Kill, kill, kill. If this is what people hear and watch day in and day out then what will be the outcome?
We will calibrate our lives to believe that violence, mayhem and killing are perfectly normal activities.
Add to this state of mind, an easy access to weapons, and further agitate these minds and all hell breaks loose.
The Americans measure and monitor everything and that is extremely informative and educational. A report prepared by the University of Pennsylvania showed that a typical American child by the age of 16 will have witnessed 180,000 acts of violence and 20,000 murders on television. Add to this the violence that is reported in the newspapers, and magazines, the movies, violent video games and we have ticking time bombs.
Starting soon after world war II and promoted by Hollywood and export of this culture to the whole world, violence has become a staple diet for most people. Imperialism necessitates the glorification of war and violence. Unfortunately the Americans are not the only ones and the Russians, Chinese, and even we the pacifistic Indians have a big appetite for violence.
Why then should we be surprised by widespread killings and violence, be it in homes, workplaces, schools, and places of worship at regular frequency. People are increasingly using violence as the first step in resolving issues. This insanity harms mainly innocent people who pose no threat nor bear the killers any ill-will.
The violence hurts less when it appears far away, as if we read it in a story book. When it strikes at home or someone we know the effect is usually unsettling if not devastating.
A nephew of mine (at that time aged 10) fancied himself a mini version of some of the killers he saw on television. Much against his mother's angry protests he persuaded his father to buy him an air pistol. Always brandishing the weapon he led his younger siblings and other kids in the neighbourhood playing games of war and killing.
One day while role playing, the young boy shot his younger brother in the face at point blank range. The little boy's eye exploded. The child's life was scarred, and the family developed irreparable fissures.
Even 18 years later there is a simmering anger within the child and his mother. There is a latent fear and anxiety in the mind of the nephew who fired the weapon and his parents, for they know what goes around comes around, and there will have to be payback. Not knowing when they will have to pay the price and how, is a fear that haunts them everyday.
In all of history there has been no instance of violence having effectively resolved an issue permanently. If you do not want innocent people to be maimed or killed, stop glorifying war and violence. Do not expose yourselves and your children unnecessarily to violent behaviour unless you want them to pursue a career or lifestyle which demands violence.
