undocumented woman, named Sara, who was in hospital awaiting surgery for her late stage brain cancer. She was cut off from her attorney, and her family, bound hand and foot, and transported to a nearby FOR-PROFIT detention facility. The story was reported by the independent Democracy Now! news organization. This is the government you bigots have elected. I would hate to think that this kind of routine action, against undocumented immigrants, makes you happy, but I will not be surprised if it does. You are just lovely people. Very American.
26
In this time of trouble, with whiffs of facsim in the air, a major corrective is learning, is education. The problem, though, is how to entice or convince adults that the continuing acquisition of knowledge is not only important but also essential. Those "never defeated" children who end
the essay are mostly open to learning. How do we get adults to renew (or begin) their interest in acquiring knowledge?
Doug Giebel
Big Sandy, MT
the essay are mostly open to learning. How do we get adults to renew (or begin) their interest in acquiring knowledge?
Doug Giebel
Big Sandy, MT
7
We witnessed and survived the political assassinations of John, Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King. We witnessed and survived a rampant secret police effort, CoIntelPro launched by the FBI to destroy the Black Panthers and leftist political groups (the same FBI that led a political coup against Hillary Clinton). In the end, it was the youth of this nation who helped to empower the Civil Rights Movement and the protests against the Vietnam War. We are now witnessing a new and serious threats to our economy with massive tax cuts for the super-rich and a deregulated Wall Street, and to our freedom and civil rights as the extreme Right Wing led by the so-called Orange President places a stranglehold on our democracy of unparalleled strength. The younger generation must realize that they have no future unless they fight for economic and social justice. Our greatest hope is the reawakening of the political force America's youth.
31
I doubt that conditions today represent a dangerous trendline suggesting that we stand at a “crossroads” that could lead to our “veritable extinction” if we take the wrong path.
If one goes back only a few centuries in the 250,000 years of human existence as we know it, we find societies globally where difference of any kind was not tolerated, where when found it was summarily and casually enslaved, suppressed or simply exterminated; and where casual violence against the weaker by the stronger was the accepted norm – regardless of spotty laws that may have existed to recognize that it was ethically wrong. Practically our entire history is an uninterrupted continuum of divisiveness, violence and hatred. Yet … we’re not only still here but approaching 8 billion strong; extreme, subsistence-level poverty has been reduced immensely just in the past few generations; and we actually have the leisure and will to discuss this matter seriously.
What puts today’s violence in memorable terms and arrests the conscience more than at any other time in our history is that we now can put a human face on it: the face of a starving child, the injuries of a brutalized woman … the hill of severed heads left outside Mosul for the world to see. But those images were always there for those who happened by to see them, and far more prevalently in our past than today.
Humans today don’t live in particularly dark times: we live in times in which human consequences still challenge us to do better.
If one goes back only a few centuries in the 250,000 years of human existence as we know it, we find societies globally where difference of any kind was not tolerated, where when found it was summarily and casually enslaved, suppressed or simply exterminated; and where casual violence against the weaker by the stronger was the accepted norm – regardless of spotty laws that may have existed to recognize that it was ethically wrong. Practically our entire history is an uninterrupted continuum of divisiveness, violence and hatred. Yet … we’re not only still here but approaching 8 billion strong; extreme, subsistence-level poverty has been reduced immensely just in the past few generations; and we actually have the leisure and will to discuss this matter seriously.
What puts today’s violence in memorable terms and arrests the conscience more than at any other time in our history is that we now can put a human face on it: the face of a starving child, the injuries of a brutalized woman … the hill of severed heads left outside Mosul for the world to see. But those images were always there for those who happened by to see them, and far more prevalently in our past than today.
Humans today don’t live in particularly dark times: we live in times in which human consequences still challenge us to do better.
10
Richard, always can be counted on to toe the conservative line (or tow it effortfully, if need be:>))
Conservative psychologist Steven Pinker (like the other near Asperger conservative, Paul "empathy deprived" Bloom) is quite adept at distorting historical facts to suit his conservative inclinations.
I'm sorry, there's just not a shred of evidence that the 240,000 years prior to the agricultural revolution were remotely as bloody as the monarchical/empire/hierarchy loving era that began in the fertile crescent, and which Reagan and his successors up to our orange haired man-baby so desperately seek to revive.
Fortunately, you're right in a way (well, Right in a number of ways!). The trends are against the resurgence of the brain stem orientation which you seem to value seem to value so greatly, in line with the left mode (that's Iain McGilchrist's term for the psychopathological selective attention mediated mostly by the left hemisphere which the Randians worship with fundamaterialist fervor). Rather, the non dual right mode (that's the mode of the authentic Leftists!:>)) is clearly in the ascendant, as prophesied not only by Indian astrologers but by Arthur Toynbee, Whitehead, Gebser, Aurobindo, Bergson, Julian of Norwich, and countless others.
but enjoy the reign of nihilistic narcissism while you can. It's a joy to watch it dissolving before our very eyes! (let thine eye be single!!!)
Conservative psychologist Steven Pinker (like the other near Asperger conservative, Paul "empathy deprived" Bloom) is quite adept at distorting historical facts to suit his conservative inclinations.
I'm sorry, there's just not a shred of evidence that the 240,000 years prior to the agricultural revolution were remotely as bloody as the monarchical/empire/hierarchy loving era that began in the fertile crescent, and which Reagan and his successors up to our orange haired man-baby so desperately seek to revive.
Fortunately, you're right in a way (well, Right in a number of ways!). The trends are against the resurgence of the brain stem orientation which you seem to value seem to value so greatly, in line with the left mode (that's Iain McGilchrist's term for the psychopathological selective attention mediated mostly by the left hemisphere which the Randians worship with fundamaterialist fervor). Rather, the non dual right mode (that's the mode of the authentic Leftists!:>)) is clearly in the ascendant, as prophesied not only by Indian astrologers but by Arthur Toynbee, Whitehead, Gebser, Aurobindo, Bergson, Julian of Norwich, and countless others.
but enjoy the reign of nihilistic narcissism while you can. It's a joy to watch it dissolving before our very eyes! (let thine eye be single!!!)
14
By the way Richard, you wrote this on January 31:
Gorsuch, far from being a "non-starter", will be confirmed within one month, and with (some, not a lot of) Democratic support. Bet the ranch on it
you've got 5 days left.
I have a prediction of my own (and I'll be happy to bet my ranch on this - at least my ranch dressing)
1. Grouch (hmm, spell check!) Gorsuch won't be confirmed by March 1.
2. You won't admit your prediction was wrong.
Does that bet include horses? Lightning in the 7th?
Gorsuch, far from being a "non-starter", will be confirmed within one month, and with (some, not a lot of) Democratic support. Bet the ranch on it
you've got 5 days left.
I have a prediction of my own (and I'll be happy to bet my ranch on this - at least my ranch dressing)
1. Grouch (hmm, spell check!) Gorsuch won't be confirmed by March 1.
2. You won't admit your prediction was wrong.
Does that bet include horses? Lightning in the 7th?
10
Your comments do not take into account technology and its multiplier effect. That the ability to inflict violence on others has increased in logarithmic fashion in just 200 years is inarguable. And if you think that nuclear war is controllable, well...
