Why We Live in a Culture of Violence (Part 3)

Anonymous

I thank you all my gag friends for all your support and all your criticism. For showing me all your personal, worries, examples, perspectives, and worldviews. All your interpretations and misinterpretations of my writings. Because they've motivated me to continue my thesis on our violent culture and what we can do about it.

Till now i've adressed a youth pop culture of piercings and tattoos and showed their potential dangers, their limiting of our scope, and our usual underlying motives in doing them. Some people expressed how they connected them with some important facts of their lives, but as we seen they migh not really be the optimal and more humane way of approaching this homage or healing. We give too much credit on external appearences and forget that everything begins and radiates from the inside. A house with a pest problem will not really freshen if you paint the outside walls. One might think i have overconcentrated my focus towards these practices, which isn't the case at all. My ultimate goal was to highlight the underlying violence throughout all our culture which i will briefly attempt to do now.

Violence is Everywhere

Why we live in a culture of violence Part 3

There is violence in our homes, violence is our schools, bullying, violence in our families, violence against adults, today we observe violence even amongst preschool children!

Violence in the working world, the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest, seeing others as competitors instead as partners and co-creators.

Violence in kids cartoons, in video games, in our music, violence in the internet, cyber bullying, violence in movies. Which we have completely normalised by the way. And we even seek that violence. Why though? Why this rationalisation of this "fake" violence? And why do we seek it so desperately? What's the appeal and thrill to horror movies or action packed rampages where the hero massacres his way leaving a path of explosions and mayhem behind? Or why seek games where supremacy over the others with any means is the goal?

Violence against the state, violence of the state against us. Violence of states amongst each other.

Violence in our debates, in our tv news, in the debates of the news' windows "discussers". (thats far from true discussion). Violence in the depths of our very hearts.

Violence against our environment. Against our body and our health (tattoos, piercings, alcohol, smoking, diet, self image issues and comparisons, self harm, depression, 50 shades of decay culture etc.).

Violence of depersonifying exhaustion (slandering and gossip).

Envy, the woodworm of the soul, amogst women, amogst men, over better looking people, happier people etc.

With violence saturating throughout the whole societal culture and structure, one could argue, humanity is inherently violent. Is it though? Do the masses depict the real potential of humanity? Does a mass pandemic of majority really define the state of health and normality? Or is the very same innate agapetic proclivity of the human psyche which is potent for the highest empathetic virtues, just misused and misdirected?

Allow me a small parenthesis here.

Why We Live in a Culture of Violence (Part 3)

Many kids and some not so small "kids" came to the previous takes with the argument "my body, my choice", and "why don't you just mind your own business? why care what others do?" If i don't care, and i just mind my own business, if you don't care and you mind your own business. Who will care? Isn't that toxic individuality mindset the source of most our miseries?

Yeah, sure lets all become individualistic opportunists and hedonists, that just exist on this earth to get things. To leech like energetic, emotional and materialistic parasites its resourses and its habitants, our fellow humans. There is no past, no values, no lessons to be learnt, no humility, no Memory, No future which holds me responsible against the generations to come. In my conquest for personal "bliss" i shall destroy the environment in the process, perpetuate violence, use and manipulate others, and above all, mind my own business. Or just... live and die like nothing happened. Like noone passed from this earth. What the broad masses historically settled for. And I shall never even dare to challenge the infallible individual's divine right of choice today, right? Well i'm sorry but that's not the case.

There is such a thing as a foul will. Oh yes modern western human! i know you are suprised! Just because your current self desires something this desire isn't self justifiable. you are not an absolute authority on your own nor do individual truths exist. Nor do all desires spring from a healthier cordial substratum. individualism is the mother of all divisions, there can be only one universal Truth. if your life, thoughts, desires and heart aren't revolved around that cosmos, or are at least somewhat adjusted around these globally accepted humane values, and a level of inner peace hasn't been reached, you are a potential danger against Humanity and yourself. And while this seems like a partial deprivation of freedom, on the contrary, its the absolute freedom, to be relieved by your prejudices and all the bondages that limit your spirit, and divide you from others.

Many told me how they study to become scientists etc, but at the same time held views like rationalised violence, lack of environmental consciousness, or historical context. Yes, if i'm not completely parasiting, I might even leave some artistic, business, or scientific work behind. But have i filtered that through the prism of discretion? Is it really useful for humanity and what will its longterm consequences be? Did i make my priority the protection of Innocents from Barbarism while developing it? Is it an ephemeral business project or uplifting everlasting Work?

And do you think this is really the no 1 priority the world needs from you? Your mere intellectual contribution? (but done out of context and without discretion)? No, the world needs First of all, your heart, your love, your empathy, your hollistic health. Your neighbor or homeless guy around your block needs your word of kindness, your interest, your time. the highest gift you can give to people on this earth is Time. The world needs you to be happy as well, so it can be happy itself consequentially. But not in the foul sense this society perceives happiness but as we'll see real happiness is later. In balance with your self, with your environment and with other humans. Healthy, radiant, abundant, conscious, and happily giving free what you received for free.

Violence as a domino effect/vicious cycle

Why We Live in a Culture of Violence (Part 3)

Humans, unfortunately, due to the strong power of habbit, and also due to prejudice, lack of knowledge, misinformation, lack of discretion, and lack of care, induldge frequently in self defeating attitudes.

You've heard of the saying violence breeds violence. That's true, and its subtleties and consequences go deeper than epidermically meet the eyes.

