Saturday, September 19, 2009

Defining Violence: Part I

I have come to believe that our collective memory and statistical misrepresentation deceive us in this discussion. Recent history is so much more vivid in our minds then all that preceded it. We feel the impact of this century all the more acutely in it’s relationship to ourselves and our more personal history. The 20th century saw the dawn of a horrific new type of war and the first two World Wars. All wars are terrible and violent. The wars of last century were bloody and costly but war, and the widespread death, and destruction it creates are not the only measures of violence.

Statistics (prior to the the 20th century) provide a vague -but ultimately unverifiable- notion of the cost of political and social violence in early modern times. The wars of the last century claimed the lives of more people than those of any previous century. However those wars engaged a smaller percent of the overall population then prior conflicts. 

  The emergence of modern European states from feudal kingdoms caused widespread conflict, and death. In order to maintain control of their empires the aristocracy imposed increasingly totalitarian authority over its people. Kings -and even petty Overlords- brutally suppressed rebellions, and carried out corporal punishment for public disobedience and political insubordination, which amounted to little less then government sponsored terrorism. Prior to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the Constitution of the United States ordinary people had virtually no rights under the law. Although Magna Carta did exist in England, it was only loosely enforced on behalf of the common man. 

  Beyond the abuses of power on the part of the nobility and the church European peasants lived harsh and often short lives. The region was plagued by famine and disease both of which had the most devastating impact on the very young and the very old. “In some areas of Europe, for example, smallpox was responsible for 10 to 15 percent of deaths, but most of the victims were ages ten or younger” (p. 621). Maternal and prenatal deaths were extremely high due often to the barbarous medical practices of the period. Lack of proper sanitation killed countless individuals in rural and urban areas. War, misfortune and malnutrition crippled and maimed men and women who were left without means to subsist to starve. 

  Is violence defined entirely by that which is done with malice or does it not extend to the whole of human suffering? People throughout the new world were enslaved, some in foreign countries, some in their own homes, for cheap labor. The many nations of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East tortured and executed people for their religious and political beliefs. Some indigenous populations were eradicated entirely by foreign pathogens. Greed, ignorance, disease, famine, religious fanaticism, as well as the general apathy of the gentry caused the death and suffering of people, in every corner of the world, to such a great extent that their impact cannot be calculated today. 

  It is impossible to project an alternative history to that of colonialism from this vantage point. It is too intrinsically inter-connected with our cultural, political, and social homogeneity for us to even attempt view the subject objectively. We cannot dissociate, or disentangle ourselves from it. Many of us feel compelled to defend colonial expansion to substantiate our right to the present. ‘Had our forbears not colonized the North American Continent then the world would be vastly different then it is today.’ Such statements are incontestable because there is no alternative history. We can only speculate on the outcome had not innumerable events occurred. 

  The Enlightenment, and the revolutionary ideals it generated, gave raise to political revolutions in American and Europe. The social reforms as they were implemented lead to a less than perfect union, but they laid the foundation upon which all basic human rights now rest. In the United States great progress was made during the 20th century to realize greater equality for women and minority groups, with relatively little violence. Although the advancement of political, religious, and legal equality was achieved largely in industrial nations, the significance of such developments emphasized the necessity for global recognition of greater human liberates. Historically in the 20th century living conditions, due in large part to advancements in medicine and agricultural productivity, improved dramatically for many people around the world. These improvements lead to statistical increases in over all life expectancy for people in most of the developed world, and rapid population grow. While all this changes do not counter balance the atrocities which occurred throughout the 20th century all over the world they represent a continuing shift forward for human kind.

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