Blood in the streets leads to only more violence, trouble and personal sorrow

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lood in the streets was, I once thought, the only possible resolution for our troubled and dysfunctional world.

Blood in the streets - it doesn't work,
 leading simply to more violence.

That in itself was rather strange for violence was something I found abhorrent, yet “blood in the streets” seemed to a youthful mind as the path to a better world.

Fortunately, age and philosophical maturity saw that sense quickly evaporate, bringing an understanding that the difficulties of the world cannot be resolved through violence of any sort, rather only worsened.

That “blood in the streets” ache was a combination of youthful vigour, aspirations and hope tangled up with a sense of uselessness, desperation, isolation and impotence.

Fortunately other influences in my life were absent, I didn’t drink nor smoke and although heavily maternally influenced as a young boy, I had risen above religion and my sense of self was secure.

Fortunately, also, the times of more than four decades ago were different; dramatically different and the contemporary rash of discontent sweeping around the world was a distant and unimagined reality, as was the internet.

The idea then that people could be radicalized and so embark on a bloody crusade against ordinary people to make a point about ways of life, and philosophies they disliked seemed inconceivable.

Questions about why young men, and young women as illustrated recently by the fleeing of three British girls into the embrace of ISIL, appear to have obvious answers; answers many leaders throughout the world, particularly in the developed nations would not like to hear.

There is, of course a large slither of what most perceive to be religion involved, but in a more human way it is about people responding, as mistaken and distorted as it may be, to the damage that you and me, and all our fellows, are doing to our only home.

People, regardless of where they are from, all have a profound sense of place, their home, and when they see that threatened they will react, frequently violently.

Beyond that, our modern corporatized and globalized world promises much, but delivers little, particularly to most people, exampled by the fact that just one large bus-load of people have control of more wealth and resources than nearly half the world’s people.

Such inequality breeds discontent; discontent distorting the minds of people such that it manifests itself as blood in the streets.

Violence presently witnessed around the world is becoming ingrained and will not be easily resolved, but the first step is about more equitable sharing of the world’s wealth and resources.

Beyond that the governments of the world need to reinvigorate democracy and regain control that by sleight of hand has been surrendered to the world’s corporations.

The option is more blood in the streets.

Crowd watches as contradiction is unveiled in Tatura

About 400 people watched and applauded as a social conundrum was unveiled recently in Tatura.

Tatura's bronze statue of World War
One Victoria Cross winner,
Private Robert Mactier.

However, the unveiling of the two metre high bronze statue of World War One Victoria Cross winner, Private Robert Mactier, was more of a contradiction than a conundrum.

Whatever, it defies logic in a society troubled by violence from that which is domestic through to war mongering on a national and international level.

From now on the people of Tatura, along with most other communities throughout Australia are forced to confront each day what is the societal acceptance of violence.

Victoria’s Deputy Premier, Peter Walsh, told those watching the unveiling at the refurbished Tatura war memorial precinct, that the bronze image of Robert Mactier was not about celebrating war rather, simply recognizing his courage and sacrifice.

That may be so, but the subliminal message is rather different.

Taturians are repeatedly told, and inherently know, that a successful community, state or nation is one that is collaborative and compassionate, and one in which firearms, of any sort, are irrelevant to those aims.

In passing the Hogan St life-size image of a pistol brandishing Private Mactier, who received sweeping social recognition for exploits that in other circumstances that would have been less than admirable, they are forced into mental gymnastics to remind themselves that was then and this is now.

That sounds fine except there is still a man with a gun in a public place (true, it’s only a statue) whose killing of others was feted and recognized in bronze.

The complications are manifest for few of us truly understand the context of “then” and beyond that even fewer of us can make a meaningful connection between what was and “now”, and the malleable minds of many become ensnared in the perverse intricacies of violence, subduing the other and the indecency of war.

Private Mactier was obviously a brave, daring and decent man who played his part in what was then a perceived need, but surely a century of maturity is sufficient for us to judge our mistakes and understand that the liberty we seek is not to be found in humbling our fellows and have them adhere to our behaviours.

Australia’s relatively peaceful history is credited almost without fail to the actions of those such as Private Mactier, but considered practically Australia’s physical remoteness has been its greatest ally.

Beyond a few incursions in World War Two, and the arrival of the first fleet in 1788, modern Australians have, without fail, travelled beyond their borders in pursuit of war.

Like a gang of thugs, or a street hoodlum we have gone looking for trouble and Private Mactier was integral to that dynamic and his “presence” in Hogan St ensures its preservation

Governments profit from fear and we need to 'invent peace'

Many governments had profited by and strengthened their hold on power through the creation of fear.

Fear is the foundation of violence and it appears an eccentric behavioural contradiction to claim your intent is peace, but which you seek through fear, laying the footings for violence.

Peace is not simply the absence of war or violence rather, it is a concept foreign to humanity and so something we have to yet invent.

Wim Wenders and Mary
Zournazi's have written about
"Inventing Peace".

