Violence: SOS
The other night, at Communitas’ Open Door, our friend Rosalie give a powerful and poignant talk on the dangers and problems caused by violence. From imprisonment, to conjugal – and many places in between. This Sunday Thought is not meant to be a regurgitation of that talk – you had to be there to feel the power, stimulation, and relevance of it. That is one of the things that makes 22 years and counting of Open Door special. Rather this are my thoughts on the issue.
Violence exists in society. That is just a fact. None of our stories, nor histories talk about a society that did not have violence as part of it. The celebration of violence, that is another matter. Just look at what is the most successful sport in North America – Football. Is there a more violent sport? Probably, but it ranks up there amongst any organized team sports.
Some thoughts on violence:
- There is jealousy in society – and while we were warned early on to not covet what did not belong to us, it seems that warning for too many fell on deaf ears.
- Scarcity – for generation upon generation, subsistence farmers had to plow, and harvest, and hope that they could grow enough to survive. Industrialization brought new problems, but it also started to usher in an era of plenty. In North America – and many other places that are not ravaged by war, plagues, and gross misgovernment, there is not plenty of food. Better policies could also ensure the distribution of this food, so that we would all have plenty. No, we would not have to forsake the benefit of a market economy. Rather we need to change our thinking to understand that if we are all better off, we are all better off.
- Finally, while most people are good most of the time – there are those that are not. Call them sociopaths, or psychopaths, or just evil. They exist. We need rules to protect us from the problems they cause – but the more laws we have, the more people become law-breakers. We need to take a Restorative Justice approach to our world view.
If we are all better off, we are all better off.
Finally, many of the above comments might seem pie in the sky. They need not be. Better education – and it can be self-education, of skills, and an understanding of economics and financial literacy could help so many of us make better choices. Better choices and a voice to demand better policies from our leaders. Our leaders suffer from the same misconception – of scarcity – that much of the population thinks.
Also, be kind. That may sound trite to you, but trust me it is not. We are ALL not kind all of the time. But the more that you are kind, the better the world around us becomes. A kind world finds ways to lessen or even eliminate violence. Things are better than they were. We still have further to go.
Just a Sunday Thought
Lino Matteo ©™
Twitter @Lino_Matteo
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