Even though we have thousands of years of evidence to the contrary, we still believe that our next act of violence will be the one which finally puts an end to violence. “The War to end all Wars.” There is, of course, no such thing. For all our efforts to use violence to reduce the level of violence, the level of violence keeps rising.
Hmmm. Why is that?
Maybe it is because violence leads to more violence. Each act of violence intended to reduce violence, by its very nature, increases violence because it is itself . . . violent. And because it will prompt a violent response from others. Our act of violence intended to stop violence comes in response to a previous act of violence, itself intended as an act of violence to end some sort of violence previously experienced. In addition, our act of violence intended to stop violence prompts the same sort of response that prompted our act of violence to stop violence: “We can’t let them think they can get away with this. Take that!” The “that” which comes in response to our act of violence, is, no doubt, intended to reduce or end violence on our part. We, however, are more likely to think, “We can’t let them think they can get away with this. Take that!” Our response, no doubt, will be intended to reduce or end violence on their part.
What do you think will happen next?
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