VALUES AND HABITS THAT MAINTAIN A VIOLENT SYSTEM (original) (raw)

Violence: An Enduring Manifestation of American Culture

Introduction. In the aftermath of one of the more recent mass killings, this time at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, government officials and their affiliates clung to politicized narratives encouraged by their identity groups. On the political right (republicans), it's a question of addressing the growing mental health issue in American society, and at the same time, preserving the "right to bear arms" as protected within the sanctity of the United States Constitution. For the political left (democrats), the issue is grounded in gun control legislation, or a lack there of. In both cases, the tendency is to look outside of self to find the answers to these violent actions. In the process, lawmakers are dividing the country into Outsiders and Insiders, holding the other side responsible for the growing breakdown in social capital and cohesion. As I have come to learn after working in the United States government for nearly 33-years, living and traveling most of my life overseas, and conducting doctoral-level research with Theravada Buddhist monks in post-genocide Cambodia, a minimalist approach to conflict analysis and resolution yield little positive outcomes. Similarly, the Liberal Peace Paradigm with the emphasis placed on structural change through free market economies, the rule of law, and democratic institutions has been generally unable to advance morality and a sense of nonviolence in American culture.

Bigger Picture: Searching For Roots of American Political Violence and Polarization

Bigger Picture: Searching For Roots of American Political Violence and Polarization, 2023

The roots of polarization are multifaceted and vary regionally, this paper will attempt to establish the links between historical processes, notably, industrialisation, and the worldwide increase in polarization. The paper does not aim to explain every instance of polarization but rather attempts to comprehend the socio-historical force that might have rendered polarization a significant concern in the 21st century. The research applies Friedman’s demographic model to Gellner and Mosse’s argument of industrialisation driving mass movements based on secular religion to discover the relationship between the post-industrial socio-political demographic trends and the rise of political violence.

The Story of Violence in America

Daedalus, 2022

American history is characterized by its exceptional levels of violence. It was founded by colonial occupation and sustained by an economy of enslaved people who were emancipated by a Civil War with casualties rivaling any conflict of nineteenth-century Western Europe. Collective violence continued against African Americans following Reconstruction, and high levels of lethal violence emerged in American cities in the twentieth-century postwar period. What explains America's violent exceptionalism? How has structural violence against African Americans become ingrained in American culture and society? How has it been codified by law, or supported politically? Can we rectify and heal from our violent past?