War and violence have a strange pathos and it appears unable to meet or sate the human need for such anguish and bleakness, but from which spills a perverted heroism, bravery and honour, all of which are misunderstood and misplaced.

Early this century the U.S. Government initiated a “war on terror” and along with killing many people and causing untold damage, it did little except militarize and psychologically wound its own people and alienate millions in countries around the world.

Violence simply begets more violence and now Australia, in the thrall of a similar rhetoric and ideology that led the U.S. to its “war”, is reacting similarly with the “Team Australia” chant and a confected fear of terrorism.

Obviously there is a core of people who have earned the epithet of “terrorist”, but many who assemble behind them are little more than ordinary disaffected and disillusioned people who feel excluded from their society.

Governments, whatever their persuasion, must create an inclusive environment in which social equality is the rock upon which individuals and communities specifically and society generally rests.

With an increasing number of young Australians finding it difficult, if not impossible to secure a foothold in our complex modern society, we are creating fertile grounds for oranizations to recruit youths to stand with them as they prosecute their “blood on the streets” causes.

Rather than spending millions of dollars combatting perceived terrorism, we should be looking at from whence it comes – largely people who are disillusioned by and excluded from our society.

Peace does not produce heroes in the traditional war-embodied sense, rather it produces heroes who are quiet, unassuming, and respectful and who know clearly, that violence begets violence and that we don’t need entrepreneurs who thrive and benefit from confrontation, but what we do need are people who understand and profit from peace.

Instead of spending to protect our borders we should be working at understanding how we welcome, embrace and make these people a part of our society; instead of spending to frustrate home-grown terrorists, we should be building an inclusive and collaborative society of which they are an integral part; instead of spending billions on our military forces, we should be using that cash to both understand and invent a world first – peace!

Flailing, falling to his death, leaving many emotionally numb

A recent noisy and aggravated conversation on the eleventh floor of the resort caught the attention of many.

Those looking up from below, including my wife, watched as a fellow threw himself to his death.

 

My wife didn’t actually see the fellow climb over the balcony railing, but she did see the flailing, falling man.

Many tradesmen, mostly younger rather than older working nearby on the roof of a single story building, saw what happened as their attention had also been taken by the commotion.

Emergency people were called and the police, in dealing with what was in fact a suicide, offered the opportunity of counselling to all who had seen the man fall to his death.

News of the man’s death ricocheted around the community leaving those who had seen what happened asking “why” and along with that being emotionally damaged.

The man’s fall from and death at the Maroochydore resort is a microcosm of a near non-stop daily dilemma in which millions of people from around the world are trapped.

Many die from direct violence, thousands of lives are wasting away because of institutional violence and the world is held at ransom by the military/industrial complex which sees every problem as a nail that needs to be driven by a hammer.

Those in other parts of the world trapped by that direct/institutional/military violence that fill news broadcasts everyday are meant to find comfort in the idea that peace will evolve from overt use of force. It won’t.

The counselling offered to those who witnessed the Maroochydore calamity is a great compliment to a police force that has morphed from being in the early 19^th century little more than a protector of the propertied, profit makers to being a general guardian of society’s wellbeing, while maintaining law and order.

What we experience here in Australia is entirely absent in other countries with the devastating complexity of “there is no other way” view bringing down upon people degradation and violence of extremes that few here can even imagine.

Those living with, and dying from the application of that belief have only personal resources to fall back upon for no one is going to be there offering counselling or other emotional support to deal with whatever might be threatening them.

Emotional fragility can afflict even the strongest, but take away the support mechanisms we all take for granted, along with a lifestyle rich in comforts and even “strong” is a subjective term.

Sign leaves me wondering

The rather large electronic sign maintained on the burnt out shell of the Shepparton Hotel by Greater Shepparton’s Cr Milvan Muto leaves me wondering.

Messages on the high profile sign, it beams over Shepparton’s busiest intersection, are frequently less than complimentary of some people and certain institutions, but that, in itself, is not what ignites my wonder.
Many are celebratory about the behaviour of Cr Muto arguing his demeanour as being essential to the democracy and honesty of the council, of which he is a part, while providing a much needed voice, it’s argued, for the excluded, suppressed and unheard ratepayers of the city.

Shepparton's Cr Milvan
 Muto



That may or may not be the case, depending on your stance, but that is not really the point for what is truly interesting is the admirable tolerance of all in what might be termed the “Muto-affair”.

Most of us have not been privy to intimate details of what has been happening between the council and one of its brethren, but the details to which we have been privileged, point to a conversation within a breath of violence.

