Thursday, November 15, 2012

VOILA! VIOLENCE

The conversation went something like this:

"There is an addiction to violence in this world.  And it's spiraling out of control."

This was a comment made to an intellectually gifted friend whom I respect though find as annoying as she finds me.  Her response:

"Actually, it's not.  Statistics show violence is on the decline."

As I personally disdain statistics as being from the minds of nerdy number heads whose emotions and eyes have shut off actual life, I vehemently disagreed.  This allowed the annoyance level to rise, which in some way delighted me.

Born number challenged, statistics have little sway with me.  Consider that I still don't know my times tables, the blame for which I put on a sadistic teacher.  And I can be observed, to my shame, counting on my fingers when doing subtraction. So, it can't be a surprise that I don't rely on that amazingly enduring system which dates back to Egypt around 3100 BC...and may date back even earlier.  

So, for lack of understanding and trust for a system that assists putting life in a column, or a bar, or a pie, I use my combined senses to make judgements by allowing them to be attacked on a daily basis by waves of human behavior that can only be described as out of control violence on each other, on other species and on the very planet that sustains us.  I hear it every day in angry discourse; I see it frequently in the increasing number of violent films; I taste it in the tasteless foods drained of benefits by corporate killers; I smell it in the toxic air made foul by industry; I suffer the attacks on my sensitivity from the media.  I ache with heart break at how little we care for the suffering of others and the animals we cruelly victimize.  I wonder in despair at the garbage we throw at the earth and I contemplate its violent revenge.  I think of Factory Farming and corporate resistance to GMO labeling and the fat cats fighting against our right to know about any of it.  I see it in how passionately we seek access to guns and how easily hunters see killing as sport.  I see it in our training of kids to be killing machines we send to war.  I see it in the abuse of the young, the elderly and the disabled.  In conclusion: I don't hear, see, taste, smell or feel that violence is on the decline.  And so to my friend who believes what she reads, I say you are wrong.  

Statistics are for me mostly senseless.  They are created by those whose senses have long ago been relegated to the back of a dark closet to join other useless things.  And then there is Nate Silver, a statistician whose statistics I owe my sanity to during the 2012 Presidential Elections.  But for him, I would discount all statistics as another mind game to keep senseless people busy...and a safe distance from violence.  

7 comments:

mimmaynard said...

WOWWWWWWW AND AMEN TO EVERYTHING YOU HAVE JUST SO ARTICULATELY SHARED !!! I AM A KINDRED SISTER WHO FEELS THE SAME.. KEEP WRITING MY MAD MIRACULOUS FRIEND AS YOU SPEAK FROM THE HEART... AND THAT IS OUR TRUE BAROMETER FOR WHICH WE CAN ACCESS... THE REST? WE JUST PAY IT FORWARD AND DO OUR BEST WE CAN TO CONVEY THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE WHO IS WILLING TO LISTEN ..

LOVE YOU M

merylann said...

First of all...Mimi, stop yelling! now, on to my thoughts...I don't trust those number dudes either, except for Nate Silver, who is a god in my book. I agree with you, Mady. Violence is endemic in our society.All that you've said is 100% true. Just look at the violent behavior that comes from the rabid throng of malcontents towards our President, who indeed has a mandate. We are so used to seeing all manner of violence thrown in our faces. I think people become so used to seeing it, that they don't recognize it for what it is.
Kudos, new and brilliant friend!You are a welcome voice in my world.
Meryl
PS: i also have a major crush on the nerdy Chris Hayes!

Madly Mad said...

Meryl, Mim is not yelling. She's "...gotta accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative (and she doesn't)... mess with Mister In-Between." And that's why we love the Mim.

merylann said...

Love the Mimz!! But, online, all caps is considered yelling. You should have seen my page during our cross country debate sharing! I'm going to tell my uber smart friends to hook up to your blog.

merylann said...

where do you live??

Madly Mad said...

Yikes! We're smokin.' Thank you, Meryl. Like an actor needs an audience, a writer needs readers. You all will keep me buzzing.

Madly Mad said...

Southern CA. 25 minutes from Mim with traffic.