10
Scientists have said that in order for large mammals like giraffes, elephants and blue whales to survive, the human animal should number approximately 1.5-2 billion, yet we are close to 8 billion people. The seas will be barren by 2050. Scientists acknowledge we are facing an extinction event. Logically, we know we should reduce our numbers, but we choose not to. Humans are the dominant species on earth, and we will continue to dominate our environment because many of us believe it is our right to do so.
Humans are innately aggressive because our desire to avoid death is strong. You cannot have aggression and a desire to dominate without violence. Violence is built into our DNA. I don't believe it is possible to override this.
Humans are innately aggressive because our desire to avoid death is strong. You cannot have aggression and a desire to dominate without violence. Violence is built into our DNA. I don't believe it is possible to override this.
18
@Ocean Blue:
"Logically, we know we should reduce our numbers, but we choose not to ...".
Most major religions would vehemently disagree with your assessment, one reason why the Homo sapien overpopulation problem developed in the first place. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions", and longstanding efforts to "be fruitful and multiply", as written in Bible and Quran, by improving public health worldwide (improving water quality, reducing infant mortality rates by eliminating communicable childhood diseases, famine and pandemics) resulted in (surprise! surprise!) bumper crops of Homo sapiens. Far too many for our planet's biosphere to carry, reproductive success sure to doom most other species to extinction including, one supposes, Homo sapiens themselves.
The most delicious irony in our predicament? The very things humans believe elevate them above all other savage beasts, all the other species on our planet, will be the source of our undoing; things many extoll as "humanitarian". We killed ourselves with kindness.
However, now that we as a species find ourselves at this sorry pass, what is to be done? Describe the preferred methods of achieving a fast (within one or two generations) 60% Homo sapien population reduction in Southeast/East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Africa, South and Central Americas; hotspots of Homo sapien overpopulation. Voluntary. And, of course, involuntary ... . Rest assured, somebody already has. They stand and wait in the shadows.
"Logically, we know we should reduce our numbers, but we choose not to ...".
Most major religions would vehemently disagree with your assessment, one reason why the Homo sapien overpopulation problem developed in the first place. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions", and longstanding efforts to "be fruitful and multiply", as written in Bible and Quran, by improving public health worldwide (improving water quality, reducing infant mortality rates by eliminating communicable childhood diseases, famine and pandemics) resulted in (surprise! surprise!) bumper crops of Homo sapiens. Far too many for our planet's biosphere to carry, reproductive success sure to doom most other species to extinction including, one supposes, Homo sapiens themselves.
The most delicious irony in our predicament? The very things humans believe elevate them above all other savage beasts, all the other species on our planet, will be the source of our undoing; things many extoll as "humanitarian". We killed ourselves with kindness.
However, now that we as a species find ourselves at this sorry pass, what is to be done? Describe the preferred methods of achieving a fast (within one or two generations) 60% Homo sapien population reduction in Southeast/East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Africa, South and Central Americas; hotspots of Homo sapien overpopulation. Voluntary. And, of course, involuntary ... . Rest assured, somebody already has. They stand and wait in the shadows.
3
Same as it ever was. It all boils down to greed and power, exacerbating one another, endlessly. And woe to the young, old, sick and poor. The mere grit in the machine gears. Yes, I'm looking at you, GOP. I truly hope there is a hell, and you get what you SO richly deserve. Here on earth, I can only wait for you to get caught, at something. You always do, eventually.
13
Where is the feminist critique of violence?
6
@Faryl:
Were Valerie Solanas (of "S.C.U.M." fame) still with us she would undoubtedly be giving us an earful (before shooting Andy Warhol again).
Were Valerie Solanas (of "S.C.U.M." fame) still with us she would undoubtedly be giving us an earful (before shooting Andy Warhol again).
Remember we hire them by voting and the ability to fire them is in our hands. Vote out the republicans and replace them with democrats and then let them know they work for us.
6
" Violence begins in the minds of people, and mostly men. " I don't accept the last part of the statement, especially when it is presented without any comment and explanation. It also calls into question anything else the author has written, even though this is generally a very well written and comprehensive article. The reference alludes to a book by Arendt, “Men in Dark Times”. The way I see it, "Men" here simple refers to humans (or indeed people). In previous times women generally had no agency, either for good or evil. And one should avoid making flippant statements like this.
2
Please, sir, your protestations to the idea that most violence begins in the minds of men is a bit silly. Women are not somehow exempt from violence but most of it comes from the hearts and minds of men.
There is a wonderful movie from Zeitgeist called "Inn Saei" dealing with the ideas of intuition and mindfulness. There is a section on men and violence that is very enlightening.
There is a wonderful movie from Zeitgeist called "Inn Saei" dealing with the ideas of intuition and mindfulness. There is a section on men and violence that is very enlightening.
8
Dark times in the US include how both sides are so sure that the other side is evil that violence happens.
2
But sometimes one of the sides is evil and the other is just flawed. Not seeing evil when it is there is just as bad as seeing it when it is absent.
Dark times is when a common standard for identifying evil cannot be found, as when Christianity both opposed and supported slavery or when the Church both protected and outed pederastic priests. This common standard is an essential prerequisite for identifying whether and where evil is present; it is usually present in appearance (Christianity likes to pretend to defend one set of moral laws) and often absent in reality.
Dark times is when a common standard for identifying evil cannot be found, as when Christianity both opposed and supported slavery or when the Church both protected and outed pederastic priests. This common standard is an essential prerequisite for identifying whether and where evil is present; it is usually present in appearance (Christianity likes to pretend to defend one set of moral laws) and often absent in reality.
4
Power. The ability to influence someone to do something they would not otherwise do. Violence is a form of power utilized by those whose words or ideas cannot successfully influence another to submit. Once violence has been initiated the only immediately effective replies are to submit, flee or respond with violence. Until humans decide that they no longer seek power, in any form, there will be the use of violence. Anyone claiming there have been human cultures without some form of violence is delusional.
2
ALL VIOLENCE BEGINS IN THE FAMILY. Domestic violence is where violence is displayed, taught and learned. It is the most underreported and recognized form of violence, in part because it is women and children who survive it, while adolescent and adult males tend to be the perpetrators. There has been a rise in female perpetrators of domestic violence, primarily against children. The family is where, at best, strong positive attachments are formed and nurturance needed for well-being and survival are shared. That said, I agree with the writer and authors quoted that understanding the ramifications of domestic violence that harms adults, nations, indeed, the whole planet. The word for peace in Hebrew is Shalom, the root of which means fulfillment. If human needs are fulfilled then peace will follow. Easy to write. Extremely difficult to accomplish. Tragically there are now several Africa nations where famine is spreading with no prospects of getting enough food to starving people. Elsewhere there is emotional famine--people starving for nurturance and caring. We need to find out how to develop more humane, nurturant societies and cultures. So confronting evil is only one side of the coin. Learning peace and nurturance is the other side of the same coin. Beating swords into plowshares and people dwelling together in peace are the Biblical injunctions. Wise words for all generations.
