VIOLENCE - IS IT EVER JUSTIFIED?

Is Violence Ever Justified?

Can a violent act ever be justified? What if the violence committed prevents a greater crime from occurring? What if the violence perpetrated brings about a paradigm shift for the good of society or humanity? It would be easy to argue a slam-dunk case, that yes, in the above cases, a violent means to a favorable outcome is justified.

But what is violence, really, in all its ugly manifestations? Is it limited to a physical act of abuse toward a fellow human or animal? Does it emanate from voice tones, our usage of unpalatable metaphors rooted in violent speech? It would be easy to point to the natural world’s inherent violent tendencies and proclaim it as a role model of behavior, a template for our actions, since we are also part of the natural world.

Human beings will rationalize anything, including violence, if it satisfies some base need or fits a particular narrative. In the pursuit of hedonistic selfishness, people drive carbon-spewing, gas-guzzling vehicles (violence toward earth), and sate their palates eating a planet-unfriendly meat diet (violence toward earth and animals). In both case, the rationalization being a page out of Mother Nature’s playbook; in the first, the idea that we must utilize fossil fuels provided by geological processes; and the second that animals kill violently for their sustenance.

Similarly so with violent acts committed for the ultimate “good” of humanity – bloody insurgencies, gruesome wars to reshape some geographic boundary, fire-bombing earth-unfriendly property – the idea being, hey, if the violence is committed in the spirit of something you strongly believe in or can conveniently rationalize away, then it is somehow less wrong or more morally acceptable. Everything else is just collateral damage.

 

But violence is ultimately a ruinous act, a shattering of hope, a killing of possibility that feeds negatively upon itself until death or destruction – a poor karmic foundation for humans to build upon.

The great thing about being modern humans is that we can make choices that defy our evolutionary caveman heritage. We are not chimpanzees engaged in crude territorial disputes; we are not ferocious beats in conflict for alpha male rights; and we are not vicious warmongering army ants – we are human beings who can choose to act with compassion, mercy, kindness and love, in every act and in every moment. Forget “situational ethics” and “contextual politics” – think with your heart!

Following a vegan lifestyle and ahimsa ethics simply does not allow for supporting or advocating violence in any way, shape or form. The principle of “least harm” must be the guiding light, otherwise “an eye for an eye makes the world go blind.” And besides, why put violent energy into the world? It can only come back to bite you in the ass. “Live by the sword and die by the sword” is pretty much true.

Yet as Franz Fanon famously asserted, violence is a cleansing and liberating force for good, a way to burn an iniquitous system to ashes and rebuild a more equitable society. Josef Stalin might have come to similar conclusions when he said, “One death is a tragedy, but a million deaths are a statistic.”

As for humans, will we always contain a seed of violence within? Or will spiritual evolution someday excise the primitive tendency from our DNA? As for society and government, will there ever be such a thing as revolution without violence? That is doubtful, but what is certain is that violence without revolution is senseless.