Violence

Tokyo subway

Violence is both a disease and a symptom of stress. This is true on an individual and societal level. The recent situation in Afghanistan is an illustration of the contagious and cyclic nature of violence in human groups. The infusion of manipulative religiosity by the Taliban illustrates the role of sectarianism in the cycle of violence throughout the ages.

A warlike society will not contain or diminish violence in another warlike society. The absurd assumption that this would be possible doomed the American Afghanistan War from its beginning. Any understanding of human psychology, based on a long history of war and violence, would have brought our leaders to this obvious conclusion before expending our national and human capital in that country. 

Here in Boston, as a highly publicized trial of drug-dealing murders comes to a conclusion, one community activist declared that it will take more than prayers and fasting in Black churches to end the violence in the Mattapan neighborhood. To this I say "Amen". Mattapan is poor, crowded and insular. Perfect conditions for violence. The municipal government has done little to address these factors by innovative infrastructure investment and innovative law enforcement. Part of the problem has been the municipal government's catering to publicity-seeking religious leaders over city officials, including law enforcement. 

I envy those whose lives have not been touched by violence. The affluent in the U.S. have turned to child rearing which excludes violent discipline as an option. This is producing a young adult generation, perhaps a minority among their peers, who are less prone to violence from their development. It is my hope that these young adults will gravitate to careers which will allow them to share the example of their freedom from violence.  It is my hope they will pursue careers in politics and education. They may gradually spread an a awareness of the value of a nonviolent life. 

In an increasingly stressful and crowded world, individual practice may be necessary to avoid violence. Crowded urban situations hold the potential for violence, especially when alcohol is in play. Human beings stressed by crowded confinement on subway trains often display marginally violent behavior. Pushing, shoving and elbowing. Human beings can become inured to violence. This is common is war zones and societies riven by chronic civil war. For all their howling, the Afghans are notorious throughout history for chronic tribal violence. It is a rough country with limited fertile land. 

I maintain that any humanist must be committed to nonviolence as any commitment to human progress. This means being anti-war. This means being against aggressive physical acts of any kind which may promote, rather than quell, violence in normal human affairs. The job of law enforcement and the military should be the prevention and containment of violence. Modern technology has ample tools for these functions. The days of armed men attacking other armed men on the ground to prove some point or to maintain the control of autocrats should be numbered if the international politicians are indeed committed to peace and human progress.