8
As the first modern humans were leaving Africa their numbers were reduced to such a small population that their heirs DNA genetic markers resemble the genetic bottleneck near incestuous situation found in the cheetah. There is far more genetic diversity in a one Sub-Saharan village or ethnic group than in all of the rest of humanity combined.
The one and only biological human race species evolved in Southeast Africa 250,000 years ago. That was the darkest human age of all time. Globalization and the mixing of DNA human colors, ethnicities, faiths and national origins is the solution to all that ails us. We are all either our humble humane empathetic brothers and sisters or we are fools.
The one and only biological human race species evolved in Southeast Africa 250,000 years ago. That was the darkest human age of all time. Globalization and the mixing of DNA human colors, ethnicities, faiths and national origins is the solution to all that ails us. We are all either our humble humane empathetic brothers and sisters or we are fools.
6
While I understand that Mr. Evans is addressing the issue of violence more from a global perspective and the descent of humanity in this regard, no discussion of violence will ever be complete unless there is recognition of two powerful instruments of violence that dominate our culture in the United States. On the left, there is a need to recognize that the entertainment industry has become a purveyor of gratuitous violence through various media channels and digital manipulations, in which, “Such violence often blurs clear distinctions between what is right and wrong.”
On the right, there needs to be urgent recognition that an 18th century 2nd Amendment constitutional guarantee to bear arms is being grossly and repeatedly abused in the 21st century, when it does not even protect first grade schoolchildren from being slaughtered in their classrooms. As Mr. Evans points out in a non-related instance of violence, “It is also often the case that violence can take place within legal frameworks, which rather than protecting rights, allow for the legalization of all manner of overt or systemic aggressions…” – this has proven true again and again with gun violence and it is a tragedy that could be easily mitigated with sensible legislation.
Charity begins at home and it’s time we realize that the violence perpetrated by terrorists, largely overseas, maybe more graphic and ugly but is less costly in terms of human lives than caused by gun deaths here at home annually.
On the right, there needs to be urgent recognition that an 18th century 2nd Amendment constitutional guarantee to bear arms is being grossly and repeatedly abused in the 21st century, when it does not even protect first grade schoolchildren from being slaughtered in their classrooms. As Mr. Evans points out in a non-related instance of violence, “It is also often the case that violence can take place within legal frameworks, which rather than protecting rights, allow for the legalization of all manner of overt or systemic aggressions…” – this has proven true again and again with gun violence and it is a tragedy that could be easily mitigated with sensible legislation.
Charity begins at home and it’s time we realize that the violence perpetrated by terrorists, largely overseas, maybe more graphic and ugly but is less costly in terms of human lives than caused by gun deaths here at home annually.
4
There is evil in the world. Face reality and deal with it knowingly.
4
This column underscores a truth often ignored in the current political climate. Words can inflict real harm and in fact constitute a form of violence. The tiresome refrain that 'political correctness' obstructs honest dialogue often veils a desire to insult or demean someone or some group without provoking criticism for doing so.
Trump has often couched his vicious attacks on vulnerable individuals and groups in the duplicitous language of 'plain speaking.' His status as a champion of the frank exchange of ideas collapses, however, when his critics challenge him. Trump responds to such attacks by branding them a personal attack on his integrity. Like an adolescent, he coins demeaning nicknames (or the generic label, 'loser') for anyone who opposes his ideas.
'Political correctness,' properly understood, does interfere with the candid discussion of contentious issues. Individuals, like Trump, who try to deflect disagreement with their ideas by attributing it to personal hostility on the part of the critic, do not want an honest debate. But, by the same token, people who substitute ad hominem attacks for a reasoned response to their opponents seek to harm rather than convince them.
Attacking ideas rather than people should not be a difficult distinction to make. Trump's refusal to honor that distinction reveals volumes about his motives.
Trump has often couched his vicious attacks on vulnerable individuals and groups in the duplicitous language of 'plain speaking.' His status as a champion of the frank exchange of ideas collapses, however, when his critics challenge him. Trump responds to such attacks by branding them a personal attack on his integrity. Like an adolescent, he coins demeaning nicknames (or the generic label, 'loser') for anyone who opposes his ideas.
'Political correctness,' properly understood, does interfere with the candid discussion of contentious issues. Individuals, like Trump, who try to deflect disagreement with their ideas by attributing it to personal hostility on the part of the critic, do not want an honest debate. But, by the same token, people who substitute ad hominem attacks for a reasoned response to their opponents seek to harm rather than convince them.
Attacking ideas rather than people should not be a difficult distinction to make. Trump's refusal to honor that distinction reveals volumes about his motives.
16
" for the present moment when history is being steered in a more dangerous direction and seems to move more quickly every day?" Brad, the world is more peaceful than ever. Facts. War deaths down, exponentially. Homicides down. The Left, as Brad does. says "the last year" is more dangerous. No. That's political bias from a "reader in political violence." On the other hand, the new POTUS says it's far more dangerous now, and it's not, either. Yes, in certain cities, senseless violence is up, but far, far down from the 80s and 90s. You don't read that there was no war in Colombia this year, because that's not news and does not match the rhetoric. Fact is, the world is becoming both more religious and more peaceful. Please don't let your political biases deny the truth. Thank God for false reports of massacres and imagined danger. But it can erode reason to breathlessly clutch pearls at imagined danger or exaggerated threats. Please. These are not dark times in your Upper East Side residence. Bee stings and hitting a deer in your Range Rover are far more dangerous to you than the unlikely event of a terror attack or murder. Trend lines in war deaths, homicide, child violence, violence against women, and so on all point DOWNWARD. Dramatically. Why is the world always “more dangerous than it has ever been”—even as a greater majority of humanity dies of old age?
6
I believe Mr. Evans speaks to a larger world and millions who suffer. Look beyond our horizon, to Syria, to Sudan, and beyond. Look to the places in our own country where violence occurs every day. We need to look beyond what may our own safe ground to see that evil abounds and violence proliferates, and we have the power to make change.
4
"Education is always a form of political intervention, which at its best produces critically minded individuals who have the courage to speak truth to power and stand alongside the globally oppressed, because they remember violence that the oppressors would prefer to forget."
Well, the New York Times just officially endorsed political indoctrination in schools. Oh, also this little tidbit:
"Violence begins in the minds of people, and mostly men."
That's sexist. Period. Any other sort of negative stereotype, if applied to women, is undoubtedly sexist.
But of course, this is just looking at history. Well, when women have lead countries they have engaged in proportionately the exact same number of wars. So not only is this sexist it's incorrect. But modern leftwing philosophers don't look at history. They only look at history as it supports their point. See all the references to the "Islamic Golden Age" where they were tolerant and brilliant and Yada Yada. Well, they were only tolerant in the same way the Jim crow south was tolerant: in direct comparison to slavery or to Europe.
The NYT has given me an excellent list of philosophers that, if they support how they are represented in this article, I will never, ever read.
Well, the New York Times just officially endorsed political indoctrination in schools. Oh, also this little tidbit:
"Violence begins in the minds of people, and mostly men."
That's sexist. Period. Any other sort of negative stereotype, if applied to women, is undoubtedly sexist.