Now let's examine some ways in which the vicious cycle of violence manifests. Some thought experiments/examples:

Example1

Man is resenting himself for never being able to stand up to his manipulative mother. Man chooses to drink instead of facing his life matters. He becomes alcoholic. Man makes a family and becomes a father. Has three kids, two daughters and a son. Father comes drunk from the shebeen, terrorises and beats family almost daily. The neighbors notice but do nothing about it. Wife becomes catatonic. Kids become psychologically traumatised. Kids go to school but are too quiet. Other kids with the opposite tendencies interpret that as weakness and bully them. other kids with a weake will though witness the incidents, but do nothing about it. Father's kids build resentment and self loathing. Some years later the father dies from liver cirrhosis. The boy grows to be an anarchic that destroys people's properties and labor with the pretext of his world transforming political ideology. The middle daughter becomes a stripper, lives a life of drug addiction, failed relationships, and dwells in a seemingly endless sequence of poor, self beating choices, a downward spiral. The little daugher on the other hand, becomes a doctor without borders and chooses to dedicate her life in offering, but she has never really managed to develop the ability to relate to men, and unfortunately dies a bachelor.

Out of our example there was 1 good outcome (and even that never managed to leave flowers behind). but how many collateral damage had to happen for that one little beam of light to occur? Was all this pain, tragedy, and infectious never ending violence really needed? If the father could confront his mother, and embrace her, or even make his own fresh start, wouldn't all these series of unfortunate events be avoided? If all seeked higher consciousness and were shown the path to progress. Do you really think that from a peaceful, loving environment, progress is impossible to sprout?

Example 2

Let's call me Jenny i'll be our "guinea pig" for the next example. Some really "The butterfly effect" stuff are going to take place. You've been warned. ps: this is not my real life in case you wonder. i just use the first person to not enrage some people.

Jenny has an appetite for "good food" (lots of quotation marks). I really like my steaks, my barbeques every Sunday etc. Little did I know I would at some point develop heart disease. I've put my kids in that diet as well. Both my kids follow the standard American diet, have their fair share of fast food and sodas, and both are morbidly obese. Jenny doesn't just have an appetite for animal meat, no. She seems to do very well with human meat as well. Through various schemes, plotting, lots of slandering, and even more butt kissing i managed to climb my way up in the hierarchical ladder of my company. Most people hate me there and talk trash behind my back, but that doesn't stop me from being content with the level of superficial relationships i've surrounded my life with. I feel quite bloated, dazed and confused each day. I even have a chronic insomnia issue, but nothing a few prescripted pills can't solve right? And nothing that can stop me from greedily thirsting all the more power in my company. I'm still the sharpest there ain't that right? I can still get them! A huge wave of immigrants found refuge in our city recently. Many citizens manage to help the people, but the obese Jenny family can only sit on her couch and watch the next trash tv program. People die outside her yard but who cares right? (violence isn't only actions, they are inactions as well). Seeing her apathy an enraged immigrant who begged her for a little bread, but she has cussed and sent away earlier this day, tries to take the life of his kids in his hands. They are starving and there is no other solution. No more begging. He takes a brick and breaks the glass of our living room to attempt burglary. Who could have guessed what my day off the job would develop like right? My older son is physically injured in the process. When the police came the theft has already taken whatever he could from our fridge and whatever gold from my jewllery box. My husband came from his work. We discuss over it in a rushed, superficial way. We don't really talk with each other. Our relationship is as superficial as it is with everyone else around me. The kids are quite angry, playing violent video games, secretely watch hardcore porn, and the bigger son bullies the smaller one. Both kids show surprising apathy and boredom for their age. To make it much shorter i'll do some huge logical and time leaps now. The Jenny family has certain habbits, they use water without discretion, watering their useless lawn, kids playing with it in the summer all day long, showering endless hours, shooting the car with the hose to wash it. The family also produces huge amounts of garbage, doesn't produce anything food-wise, and gets all its foods processed. Uses a diesel car that pollutes the environment. And thows its toxical household chemicals in the nearby forest. What does my husband do exactly for a living? He is a factory owner. Profit is his highest concern. He pollutes the environment, throws his industrial waste in the seas, and contributes to the greenhouse effect with his fumes. Now the corals that get hurt by his sea waste, create imbalances to the topical ecosystem. This creates a chain of effects that ends up disturbing the population of seagulls. Which in turn forces a premature migration of them in a climate that is not yet ready to host them. Let's see now the Johnsons. The Johnsons are farmers and our neigbors in our summer house. The father Johnson is not well informed and does exactly what his parents use to do. mindless use of industrial agriculture methods, and of chemical pesticides. Now the topical water supple is polluted. Many kids are born with down syndrom. The more intense the use of the chemicals, the more cases of abnormal births each decade. The actual fertile soil is depleted more with each year. Genetically mutated produce substitutes traditional seeds, because the imbalances ourselves create on the earth, make the ground and atmosphere all the more hostile to aid fruition. And our kids eat gradually even more nutrient depleted produce with more toxins as well. Our kids keep having more and more autoimmune diseases, allergies and infantile cancers each year.

Now if the world, i say if, it had lots and lots of Jenny families, and Johnsons, (theoretically talking always), and if these "absurdities" of chain events "could ever resemble" reality, how would the world be like?

To be continued.... .

Why We Live in a Culture of Violence (Part 3)
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