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The real problem facing the world, is the acceptance of violence.

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
I don't accept this narrative that violence is merely a symptom of social deprivation. Humans are predisposed to violence and have actually degenerated into brutish Matter and tailored a society where violence has become sport and humiliation entertainment. The malaise is spiritual not economic.

A lot of the younger generation have been mollycoddled by their parents and no one has ever said 'no' to them so when they reach adulthood they react violently to the fact not everyone concurs with their simplistic Manichaen 'good versus evil' view of the world.

I come from a fairly humble background myself and didn't have a PC in the mid-nineties unlike others my age but I didn't go out looting, stealing and killing because of this. Wealth inequalities cannot justify the wanton destruction of property and thuggish behaviour.

I didn't say that it "justified" violence; it's just a natural consequence. It's just like the saying goes "If you want peace, you must work for justice." No justice, no peace. It's as simple as that. People who accept an unjust world because "that's the way it is" have absolutely no business complaining about any violence whatsoever.
However, I agree that humans are predisposed to violence and that our culture seems to include much glorification of violence and thuggish behavior. We even have war monuments, public holidays, and other such solemn occasions where we honor those who fight and kill around the globe, in order to "make the world safe for democracy" or something like that. But there are also plenty of TV shows, movies, books, music, video games, etc. which might depict and glorify violence.

Even as a kid, I remember we'd watch movies with explosions or shootings or other blood-and-guts type scenes where all us guys would go "Whoa, that's really cool, man!" I'd get that vibe when attending midnight showings of "Dawn of the Dead." Of course, it's all make believe. Nobody is actually dying, but we still like the visual display just the same.

That is somewhat of a puzzler, I'll admit, especially since those who look at it can act so tough and indifferent when it's on a movie screen, yet most would probably fall apart into tears if they had to deal with such things in real life.
 

paramecium

Member
I've always had an aversion to not only actual physical violence but also depictions of violence in media. I find ninety-eight percent of popular culture, including action movies and violent computer games unpalatable, fortunately. I've always existed in a vacuum from popular culture and it really should be consigned to the dustbin as the disposable garbage it is.

Television should only broadcast educational programming and natural history documentaries.

All fictional depictions of historical events would be forbidden as invariably they are biased, distorted and sensationalized.
 
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Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member

For both of you: Violent Crime Rates By Country 2020

Notice how all of these homocide rates are less than 0.001% per capita? How is something with a less than 0.001% incidence rate worldwide "commonplace" or anything other than rare? Even if we were to include less extreme examples of violent crime
, do you
really think we'd end up with over 1% per capita (which would still be very far from commonplace)? I sure don't. If violent crime was that common, it wouldn't be news.

I'll grant possible exception for domestic abuse. That is, sadly, probably a lot more frequent than reported. In any case, violent behavior still isn't the default of any animal, humans or otherwise. It is part of animal behavior, and it is there with good reason. If you as a species can't defend your young from threats or obtain resources you need for survival, you're toast. There are a variety of evolutionary strategies for dealing with that. In a species that is fundamentally social, defending your young an obtaining resources alongside members of your species is not optional and that results in either cooperation or conflict. Not that humans are in any danger of extinction, but all organisms have evolutionarily-derived behaviors like cooperation and conflict are not going to go away in a few hundred generations because they confer (and still confer) important survival advantages.

I assume this isn't taken into account crimes that happen "behind doors"? Stats are fine but reality is beyond the stats. I'm not sure why people hold so close to data as opposed to the common exceptions.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
The point is, though, that's how it is used "here." It has a racist connotation and to many African Americans perceived as criminals and gang members for their looks, where they live, how they speak, and such, in many cases it's a bad word.

It's original origin is besides the point.
Word origins is kind of important, because a lot of us here use the word, here and now, in a manner that reflects the original usuage
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Humans aren't that much different. We live in a dog-eat-dog society where people struggle to keep up with the Joneses and live by a philosophy of "he who dies with the most toys wins."
That isnt humans in general. America most certainly in general, but not humans in general.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
Word origins is kind of important, because a lot of us here use the word, here and now, in a manner that reflects the original usuage

English words have different connotations to it. For example, you can use a** as a normal word but the context and place in which it is used determines whether it's an insult, bad word, animal, or just a saliors mouth without intent to offend by ones language word choice.

That's just how language works. I made my comment to the OP. The words origin and how some people use it without negative connotation doesn't exlude the fact that it does in the US. I live and am from the US so that's how I perceive the word. People perceive words differently based on their language use, context, culture, and biases.

It is nothing personal. Just caught my attention when replying to the OP.
 

Saint Frankenstein

Gone
Premium Member
Violent behaviour has become accepted and normalized and thugs are venerated. Murder has become a form of self-expression. All forms of violence should be verboten, including simulated violence which precipitates actual violence. Humanity cannot progress as a species until violence is completely abandoned.
I'm sorry you live in a lawless failed society ruled by warlords. Stay safe! Internet must be spotty there, too!
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Plenty of animals are herbivores and humans can subsist on a vegetarian diet.
Even herbivores eat insects through incidental ingestion.
Plants have evolved defenses against predation so even though without a central nervous system they may not experience pain stimuli in quite the same way as animals, they do emit high frequency sounds when distressed by environmental stresses. There is evidence for this.

We as human beings need to completely rethink ethics of nonviolence (actually having some would be a good start) and adopt Jain practices of ahimsa for the benefit of all sentient life.

We have encroached upon the natural habitats of other species leading to an unparalleled loss of biodiversity. For this reason I would support lowering the human birth rate and maybe even consider nonviolently phasing out the entire human species.
I think goats should take over. They are a lot less prone to eat meat then I originally thought.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.181078
 
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