But of course, this is just looking at history. Well, when women have lead countries they have engaged in proportionately the exact same number of wars. So not only is this sexist it's incorrect. But modern leftwing philosophers don't look at history. They only look at history as it supports their point. See all the references to the "Islamic Golden Age" where they were tolerant and brilliant and Yada Yada. Well, they were only tolerant in the same way the Jim crow south was tolerant: in direct comparison to slavery or to Europe.
The NYT has given me an excellent list of philosophers that, if they support how they are represented in this article, I will never, ever read.
4
Violence is almost always, though not exclusively, the provence of males. That's a fact and any attempt to say otherwise is not factual and certainly disingenous.
8
Doers would be much more compelling than thinkers!
2
What about when violence is carried out by nations that follow the dictate of all-powerful multinational entities with no affiliation, those who use various polities to achieve their goal of paying robust dividends regardless of the true human cost?
5
Thank you Prof. Evans and Prof. Critchley for insisting on a meaningful exploration of the question "How can we understand violence, in the past and in the 21st century?"
Prof. Evans is right when he calls for more interdisciplinary dialogue. His review calls for re-thinking issues of justice (Spivak), historical memory and education (Giroux, with key reference to Walter Benjamin), more holistic definitions of crimes against humanity (Parr), and the arts as window into our common humanity (Ettinger).
I single out these thinkers because their issues transcend just the study of violence. They are also central to the issues and processes of peacemaking and peacebuilding as well.
As the world knows, Colombia recently signed and ratified a peace accord that brought an end to over half a century of armed conflict. The country remains divided. But deaths in combat have fallen to zero. A new Special Tribunal for prosecuting those who face accusations of crimes against humanity as well as a Truth Commission are being created as we speak. Over the next 180 days, the FARC guerrillas, now assembled in 20 concentration zones and 6 camps, will have completely handed in their arms. The political moment in Colombia is not one of "dark times."
The future is not yet determined, as Evans writes. Peacemaking and peacebuilding are also part of the human condition. Their role in human affairs needs to be studied and embraced as well --by philosophers and others.
Prof. Evans is right when he calls for more interdisciplinary dialogue. His review calls for re-thinking issues of justice (Spivak), historical memory and education (Giroux, with key reference to Walter Benjamin), more holistic definitions of crimes against humanity (Parr), and the arts as window into our common humanity (Ettinger).
I single out these thinkers because their issues transcend just the study of violence. They are also central to the issues and processes of peacemaking and peacebuilding as well.
As the world knows, Colombia recently signed and ratified a peace accord that brought an end to over half a century of armed conflict. The country remains divided. But deaths in combat have fallen to zero. A new Special Tribunal for prosecuting those who face accusations of crimes against humanity as well as a Truth Commission are being created as we speak. Over the next 180 days, the FARC guerrillas, now assembled in 20 concentration zones and 6 camps, will have completely handed in their arms. The political moment in Colombia is not one of "dark times."
The future is not yet determined, as Evans writes. Peacemaking and peacebuilding are also part of the human condition. Their role in human affairs needs to be studied and embraced as well --by philosophers and others.
3
We were given the greatest gift of all. An entire planet, with all its rewards. We were handed everything that is needed to sustain us. We were also giving the beauty of nature with all the perks. But mankind instead chose greed, power, and destruction. We schools teach our children how great our founding fathers were in discovering America. The schools did not teach our children the destruction that followed. What was once green crisp waters are now, brown and dirty. The land full of trees, grass, flowers, and fresh dirt, is now full of litter, garbage, and pollution. Over 40 animals became extinct in OUR lifetime. More than any past era. Instead of learning from the Indians, our fore fathers took, stole, and scammed them out of the land, they were protectors of. Mankind destroys has always been a symbol, trademark, and written in stone by Mankinds hands. It will never reverse, until we resolve the prejudice, hatred, envy, and disilluioned by our politicians. We must raise our children to become future leaders, better leaders. Or the change in hands will be too late.
5
It is hard to not be a monkey. Tell that to the readers so that they might grow up - and become Human.
1
We must bring this down to our day-to-day experiences. It is there though respect for self and others, kindness, fairness for each and every person and self-reliance (to the extent one has the capacity and opportunity to exercise it) that we defeat the urge to lash out with violence. These guides are more than a passing do gooders hope. They are a duty to be used in opposition to the bullies amongst us.
1
Many words spent when a few could handle our situation. Massive over-population. Theocracies managed by fundamentalists versus free governments powered by intellectuals. Lack of available birth control and the criminalization of abortion.. Migration by economic refugees attracted only to the financial security of a new place, with no intention of shedding their old-country values and accepting/embracing the values of the first world places they have turned to for security. (thus bringing problems 1,2,3 to those of us who have avoided 1,2,3 by design, not by accident)
3
In the U.S. Gun violence is an enormous social problem and yet we seem so stymied as to its' solution. It is time for bold moves to counter the NRA and the lack of political will by our compromised politicians.
Could all intelligent sectors of our society create a NATIONAL STRIKE of teachers, doctors, scientists, the Arts,and others who care deeply about this issue. Strike until sensible gun laws are enacted......there must be some way to leverage the power of these groups against those who control and condone the current situation.
Could all intelligent sectors of our society create a NATIONAL STRIKE of teachers, doctors, scientists, the Arts,and others who care deeply about this issue. Strike until sensible gun laws are enacted......there must be some way to leverage the power of these groups against those who control and condone the current situation.
2
Mr. Evans,
An interesting, perhaps in some ways monumental, attempt to define "violence". I look forward to Part 2. I think you may find that the concept of "shortage" will ultimately be a piece of every answer as to "why".
An interesting, perhaps in some ways monumental, attempt to define "violence". I look forward to Part 2. I think you may find that the concept of "shortage" will ultimately be a piece of every answer as to "why".
2
With the exception of noting that the perpetrators of violence are 'mostly men,' the insights of feminists are nowhere to be found. This is a significant oversight given the pervasiveness of male violence against women and girls on a daily basis - a problem often romanticized in the arts the authors naively embrace for countering violence/fascism.
7
Thank you for this. As an educator in an urban school, I know that this need for an understanding of violence is the only way we can understand the daily trauma from manifold acts of violence affecting many of our students. This is an understanding that every one of us, not just educators, should work toward.
2
Fear is a tool, a tool that Trump wielded to great effect.
Fear is a tool that Democrats now wish to wield.
Fear is a tool that Democrats now wish to wield.
3
There is less war, disease and famine now than in all of humanity's history. That is not to say that suffering does not exist. But why do we feel superior when we see others suffering? Conflict is part of the human condition and until we re-engineer what it is to be human, there will always be pain and suffering.
5
This is one the best Stones ever. Thank you. I hope it is widely read - and re-read.
3
Violence is frequently directed at the weak, the different, and the outcasts. In that way, violence is not seen as a threat to the many, who often join in the violence because bullying the weak makes the many feel strong.
15
An in-depth approach to exploring complex social conditions like violence is critical to understanding and action. May I suggest a consideration of another contemporary phenomenon, that of ethnic nationalism? A side-by-side examination of the two issues would help to shed light on political culture here and abroad.
4
Defense is the first act of warfare.
2
The problem of violence will never be solved as long as our modernist faith retains its commitment to an ultimately meaningless, purposeless, ultimately insentient universe.
