The Nature of Violence
Posted on December 19, 2003
Filed Under stories
Written when I was a wee lad of 19, I had all but forgotten about this piece until I recently stumbled upon a college friend’s website where he is hosting archives of an online journal project he and I were involved with. While I’m certainly not impressed by my writing (almost embarassed by it, really), this piece is still important to me because it reflects some of my younger thoughts on non-violence.
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I went to the woods to get away. And I managed to get away from all the petty responsibilities of modern life. I was responsible only to the call of nature. Called to worship the sunshine, I laid down in a field and let the sun bathe me in light. The cooler shade provides a shelter when the rays of the sun begin to drain my energy. The river by our campsite sweeps a cool breeze through the forest, while the sandy shore provides a warm escape from the bitter, breathtaking chill of the water. The tiresome, never ending ascents of Looking Glass Rock steal the energy of the body, but the vistas from the bald rejuvenate the soul. All nature, including human kind, is a balance. It is a struggle of opposites to keep that balance. The opposites are as simple as hot and cold, dry and wet, exhaustion and rejuvenation; and they are all around us. Each life is a constant experience of opposing forces. As these forces struggle with one another, a balance is defined. While the struggle may not always be apparent, the resulting beauty through peace and harmony is vivid.
Human beings have tried to mimic Nature in many ways. All that we know, all that we are, comes from Nature. We observe the erupting volcano and call it violent. We see animals hunt smaller animals and call it violent. We have seen how the clash of opposing forces creates peace in nature, but we try to justify our violence by finding its root in the natural world. We put animals in cages, evoke expressions of rage from them, then expect human beings to act similar. We will act similar. Prisoners, when mistreated by guards, will act as animals. Jews in the Holocaust resorted to stealing from fellow Jews simply to stay alive. But is this natural? No. The lessons of Nature have all too often been misinterpreted. Our misunderstanding is reflected in much of our philosophy. Aristotle says that war is necessary for peace. Psychologists and sociologists say that violence is an inherent characteristic of human beings. Violence has unfortunately become a common means of communication between two with differing viewpoints. But we have done our study of Nature a horrible disservice; we have grasped on to the method of production and forgotten what we are producing. We are different than our brothers and sisters in nature in that our struggle between people is violence. We struggle with others in hopes to outdo them, to make ourselves feel superior, and the result is a relationship of bitterness and alienation. If someone withstands our onslaughts that heightens our desires to defeat them. Why? What is it that makes human beings so vengeful?
What makes our vision incomplete is our lack of a bridge. Peace is our goal, but we need a bridge to achieve that state of peace. What better method of bringing about a state of harmony than by employing a philosophy derived from the goal? Peace must be the means by which we bring about peace. Our criminal justice system tries to teach that killing is wrong by killing wrongdoers. Capital punishment prolongs violence in our society by teaching that there are circumstances where violence is appropriate. If most of us were hit by a stranger, we’d be likely to defend ourselves by hitting back, or at least engaging in the fight. By responding in a violent manner, you’ve let the other person determine your means of communication for you. They’ve chosen violence as your tool of relation, and you’ve gone along with them. Wouldn’t a more rationally appropriate reaction be an attempt at understanding? Wouldn’t more good come from a relationship that wanted to build community? This sounds radically idealistic, but maybe the Truth is. Does an executed prisoner “learn his/her lesson” in the electric chair? Attempts at rehabilitation would be much more beneficial to both the aggrieved individual and the society. If, when demanding your civil rights, you are hit over the head and you do not respond with violence, your attacker is more likely to think about why he/she hit you. If you hit back, you’ve justified their initiation of hatred.
Human beings have the unique capacity to think rationally. We have designed systems of morals and are constantly struggling to adapt our own applicable interpretations to our individual lives. If any animal has the instinct of survival, should the basis of morality be survival? It needs to be something that exemplifies our rational capacities, something that will build community. An ideology of nonviolence proposes that, in all human relations, we should strive through love for a more understanding society.
Peace is not any more complex than listening, regardless of what experts in Washington may say. We human beings have a unique ability to realize our potential, to evaluate our current position and strive for more. We seem, then, to be the most likely candidates for achieving such a harmonious balance in our relations. Why then are violence and racism still defining characteristics of our culture? Why aren’t we defining our own culture?
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