Over the last few days, I have received a couple of comments from people who want to explore exactly how we should define violence.
One person suggested that violence does not have to be physical. We can hurt each other with words, he said. Or by hurtful actions, like stealing things.
So, I was thinking about the following possible scenario. What if I were a drug dealer and I stole your son’s attention a little too effectively? Imagine he became addicted to heroin because I knew the tricks of my trade and I got him hooked. I think it is safe to say that this would make me a violent person in your son’s life.
Except, I would be a violent person who does not use physical violence. It may be that I - the drug dealer - was violent because I was powerful. Because, clearly, there is no way to deny that I destroyed something.
This leads me to this comment on yesterday’s post: “A real question for me … ‘What is real power?’” It just may be that violence is not as easy to define as we first think. It may have many different shades. What do you think? Can power be a kind of violence?
Related Posts:
- Can Violence Be Beautiful?
- Is It Always Possible to Fight Injustice without Violence?
- When Can You Say Your Husband Raped You?
(Photo: Mr. Moog)