Sri Aurobindo, who laid the foundation for the non-cooperation movement later spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi, reviewed several thousand years of human history in his "The Ideal of Human Unity.'
He explored the military, economic, political, artistic, religious and other means of overcoming conflict and violence and concluded that it is only be founding our lives on that least recognized virtue of the trinity of the French Revolution - Fraternity - that true human unity will be..... realized.
The Right seeks pseudo-liberty, which is simply the freedom to exploit others for the sake of one's individual desires. The Left seeks pseudo-equality, resulting in a flattening of difference, a dull uniformity rather than true unity.
But fraternity, founded in the recognition of the Omnipresent Reality of "He/She in whom we live and move and have our being," is, according to Sri Aurobindo (and Jean Gebser and Teillhard de Chardin and many others) our only hope.
www.remember-to-breathe.org/Breathing-Videos.html
Sri Aurobindo, who laid the foundation for the non-cooperation movement later spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi, reviewed several thousand years of human history in his "The Ideal of Human Unity.'
He explored the military, economic, political, artistic, religious and other means of overcoming conflict and violence and concluded that it is only be founding our lives on that least recognized virtue of the trinity of the French Revolution - Fraternity - that true human unity will be..... realized.
The Right seeks pseudo-liberty, which is simply the freedom to exploit others for the sake of one's individual desires. The Left seeks pseudo-equality, resulting in a flattening of difference, a dull uniformity rather than true unity.
But fraternity, founded in the recognition of the Omnipresent Reality of "He/She in whom we live and move and have our being," is, according to Sri Aurobindo (and Jean Gebser and Teillhard de Chardin and many others) our only hope.
www.remember-to-breathe.org/Breathing-Videos.html
6
To me the greatest irony about the universe is, it will cease to exist without ever knowing that it was.
Steve, that is an interesting expression of pure religious faith (religious believe in materialism) but why choose to believe something for which there is not the scantest evidence?
The most fascinating aspect for me of the modern age - the age of nihilism, the age of what Jean Gebser described as ruled by the deficient aspect of the mental structure of consciousness -is that a wholesale faith has taken over so many of the most well educated of the modern world, a faith utterly anti-scientific, anti-empirical, for which, by definition, not the slightest empirical evidence could ever be found (because if we ever found what we thought was empirical evidence for materialism, as soon as we reflected on it with an iota of intelligence, we'd realize the very evidence is the most convincing refutation of materialism possible).
This, and not Trump, or human emotions, or survival instincts or any of the other theories bandied about here, is the cause of the present darkness.
As Alan Wallace puts it in "Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up," it is this reification of personality and intelligence, and the reification of matter, that is the ultimate cause of all suffering. Christ, Buddha, Moses, Confucious, Plotinus, Abhinavagupta, Krishna, Mohammed, Julian of Norwich, Nagarjuna, Longchempa, Brother Lawrence, Teillhard de Chardin, Iain McGilchrist, David Korten, EF Schumacher - all these and thousands more have said the same thing.
www.remember-to-breathe.org/Breathing-Videos.html
The most fascinating aspect for me of the modern age - the age of nihilism, the age of what Jean Gebser described as ruled by the deficient aspect of the mental structure of consciousness -is that a wholesale faith has taken over so many of the most well educated of the modern world, a faith utterly anti-scientific, anti-empirical, for which, by definition, not the slightest empirical evidence could ever be found (because if we ever found what we thought was empirical evidence for materialism, as soon as we reflected on it with an iota of intelligence, we'd realize the very evidence is the most convincing refutation of materialism possible).
This, and not Trump, or human emotions, or survival instincts or any of the other theories bandied about here, is the cause of the present darkness.
As Alan Wallace puts it in "Tibetan Buddhism from the Ground Up," it is this reification of personality and intelligence, and the reification of matter, that is the ultimate cause of all suffering. Christ, Buddha, Moses, Confucious, Plotinus, Abhinavagupta, Krishna, Mohammed, Julian of Norwich, Nagarjuna, Longchempa, Brother Lawrence, Teillhard de Chardin, Iain McGilchrist, David Korten, EF Schumacher - all these and thousands more have said the same thing.
www.remember-to-breathe.org/Breathing-Videos.html
3
"The problem of violence will never be solved as long as our modernist faith retains its commitment to an ultimately meaningless, purposeless, ultimately insentient universe."
And if the universe really DOES reflect those aspects, which objective evidence gathering suggests to many of us that it does, what then? Invent religion, or cosmic sentience, or... what? To paraphrase a noted war-monger, "you gotta go with the universe you have, not the universe you wish you had."
The rest of Don's observations make some sense, as essentially an elaboration of the Golden Rule. We all do better in the long run if we have one another's backs, but even in that scenario there is contention among balancing values, like liberty vs. equality, as he notes. Sometimes having someone's back violates some precept that person holds; remember, a sadist is someone who is nice to a masochist.
And if the universe really DOES reflect those aspects, which objective evidence gathering suggests to many of us that it does, what then? Invent religion, or cosmic sentience, or... what? To paraphrase a noted war-monger, "you gotta go with the universe you have, not the universe you wish you had."
The rest of Don's observations make some sense, as essentially an elaboration of the Golden Rule. We all do better in the long run if we have one another's backs, but even in that scenario there is contention among balancing values, like liberty vs. equality, as he notes. Sometimes having someone's back violates some precept that person holds; remember, a sadist is someone who is nice to a masochist.
1
For the record, Hannah Arendt did not conjure the term "dark times." It has existed for centuries, and is perhaps best remembered in Bertolt Brecht's poignant poem during the rise of Nazism - "In the dark times, will there be singing? Yes there will be singing in the dark times." May we not lose our voices during these times.
29
The Rothschild's were the biggest influence on corruption back and before Hitler. They were behind the Queen Elizabeth reign back when they were fighting the French, and beheading their royal family. The Rothschild's were devil incarnate, because what they have done back than. Their dark legacy manifold into what is happening today.
2
Violence is life and life, violent. Organisms only survive by preying on others weaker than themselves -- older, younger, injured, deformed, unlucky. The biosphere of which we are a part, as much as we might pretend we aren't is cruel not by chance or force of will but by intelligent design, not a theologic one but mathematical, and because its foundation is rot and excrement. Living things trod upon the corpses of all who lost their battles of survival at least since Archaea gained tenuous footholds in Earth's mantle, maybe 4.25 billion years ago.
Our species is unique in this respect: it ritualized and socialized violence attempting to contain it, even harness it as a tool for narrow (political) ends, not just killing in order to eat; another evolutionary invention unique to us and a few other predatory species -- hyenas, for example. But this evolutionary wrinkle is just that, and in terms of geologic time it happened in the blink of an eye; a deviation from the norm and historic aberration. Characteristics that suggest the evolutionary experiment is temporary and weaker than we suppose. Sooner or later civilization will collapse into the roiling anarchy that was -- sooner, if calamities we now call "The Great War" and "the Second World War" are any indication.
To glimpse our species' likely future one need look no further than failed and failing states like Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Congo, and Philippines while remebering the barbarian invaders who sacked Rome.
