Why use violence?
What makes someone hit another person? What is their reason? Maybe jealousy, two men fighting over a pretty girl as we so often see in Hollywood movies. Hatred, you’ve been bullied and now you plan to take revenge in the most painful way. Entertainment, a group of youngsters attacking an innocent person while filming it on their cell phone. Sadism, the enjoyment of seeing someone else in pain.
We use violence when the words we say doesn’t go the distance anymore. When we’re so affected by our feelings that we need to express ourselves clearer. No one uses violence for no reason, there’s always a reason, a feeling inside of us, emerging to the surface and brought to life by a punch to the shoulder or maybe even a headbutt. Feelings like the rebels in Egypt had, having been suppressed for so long and at last rebelling, which turned into a blood filled violent chaos with people dying for their beliefs and eager for freedom. Violence can also be used to create a statement. “Look at me, I have power, fear me.” If Hosni Mubarak really had felt that he was a good leader to his people, he wouldn’t have had to use violence and make his army kill over 800 people. Just browse through the world’s history and you’ll find loads of examples of leaders who needed to use violence to keep their power.
As a pacifist I don’t believe that the use of violence is the best way to solve problems, but I still want to say that getting physical is quite natural. The human being is modified, we’ve developed so much through the entire existence of human kind, the society has changed and now it isn’t socially accepted that two men fight for the best territory. Now we go house hunting with our realtor and if more people want the place, we compete about getting it, not by fighting but by bidding. But in the animal kingdom the evidence of our true existence is preserved. Fighting for the best territory is very common as we see lions, elephants, rhinoceros and many more animals do it.
When I look up “violence” in my dictionary it says “action or behaviour involving the use of physical power with the intention to hurt or kill someone”. But what about the most horrible type of violence? The one that’s turned inwards. When the sadness and the hatred towards yourself becomes so strong that you feel like you have to hurt yourself. The violence you practise toward yourself can come to life in many different ways. You tell yourself that you’re ugly, you stop eating because you think you’re fat, you cut yourself because..? Because someone told you that you were fat, stupid or ugly? Because instead of hitting you with their fist they hit you with their words and the violent pain they would’ve inflicted on you has now turned into rough words and they hit you hard. But words aren’t real, they don’t bleed, you can’t touch them so you cut yourself to see something real. Some people say that the physical pain is easier to deal with than the pain in your mind.
Picture from syracuse.com, taken by Sebastian Scheiner/AP. I take no credit for this photo.
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I hope you liked it, please don't re-post it anywhere or use it yourself as a school assignment.
- Elk
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