THE REVOLUTION IS KNOCKING -- PT. 2

Violence isn't the answer to the very large societal problems we are faced with.

I've written this numerous times lately in response to various posts I've read in Internet forums. I think the people who really want a violent shot at revolution are a small minority, but there's no doubting that there's a lot of anger out there.

To me, violence is morally wrong and strategically flawed.

Violence should only be an option in truly defensive situations. Aggression always carries a high price and rarely leads to a peaceful "new order." It tends to take on a life of its own -- at least somewhat beyond the control of the participants -- and to lead either to centralized power or a vacuum for chaos to slip into rather than a space for logic, reason and compassion to fill.

Many people who advocate violent means -- and they may believe passionately it is the best way to peace and equality -- don't really understand violence, in much the same way that many reckless drivers have not spent much time in trauma wards seeing the broken bodies and head injuries that result from car accidents.

The people advocating violent revolution also tend to want change NOW because they are fed up (understandably) and feel that nothing is changing. I would contend that a great deal is changing and that a new social order must be built in increments, cooperatively and thoughtfully. Yes, the clock is ticking on the environment, the starving millions and nuclear doomsday. This means more people must be persuaded to join the charge for social change and we all must work harder. It does NOT mean that violent revolution will magically install a new status quo that will solve these things. It won't.

Furthermore, coordinating a revolution of force is not simply achieved and I don't believe that it could even be seriously initiated in the U.S. You don't just send out an email blast and get millions of armed people in the street, well marshaled, trained, supplied and so forth. It's not going to happen. You might get semi-minor uprisings but that will just be an excuse for the Establishment to bring out the iron fist and then spin it all in the media. It MAY gain some sympathy with the masses, but it's an extreme wager for a doubtful return. Put simply, there are better ways to achieve any of the positive outcomes that may (or may not) result from violent measures.

Violence begets violence. War begets war. To resort to mass violence would be to mimic those we most despise and wish to depose. We would become like them. We would be history repeating itself. And we would be perpetuating a pattern that will inevitably result in more violent upheavals down the track.

There is no perfect solution, no quick fix, and we will never have a perfect society. But with hard work, determination, and the better angels of our nature driving us on, we CAN achieve a vastly changed world that will work for the majority, not the minority.

From there we can work together to continue making improvements.

Take care,
Adrian

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at THE REVOLUTION IS KNOCKING -- PT. 1.

THE DEATH PENALTY -- PART 3: WHAT NOW?

I used to support the death penalty.

And I despise violent crime as much as anyone. It's easy to hate someone who perpetrates an act that deprives another of their life or their humanity.

But the fact is, we diminish our own humanity, as a race, by condoning the death penalty. It appeals to our sense of vengeance rather than our sense of decency.

One does not have to side with the criminal or forgive the crime to say no to executions. One only has to look within and see that our desire to take an eye for an eye stems from our own worst impulses.

Furthermore:

-- The law, such as it is in any given case, often gets it wrong. How can we live with that?
-- And did you know that it generally costs more to put someone to death, after all the appeals and so forth, than it does to incarcerate them for life?
-- And is life without parole really letting the murderer off lightly? If you know anything about prisons, you know the answer to that is "no."
-- And execution, in any form, is neither clinical nor humane. Even death by lethal injection is horrendously cruel: The sedated inmate may look calm on the outside but his/her internal organs are erupting as the poisons flow into his/her system. If execution is not cruel and unusual punishment, what is?
-- If death penalties are supposed to send a message about murder, shouldn't they be applied to the White House?
-- The United Nations, that body that the U.S. alternately dominates and disregards, has condemned the death penalty. http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/un-calls-halt-executions-20071218

The U.S. is behind the rest of the so-called democratic world on this issue when it should be leading the way. Why are we so barbaric?

We must ALWAYS think of the victims and their families. But we should also bear in mind that those closest to tragedy are in the worst position to adjudicate on the crime. It is emotion, as much as anything, that continues to fuel the death engine.

So what can you do?

Here is a link about 10-10-2010, "World Day Against the Death Penalty":
http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/world-day-against-the-death-penalty-october-10-2010/page.do?id=1721023 It includes a link to 10 things you can do. Some are very simple. But every voice counts.

Another good site for information: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

If we are to have a more humane world, then we must become more humane. There is no greater test of that than mercy for those who are most easy to despise.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS POST INTERESTING you might like to read "THE DEATH PENALTY -- PT. 1: SOME BACKGROUND" and "THE DEATH PENALTY -- PT. 2: I AM TROY DAVIS".