Our species is unique in this respect: it ritualized and socialized violence attempting to contain it, even harness it as a tool for narrow (political) ends, not just killing in order to eat; another evolutionary invention unique to us and a few other predatory species -- hyenas, for example. But this evolutionary wrinkle is just that, and in terms of geologic time it happened in the blink of an eye; a deviation from the norm and historic aberration. Characteristics that suggest the evolutionary experiment is temporary and weaker than we suppose. Sooner or later civilization will collapse into the roiling anarchy that was -- sooner, if calamities we now call "The Great War" and "the Second World War" are any indication.
To glimpse our species' likely future one need look no further than failed and failing states like Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Congo, and Philippines while remebering the barbarian invaders who sacked Rome.
8
If nihilism captured the essence of existence, Steve, earth would be a lifeless orb spinning through space. You convert certain undeniable tendencies in evolution into an all-encompassing law of nature, one, moreover, which makes any organic component of nature ephemeral and self-destructive.
You depict competition and aggression as the sum total of the instinctual drive that controls the behavior of our cousins in the animal kingdom and influences our own actions. But animals cooperate as well as compete, and our larger brains enable humans to curtail competition in favor of cooperation.
Our capacity for empathy, moreover, encourages humans to establish strong bonds that suppress aggression and create communities built on mutual support. If your jaundiced description of human behavior reflected reality, you would not have lived long enough to form your misogynistic opinions.
As Evans's column clearly shows, our species does possess the potential for self destruction. But we also possess other capacities, and if we succumb to our proclivity for violence, we won't be able to blame some unbreachable law of nature. The fault will lie, not in our stars, but in ourselves.
You depict competition and aggression as the sum total of the instinctual drive that controls the behavior of our cousins in the animal kingdom and influences our own actions. But animals cooperate as well as compete, and our larger brains enable humans to curtail competition in favor of cooperation.
Our capacity for empathy, moreover, encourages humans to establish strong bonds that suppress aggression and create communities built on mutual support. If your jaundiced description of human behavior reflected reality, you would not have lived long enough to form your misogynistic opinions.
As Evans's column clearly shows, our species does possess the potential for self destruction. But we also possess other capacities, and if we succumb to our proclivity for violence, we won't be able to blame some unbreachable law of nature. The fault will lie, not in our stars, but in ourselves.
2
That is your culture, not ours. Yes Indians had their wars. But it was never thru prejudice. We did not start off with that mind frame. It became embedded in us thru generations of outside influences.
We cherished the animals, the land, and nature. We were full of compassion for what God has given us.
We lived in temples, western culture lived in caves. Barbarism was in their blood. Instead of bonding and understanding this world. Greed, power, envy, and hatred replaced the morals standards we were all born with. I will never tell my child, we have more animal instinct. because it would put GOD in the back, and the devil in the front.
We cherished the animals, the land, and nature. We were full of compassion for what God has given us.
We lived in temples, western culture lived in caves. Barbarism was in their blood. Instead of bonding and understanding this world. Greed, power, envy, and hatred replaced the morals standards we were all born with. I will never tell my child, we have more animal instinct. because it would put GOD in the back, and the devil in the front.
Excellent answer, james, and much better written than my reply to Steve!
1
The picture here is from "I walk alone". Our prime animal directive is to procreate, so being alone is something of an increasing luxury, as will be a healthy atmosphere, a diversity of plants and animals and resources including clean air and water. While those that want more consumers for their products tell us we aren't overpopulated. This is Doublespeak, or as we say here in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and in Standing Rock--the 1% speak with a forked tongue.
9
We must educate our children to become future leaders. Better leaders. Until we the people vote smart. We will always be deceived by political agendas of destroy and destruction.
2
Republicans often hark back to a non-existent golden age, and proclaim their goal of returning to that. It is a fundamental mistake that starts with assuming there ever was such a time. One can't return to something that never was.
Liberals run the same risk, as in the article, but of imagining some time other than the "dark time" from which we are seduced by fascists, "the emergence of a politics of hate and division."
It has not "emerged." It has always been there. It is used by some seeking power, but it has always been there waiting, latent, ready to be used.
We never have risen above that. We can't return to what never was. If there is some place better than the dark place, we'll have to find it for the first time.
Camelot never existed. It has been a dream, more at some times than others, used to lead by some better leaders. It has never been the reality of our lives. We never got there.
We've always been pretty much where we are now. For times which we don't see that, we are just in denial.
That puts the problem in a different light.
Liberals run the same risk, as in the article, but of imagining some time other than the "dark time" from which we are seduced by fascists, "the emergence of a politics of hate and division."
It has not "emerged." It has always been there. It is used by some seeking power, but it has always been there waiting, latent, ready to be used.
We never have risen above that. We can't return to what never was. If there is some place better than the dark place, we'll have to find it for the first time.
Camelot never existed. It has been a dream, more at some times than others, used to lead by some better leaders. It has never been the reality of our lives. We never got there.
We've always been pretty much where we are now. For times which we don't see that, we are just in denial.
That puts the problem in a different light.
65
Ah, the enlightenment of history.
2
So where is the learning? The evolution of understanding and reasoning?
Are you implying that we are who and what we are , have always been, never got too far and basically remain feathered as we have been since Time Immemorial by the same Tar?
We are when made or forced or decided to be or do, the most adaptable Creature to ever reason with abstract mind and have made and do make and meet potentials so incredibly beyond our vast imaginations possibility that we could never go so far and do so much that is beyond our own capability to ever imagine let alone possible to ever create/build.
So...to prove ourselves just how wrong we are....we do Both and then some!
At Kittyhawk the first powered Flight lasts seconds reaching a distance of 22 Feet, at 26 mph.
65 years later, material from that first flying machine is laid on an airless satellite 265,000 miles away in airless Space having reached this destination in just over 2 days at speeds of over 38,000 mph!
Watched "Live" by half the planet as it happened via Televised signals.
65 years after flying 22 feet Man walked upon it's 2nd oldest "God" that it had worshipped for almost a million years.
Do not sell us short.
WE may yet play our Long Game and if we do...what will there be what we cannot do?
Nothing.
Nothing will be beyond us and our furthest thoughts of insight.
Are you implying that we are who and what we are , have always been, never got too far and basically remain feathered as we have been since Time Immemorial by the same Tar?
We are when made or forced or decided to be or do, the most adaptable Creature to ever reason with abstract mind and have made and do make and meet potentials so incredibly beyond our vast imaginations possibility that we could never go so far and do so much that is beyond our own capability to ever imagine let alone possible to ever create/build.
So...to prove ourselves just how wrong we are....we do Both and then some!
At Kittyhawk the first powered Flight lasts seconds reaching a distance of 22 Feet, at 26 mph.
65 years later, material from that first flying machine is laid on an airless satellite 265,000 miles away in airless Space having reached this destination in just over 2 days at speeds of over 38,000 mph!
Watched "Live" by half the planet as it happened via Televised signals.
65 years after flying 22 feet Man walked upon it's 2nd oldest "God" that it had worshipped for almost a million years.
Do not sell us short.
WE may yet play our Long Game and if we do...what will there be what we cannot do?
Nothing.
Nothing will be beyond us and our furthest thoughts of insight.
1
We have problems that need attention.
