Forunately for me, I am insulated from the majority of violence in the world. No domestic abuse, not in a war zone, don't engage in criminal activity, live in a fairly quiet city, etc etc etc. However, although I live below the poverty line, I am in the US and I will eat tonight and I live in relative luxury but that is unlike the vast majority of the world's population.
It is easy in our ivory towers to say that humans are not a violent species when in fact the history of humanity and a quick look at current geopolitical affairs quickly puts the lie to that. And by ivory towers I pretty much mean any of us here in this forum with the time to spend experimenting with what we do; we are the fortunate ones in this world. Look at a picture of Mosul from yesterday and ask if we are violent.
I smoked weed with a 23 year old combat vet yesterday, really nice kid. He told me some of the horrible things he saw in Afghanistan, clearing homes where ISIS had gone in and raped and killed entire families, enemy soldiers falling in his rifle scope. He told me he had some difficulty with the memories of dead children, but his regret was not knowing if he had killed anyone. He had entered the Army and gone to war because that is what he wanted. When he said this, he smiled. Again, really nice kid, and I mean it.
Are we violent? Why do people watch movies like "Saw"? I cannot answer that and I wish I could. I love horror movies, lurid monsters and skulls leered from movie posters all over my childhood room, to this day I love the cheesy violence of watching impossible scenarios play out in films. But when a girlfriend and I rented "The Hills Have Eyes" remake, I had to turn it off and was literally sick to my stomach at the horror it depicted with ultra-realism.
I do not understand the desensitization to the pain of other human beings that seems to be the norm for the culture I live in. It glorifies violence and holds greed up as a standard to admire. I don't understand a lot of things about it, and unfortunately, the wiser I get the less I do. But I don't think that puts me in the majority. I hear a lot about love and compassion, empathy and kindness being motivating factors in people's actions but I don't see a lot of it.
I guess in answer to the question, yes. But that does not mean that we have to be. It is possible to live with loving kindness, to give without expectation and to therefore affect the others around you to do the same. It takes action to be non-violent, just as it takes action to be violent. Going out in the street and yelling at pro-Trump supporters is not the type of action I mean, but rather volunteering at a homeless shelter, being a reading tutor to a cognitively-challenged adult, doing something for someone and your community that needs doing. You can't take a piece of dark and darken up a room, but you can light a little candle and the furthest corner of it will be illuminated.
dragonrider said:
I think statistics show that in most western countries, the amount of violent crimes is slowly decreasing, probably due to an aging population.
Can you elaborate on the aging population bit, I don't follow. Also, what are you basing the comment on increasing violent crime rates? FWIU, in the US, violence has been declining now for decades, although the last few years may have seen an uptick.
exquisitus said:
op nailed it. yes. as a species.
for those who search (perhaps not available in english) there is a body of scientific research that is quite solid imho.
I am not too lazy to perform a search and would like to see what you refer to, but I'm going to need a little better hint than that.