Racial violence, ethnic violence, family violence, sexual violence, political violence, the violence of addictions, the violence of poverty and of wealth, the violence of the market, the violence of media. Where does it end?
There is an aspect to the issue of violence that is often overlooked: the role which ideology plays in all social interactions, or rather the elevation of one single idea to oppress others.
I don’t see how solutions to these problems will ever be found until we get a handle on the relationship between ingrained ideologies and the health of ourselves, our families, our communities and our institutions.
On one hand solving the problem of violence and oppression can only be achieved by a community (or family) as a whole, but in order for that to happen, community (and family) must be recognized as a living organic entity, similar to both institutions and individuals. Communities are neither merely collections of individuals, nor merely legal entities presided over by local institutions, nor mere places on a map. Each of them is distinguished by unique qualities that can be traced to the essential nature of the relationships between the people within it.
I have lived in many places from farming communities, to industrial towns, to cities in excess of 10 million people, to an isolated village north of the Arctic Circle. In every single one of those localities the dominant attitude was not how to destroy one another but to build and maintain an environment in which everyone is equal, everyone can participate, everyone has the right to love, respect and friendship, everyone can contribute to the common welfare- though these are attitudes that are not often articulated.
Each community had certain characteristics that distinguished it. In one cooperation was seen as necessary; in another a recognized need for tolerance and acceptance; another embodied a culture of respect; and in one an over-riding belief in individual freedom. But not all those communities shared those qualities to the same extent. Each was unique.
And in each, oppressive and violent attitudes, in many forms, threatened to undermine that community spirit. We have all experienced things like condescension, prejudice, manipulation, subtle suggestions and exaggerations intended to harm, destructive criticism and many of us have experienced physical violence. They are all damaging.
These are the real enemies of collective life on our planet, in our nations, our communities and our personal relationships.
On the other hand, we must face the challenge of individually ridding ourselves of oppressive attitudes founded ideas that are allowed to grow to such proportions that they dominate every other idea.
While it is not difficult to find an example to illustrate the way one idea becomes an obsession, it is difficult to choose one from among the infinite number of them. It is even harder when one realizes that every example is going to strike a nerve.
Consider the man or woman who has the idea that a loving relationship means that their mate must give up all personal freedom in the name of love.
Consider the member of a minority group who decides that each and every one of their troubles is caused by all the people of the majority population, or the member of a majority population that believes that all troubles are caused by all minorities.
Consider the man who believes that the only way to be a man is to be the toughest, or the woman who believes the only way to be a woman is to be the sexiest... or vice-versa.
Each and every one of these scenarios is inherently oppressive and potentially violent by virtue of the fact that one single idea takes on unreal proportions. In fact, the attitude becomes a mental illness that harms every individual, relationship, family, community and institution that it infects.
Another way to look at oppression is from the perspective of the ideas themselves:
When the idea of race is articulated as a theme for social action, it becomes racism and carried into the most violent extreme becomes ethnic cleansing. When the idea of nation is formulated as a social platform, it becomes nationalism, whose ultimate form is fascism. The idea of the individual can turn into individualism, and ultimately anarchy.
Every idea has its place, but no idea is worth mental, emotional, or physical violence or worth being used as an excuse for the oppression of others.
Not one… whether built on religious, scientific, cultural, economic or any other foundation. Ideological bullying is wrong.
If we fail to identify and address the root causes of the disease of violence, the symptoms will only become worse. If the colour of ones skin is more important than our humanity, racism will always be oppressive and promote violence. If intolerance is more important than tolerance, fundamentalism will always work to destroy us. If gender dominates our thinking, sexism of many forms will always split us apart. If science and religion do not reconcile, fanaticism will ensue.
We have to change the way we interact with one another on a daily basis- acknowledging the right of the individual and accepting responsibility for the quality of life in our family, our community, our relationships and our institutions.
The problem is with us… every single adult one of us, and to displace the problem away from us as individuals is the most subtle form of oppression.
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