That said, talk of "Dark Times" may be a bit melodramatic. We, especially in the West and industrial Asia, are living in a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity and have been for most of our lives. So, with things being rougher in the last few years, yes, it may seem like dark times to us. But in historical terms things are quite amazingly good.
We need metrics. One metric is the number of deaths due to civil disturbances. On this score, Muslim majority countries are passing through a dark time as they struggle with terrorism. But in terms of actual deaths, in western countries the numbers are minuscule compared to things like murder or heart diseases.
Worldwide life expectancy is constantly increasing, food security is growing, and for the last 70 years nearly all of western Europe has been without war (never before in history).
I could go on listing all the ways in which our lives are so much safer and more prosperous than at any time in the past, and in the USA that applies to our most disadvantaged population groups as well.
So while things may seem to us to be awful, and yes, things could certainly be improved, we mustn't lose sight of what we've achieved.
Cheer up folks!
That said, talk of "Dark Times" may be a bit melodramatic. We, especially in the West and industrial Asia, are living in a period of unprecedented peace and prosperity and have been for most of our lives. So, with things being rougher in the last few years, yes, it may seem like dark times to us. But in historical terms things are quite amazingly good.
We need metrics. One metric is the number of deaths due to civil disturbances. On this score, Muslim majority countries are passing through a dark time as they struggle with terrorism. But in terms of actual deaths, in western countries the numbers are minuscule compared to things like murder or heart diseases.
Worldwide life expectancy is constantly increasing, food security is growing, and for the last 70 years nearly all of western Europe has been without war (never before in history).
I could go on listing all the ways in which our lives are so much safer and more prosperous than at any time in the past, and in the USA that applies to our most disadvantaged population groups as well.
So while things may seem to us to be awful, and yes, things could certainly be improved, we mustn't lose sight of what we've achieved.
Cheer up folks!
18
Where have you been living? US has the biggest and largest gangs in the entire globe. We have the most influential drug gang in the entire world because some are our gang leaders in the US are billionaires. We have the most corrupted organization in politics than any country in this entire world. Until we realize the truth. We will always be, and it will never change. We are the most contempt corruption in the entire world.
1
Murder rates in the USA have been falling steadily since the early 1980s, 30+ years of FALLING murder rates, from 10 down to 4.5 per 100,000. You can confirm the accuracy of my statement by looking up the statistics at the FBI website. It's a great resource.
Teen pregnancy rates have dropped by more than half during that period.
Human lifespan has doubled in the last 150 years.
Food security is no longer an issue for the vast majority of the western world.
US high school graduation rates continue to creep up consistently.
You are right. There are big gangs. There is violence. But fewer and fewer of us are touched by it. The statistics support my statements. I'm not basing this on random observations and what the news media feeds me.
You want something negative? I'll give you one. Drug overdoses, both prescription and illegal drugs, continue to rise and have been accelerating. I would say this is a symptom of a growing anxiety that is gripping our country. But this anxiety is fundamentally baseless. There have been few generations in the history of humanity who were graced with the advantages we have today.
Teen pregnancy rates have dropped by more than half during that period.
Human lifespan has doubled in the last 150 years.
Food security is no longer an issue for the vast majority of the western world.
US high school graduation rates continue to creep up consistently.
You are right. There are big gangs. There is violence. But fewer and fewer of us are touched by it. The statistics support my statements. I'm not basing this on random observations and what the news media feeds me.
You want something negative? I'll give you one. Drug overdoses, both prescription and illegal drugs, continue to rise and have been accelerating. I would say this is a symptom of a growing anxiety that is gripping our country. But this anxiety is fundamentally baseless. There have been few generations in the history of humanity who were graced with the advantages we have today.
4
The cycle of violence is motivated by the fuel of revenge. Someone or some group has a grievance and they want to get even. This happens in gang warfare, international conflicts, domestic politics and family squabbles. An eye for an eye. It does require a certain degree of forgetting your personal responsibilty and a certain degree of dehumanizing the other. It must be fought with an effective legal system, communication, education and a turn the other cheek love. We so easily slip back into a revenge mentality. It does not help that revenge and all its manifestations wins elections.
5
In order for that to happen. We need to educate our children properly so they can become better future leaders than we have now. We need to vote smart, not of prejudice, hatred, or ignorance.
In America, we have too many on the other side, to actually make a difference for the better.
In America, we have too many on the other side, to actually make a difference for the better.
2
Violence and hatred spewed on a daily level will be credited to the malicious, obstructionist left. And the outcome will be very bad for the planet. It is not good to hear the constant negative complaining and (such as Berkeley) there was physical violence and tis is wrong. Anyone responsible for any damage to any person or physical building should be held to accountability and show monetarily pay for it. Not the taxpayer.
3
Don't need to posit conjecture as historical examples suffice where the native born are pushed into poverty.
3
The premise that the world is more violent and hateful today than in the past is hard for me to accept, when peaceful coexistence is a fundamental precept of nearly every society, when preserving some version of human rights is widely considered a worthy goal, when state-sponsored violence is actively exposed and castigated by other nations. Violence is with us always, but for hundreds of past generations, holy wars, pogroms, genocide, blood feuds, slavery, and many other forms of organized violence were simply aspects of human life. The west is moving into an uncertain future politically, and we must be on guard to prevent a repeat of history. But mankind's most violent past is largely still in the past.
23
And if it is not in the past, it is surely not that violence has increased in the present. Your comment is apt.
As evolution eventually brought us into the form we now take, simple survival involved violence for protection, shelter and food. We were hunter-gatherers. As societies emerged although the fight or flight instinct became dull to the extent it has the basic instinct for survival never left us. Hence, we have war. Enlightenment on the human condition did have some impact but it will take thousands of years for the survival instinct involving violence to dissipate. Especially now with instant communications, greed, tribal mentality that still abounds and fear of those that are different. I fear it will take thousands of years to reach the conclusion that we just don't have to kill each other to inhabit the same planet, should we even be around that long.
I don't see this ending well for us in our lifetimes, but the introduction of understanding that it doesn't have to be this way is a good start.
I don't see this ending well for us in our lifetimes, but the introduction of understanding that it doesn't have to be this way is a good start.
10
The Hebrew concepts of “Resha” and “Roa” represent two phases of the human situation: Resha is the conscious attempt to violate (“of bodies and the destruction of human lives”) deontological premises: from the swindler who cons others into utter ruin to the commander who indiscriminately bombs civilian targets fully aware that there is no real strategic threat in the area and that there are alternative efficient military options. The deeds of Resha mitigating circumstances range from uncontrollable impulses to the necessities of ultimate war.
Roa is not predicated on Resha actions -- even though it can lead to the worst kinds of crimes against humanity. Roa is the teleological mobilization and activation of the possibility of Omnicide (on varied kill scales – from wiping out a tribe to nuclear “Escalation Dominance”) in order to achieve total personal and/or group supremacy. The deployment and activations of Roa forces is justified by ideological-systems (from “eliminate the devil” to “the world is ours”).
The predicament of moral action is derived from the fundamental ethical dilemmas immanent in “dark times” situations: The fundamental Resha ethical dilemma is whether actions of Resha are temporarily permissible in fighting humanity-endangering forces of Roa—the Dresden case, for example. Roa fundamental ethical dilemma is whether it is morally permissible to mobilize the elements of Roa in order to contain opposing forces of Roa -- the case for Nuclear Deterrence.