Contemporary understandings of violence are mostly about blood and bruises, but verbal violence can be equally damaging with the first line of defence being tolerance, but frequently the impact is on our emotions and sometimes that can be equally hurtful as torn skin or a broken bone.
I look at the sign and wonder about the tolerance that allows it to continue broadcasting to anyone, who cares to look at the often less than complimentary messages.
Freedom of speech, decency, civility, respect and a “fair go” are all values worth protecting, but I do wonder when the right to one’s opinion crosses a difficult to define line to become abuse.
The recognition and enactment of those values breeds tolerance and it falls to each of us, as best we can, to consider life from the position of the other and yet, at the same time, engage with and apply those things that make for a broadly happier, safer and stronger community.
Considering that, I wonder, does tolerance morph to become broader acceptance of an evil? Does our tolerance, something endorsed by most recognised religions, actually reinforce and therefore fortify the very thing that was both disruptive and surreptitiously destructive to the broader wellbeing?
The diplomacy inherent in democracy is to be lauded, but it takes special wisdom from an alert and adroit thinker to understand when the subtly of mediation is exhausted and further progress rests with an almost dictatorial-like decision.
Cr Muto is at first blush a pleasant fellow who appears to have the wellbeing of the city at heart, but he seems socially ill-equipped for the broad-ranging demands of a city councillor, the evidence of which is displayed most days on his sign.

Enlightened humanism is about peace and good will

Careering toward Christmas we encounter, almost every day, adages urging us to behave for the betterment of others or in some other uplifting sense for the good of all.

One adage argues that we seek “peace on earth and good will toward men”.
Such intent is honourable and might have some cumulative impact if said often enough, but it is fleeting and unlikely to have any lasting impact.


Enlightened humanism will
bring peace and good
will, and enhance democracy.

That wish has theistic roots, but in its secular sense does not apply to any “ism” and so being free of any ideological constraints, it is a plea we should take up with enthusiasm.
Sadly, such enthusiasm has been lacking, although some argue we are in the midst of a “long-peace”, a claim supported by unquestionable statistics.
Civilization, the idea that life has an intrinsic value and that existence is enhanced when we bond with and support each other as opposed to exploitation, is edging forward to become deeper, broader and stronger.
The de-civilizing events of life are becoming rarer, although the 24-hour news cycle that encircles the globe would have us believe otherwise.
Not many decades ago a quarrel in some remote place that cost 100 lives went unnoticed, but today it is in our newspapers and frequently leads television news, not to mention references on many internet websites.
Although the barrage of deathly news sometimes seems overwhelming, in an historical and statistical sense it is measurably significantly less than what humans once endured.
The peace that you and I now take for granted, was once absent from the daily lives of all and the idea of “peace and good will” was an urgent need that challenged the norm in which most anyone, anytime, could be assaulted, robbed, murdered, declared a witch or had their personality assassinated by the application and implications of some perverse superstition.
Christmas is the high point of a superstition we can live without, but within it are the seeds of “peace on earth and good will toward men”, but whether or not we have the skill to divorce myth from reality is, considering humanity’s history, a seemingly insurmountable challenge.
However, we should not be disheartened for happily saddled with enlightened humanism there are many who value peace and the profit it brings to all people ahead of the pointless costs of conflict.
The arrival of circumstances and conditions about which we know little, such as burgeoning populations, energy scarcity, a dysfunctional economy and changes to our climate, will test adherence to principles allowing continuation of the present “long-peace” or, the collapse of morals prompting an incomprehensible collision of humans.
In the name of “peace on earth and good will toward men”, I long for the former.

Violence never resolves an issue, rather leaves a weeping wound

Violence has never resolved an issue, rather it has left a weeping wound that will undoubtedly flare-up again ensuring further distress.



Moamar Gaddafi

 Memories are usually worsened and enriched by time and although a return to confrontation, be it verbal, cultural or violent, may appear new, a cursory look at history will show how the past influences the present.
What had been happening in Libya was simply not decent and what is happening now with Western powers attempting to restore what they see as decency with what is an indecent act appears a contradiction.
Articulation of a workable solution is difficult, if not near-impossible, but the answer is not to be found in killing people and destroying the country’s infrastructure.
History illustrates, repeatedly, that violence will bring a brief period of calm when people, regardless of whether they be the aggressor or those being attacked, are exhausted and retreat from the fray to refresh their resources or consider their wounds.
Once that moment of calm passes, and sometimes it can be years or even decades, a cultural memory will re-ignite stories, right or wrong depending on your view, passed from generation to generation and disenchantment that sees a solution in violence will erupt.
Developed countries have always turned to violence to achieve their aims, and while that brutality is seen to be to mostly people and infrastructure, the real, and largely unseen, damage has been to the world’s finite resources and its biosphere.
What’s happening in Libya is a symptom of how many in the world resolve their difficulties today and so they mostly act with little regard for questions beyond what they can see.
Questions obviously need to be asked about Moamar Gaddafi’s appropriateness as a leader, but to simply demolish his infrastructure to remove him, if not kill him, is equally inappropriate as it simply allows another with similar qualities to fill the void and so the cycle begins again.
Revolutions need not be inculcated by force, rather, with most successful changes such an uprising needs to filter up from the bottom embracing care, compassion and kindness as it assumes control almost by osmosis.