“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” -Gandhi
This has been a year of violence. The violence of police brutality has lead to violent, and peaceful, protests in many parts of America. Of course the usual rhetoric around these types of events is that violence is not the answer. But to play devil’s advocate, is that really true? Our non-violent protests have earned results, but mainly due to the grotesque violence inflicted upon them being seen on TV and shocking the country. This lead to more support for the peaceful prtesters which helped strengthen their cause. At the same time, the threat of violent protests showed the public what may happen if the peaceful protests are not heard. To be frank, our country is built on violence. The violence of slavery, the violence against the native people, the violence against other countries to gain freedom and territory and even violence that split this country into two warring sides. This may also be the reason violent protests are feared so greatly, they may actually create change.
On the other hand, violence may be the bane of our country’s existence. Some may argue we gained freedom through violence, but violence was a last resort. Violence for the most part has only caused systemic problems in our country. The violence of the civil rights movement and the Civil War would not have existed without the initial violence of slavery. The violence of the wars with the natives would not have existed without the initial violence inflicted upon them by their new neighbors. Violence does indeed beget more violence. It lead us to the point where we have weapons that can literally detroy humanity in its entirety. The frustrations of the violent protests are understandable, but the reality is usually the neighborhoods the frustrated parties live in are the ones that are decimated. Violence usually has not created many lasting positive results.
To me, violence seems to not be a valid answer. We as a global society have gotten into a cycle of violence. It makes it harder to be peaceful when that peace can be met with the violent cycle. Examples of that include the martyrdoms of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and countless others known and unknown. Some argue that peaceful protests have only gotten the disadvantaged to a certain point, but violent protests will probably only continue to push us back. I do think of things like Haiti’s revolution where slaves actually gained independence through war, but that was a different time and different circumstances. The disadvantaged in America could not win a violent war, with America having one of if not the best armed forces in this world’s history. Plus what would we gain through violence since we would have to probably use violence or the threat of it to sustain what was created. This cycle would continue. I’m not sure the answer but one thing I’m sure, it’s not violence.