Roa is not predicated on Resha actions -- even though it can lead to the worst kinds of crimes against humanity. Roa is the teleological mobilization and activation of the possibility of Omnicide (on varied kill scales – from wiping out a tribe to nuclear “Escalation Dominance”) in order to achieve total personal and/or group supremacy. The deployment and activations of Roa forces is justified by ideological-systems (from “eliminate the devil” to “the world is ours”).
The predicament of moral action is derived from the fundamental ethical dilemmas immanent in “dark times” situations: The fundamental Resha ethical dilemma is whether actions of Resha are temporarily permissible in fighting humanity-endangering forces of Roa—the Dresden case, for example. Roa fundamental ethical dilemma is whether it is morally permissible to mobilize the elements of Roa in order to contain opposing forces of Roa -- the case for Nuclear Deterrence.
4
excellent commentary evans. Increase in anti-intllectualism (disdain) and predatory practices. This pres in name only delights in degrading - de-legitimzing the world around him. How he won - incessant take down of opponent. More guns, less arts, education, no science, pep rally mania, terrorizing children, challenged freedoms. Humanity and the known world violates his sick entitlement of primacy and superiority. there are human behaviorists who can crack this nut to save destruction of Democracy and American values. Maybe water-boarding? re-programming? GITMO.
4
I gave up hope for this piece when I saw that Hannah Arendt was offered as the arbiter of human responses to adversity and violence. Finally, we get Ettinger's bland statement that there is a world to be gained by recognizing the humanity of the arts! O tempora, o mores! Is this what the best have come to? I mean readers of the NYT.
10
George Carlin's comments on war and his experience in the Air Force are most apt. Wars would never happen if the people who wanted them had to fight them. And if all the soldiers held together and just said "Forget that!" and didn't show up, the powers that be could do nothing - you can execute one person for treason/cowardice, but not your entire population.
42
Trying to derive meaningful thought from such sarcastic scolds like Carlin and the comedic tv truth tellers like Colbert is what got us into this rats nest of fake news and alt facts. If this is where you get your information and lazy ideas perhaps it's time to actually read some nonfiction hard cover literature or a history book.
1
Ridiculous. The militaristic and autocratic pursuits of the rich white men of the past have put hundreds of thousands of "lesser" humans under the dirt. I know the omnipresence of anecdotal depictions of violence on the internet are upsetting and frightening, but they are simply anecdotal incidents and usually have little to do with overriding realities of global interaction. Wars can't solve individual incidents of violence and terror. Mr bush's explosion of the middle east during the iraq war is an example of that false pursuit.
1
Violence in the 21st century? Social structure, systems, political/economic order to prevent violence in the 21st century?
It appears to me humanity's methods of preventing violence are only slightly better than the violence itself. Across the board politically--from left to right--violence is condemned today. But what generally is the architecture of violence prevention? Society more rigid, filled with law enforcement, surveillance, petty bureaucracy, and neither the right nor left have solved the problem that this structure is unequal, unfair in its distribution of power, that the picture is one of the inside people (leftist bureaucracy or right wing authoritarian structure) controlling the mass of people who are divorced from being able to have a total view of their society because they are both prevented from knowing the always increasing secretive life of power and are fed a reality (propaganda) given them by power. In short, the obvious emphasis today on needing to prevent violence, coupled with the fact that it is many millions of people, coupled with the fact that violence prevention structures are typically top down rule of masses, coupled with vast increase in technology of control (everything from weaponry to bureaucracy to communications/surveillance systems), means that violence prevention is not much more than stifling people and that being less stifled, with greater power, still means being involved in vast bureaucratic systems of social control of masses.
It appears to me humanity's methods of preventing violence are only slightly better than the violence itself. Across the board politically--from left to right--violence is condemned today. But what generally is the architecture of violence prevention? Society more rigid, filled with law enforcement, surveillance, petty bureaucracy, and neither the right nor left have solved the problem that this structure is unequal, unfair in its distribution of power, that the picture is one of the inside people (leftist bureaucracy or right wing authoritarian structure) controlling the mass of people who are divorced from being able to have a total view of their society because they are both prevented from knowing the always increasing secretive life of power and are fed a reality (propaganda) given them by power. In short, the obvious emphasis today on needing to prevent violence, coupled with the fact that it is many millions of people, coupled with the fact that violence prevention structures are typically top down rule of masses, coupled with vast increase in technology of control (everything from weaponry to bureaucracy to communications/surveillance systems), means that violence prevention is not much more than stifling people and that being less stifled, with greater power, still means being involved in vast bureaucratic systems of social control of masses.
2
Completely apropos as we have a government in the USA that now seeks to use violence to achieve a return to mythical greatness. In just a short time there has been a change in US immigration policy and federal protection for transgender citizens. Defining these individuals as separate classes. Coming changes in federal health care and environmental policy will also result in crimes against humanity and will never be recognized as such by the elected officials responsible. So then, how to minimize the damage?
4
Democracy, in the truist sense, is not the will of a fleeting majority which may be swayed by fears or fashion, but the felt mutuality with fellow beings that rejects the idea of "the other".
6
While violence is cyclical and has a history through which it has changed its forms and targets, compassion and sharing have always been universal and defined the basic urge for humanity- the human predicament to be lived.
14
It is a short journey from [my favorite topic] "should never be studied in a an objective and unimpassioned way" to non-objective hyperboles such as "humanity is undoubtedly at a dangerous crossroads" facing "our own veritable extinction."
8
A most potent sentence, "weaponized ignorance." It's all around us and more virulent by the day. We are in terrifying times indeed.
97
" the resurgence from the shadows of new forces of hatred and repressed anger and rage." What an apt description of the growth of the mean spirited protesters who are taking their dislike of Donald trump to new heights. These people appear to be suffering from a pathological illness which makes them throw all reason out the window at the mention of "Donald Trump"...
6
Name calling and casting aspersions do not advance your argument and are themselves a form of violence known as bullying. And your identification of they who would exercise their First Amendment rights as "those people" falls squarely within point 5 of this article. If a defense of Donald Trump is all you managed to glean from this thoughtful piece, then you have my sympathy as well as my censure.
24
That is the most hilarious thing I've read so far today! The only one with a pathological illness is our narcissist in chief who embodies hatred and repression!
24
Thomas: surely you jest? You forget that even decent humans fight back when attacked. Trump began this round of horrors. The list of groups and individuals he's insulted, demeaned, and misinformed is too long for this forum. If Americans lie down under his jackboot, they deserve everything they get.
49
violence is the problem.compassion is the solution. so a question to answer is how to cultivate compassion. here a deep seated problem is fear of the other.
46
Excellent! As my colleague, Dr. Ed Adams, says: Compassionate Men are Happier. Women and children too!
11
I think it comes down to empathy. People either have a degree of empathy or they don't. Those who have none, voted for Trump. Those with empathy are liberal, those without it conservative. Sympathy is an entirely different question.
1
Let's be civilized. Let's get violence and cruelty out of our lives.