The Right to Physically Assault others?

[Cearbhall]

One wanted to fight because she placed her son in front of the outward-opening store door and when I opened it from the inside it almost hit him. The door was plastered with advertisements and her son wasn't visible from my side. So I just opened the door to leave. She began shouting like a wild beast about my opening the door and would still not move her son.

And that's why I don't shop at Walmart.

 

[Radrook]

And that's why I don't shop at Walmart.

It wasn't Walmart. In fact, I have never had problems of that sort at any shopping mall or large store. They occurred at two local grocery stores owned by immigrants to the USA, at a bookstore that hosts a chess club and at an apartment complex where my kids were being discriminated by another discriminated group.

 

[Look Up]

One wanted to fight because ...

Wow. While I'm not sure I understand all the details, the pattern seems to suggest you are in a neighborhood in no small proportion prejudiced against you on superficial grounds. I could be wrong on that of course, though your vignettes also seem to fit patterns I had noted on my earlier post on this thread, unless perhaps some in your series are anomalous for varied possible reasons. I would worry that I might be in danger in a neighborhood like that, if a neighborhood (or geographically limited area) is where all these frightening events took place. May the Lord be your shield--physically and emotionally.

 

[Dave-W]

I don't know why God put that in us.

He didn't. It is a by-product of the fall.

 

[rturner76]

He didn't. It is a by-product of the fall.

So the fruit actually sort of injected that into us as opposed to the trait laying dormant and the fruit bringing it to the surface?

 

[Dave-W]

One wanted to fight because .....
A few weeks later ....
Another was when I reported ....
Another fellow hopped up from where he was ...
The observers, all good friends, smiled at one another with a smug self-satisfaction.

Tough place you got there.

Sounds just like blacks in the deep south of the US 60 years ago, or the Jews in Nazi Germany 20 years before that.

 

[Dave-W]

So the fruit actually sort of injected that into us as opposed to the trait laying dormant and the fruit bringing it to the surface?

The fruit of the fall injected into all creation a very negative bent.

 

[Radrook]

Tough place you got there.

Sounds just like blacks in the deep south of the US 60 years ago, or the Jews in Nazi Germany 20 years before that.

A discriminated group in USA was involved in three of these incidents.

 

[Radrook]

Wow. While I'm not sure I understand all the details, the pattern seems to suggest you are in a neighborhood in no small proportion prejudiced against you on superficial grounds. I could be wrong on that of course, though your vignettes also seem to fit patterns I had noted on my earlier post on this thread, unless perhaps some in your series are anomalous for varied possible reasons. I would worry that I might be in danger in a neighborhood like that, if a neighborhood (or geographically limited area) is where all these frightening events took place. May the Lord be your shield--physically and emotionally.

It is an ever present cultural thing more pronounced in some areas than in others.

 

[Radrook]

Wow. While I'm not sure I understand all the details, the pattern seems to suggest you are in a neighborhood in no small proportion prejudiced against you on superficial grounds. I could be wrong on that of course, though your vignettes also seem to fit patterns I had noted on my earlier post on this thread, unless perhaps some in your series are anomalous for varied possible reasons. I would worry that I might be in danger in a neighborhood like that, if a neighborhood (or geographically limited area) is where all these frightening events took place. May the Lord be your shield--physically and emotionally.

There is nothing to understand beyond the fact that I was trying to leave a store-enter a store, and trying to reason with a parent about the misconduct of her kids. In fact, I had not uttered one single word. It wás my wife who brought calmly it to the mothers attention as I stood by and the lady focused that husband from prison threat on me as my X wife walked away since the lady wouldn't stop barking from her basement window.

 

[Ana the Ist]

When you're motivated by a single issue, all issues start to look like your pet cause is responsible.

P.S. "Feral Alcohol Syndrome" I'm not one to pick on people's accidental typos, but I'm just pointing that one out because it made me smile

That's when you start giving bourbon to the strays that wander around your yard and they start getting surly, climbing while drunk, fighting each other and having sex afterwards...

 

[Nimrodel]

I believe that today's abortion culture has a lot to do with the general rise of violence in modern society.

“By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.” - St Teresa of Calcutta

That is nonsense. It is a gross misrepresentation of women. Many married women have abortions and a lot of women who have abortions have children already. It isn't indicative of her love for her children or a father's lack of responsibility. I am originally from a country where abortion carries anywhere from life imprisonment to the death penalty (if punished by a rural community). It is one of the most violent nations on the Planet. Abortion is merely an indication of society failing women and children in providing their basic needs. While each individual has their own reason for abortion the most cited reasons were around a financial reasons or not being ready (lack of belief in skills to be a parent). What are we teaching our society and the value of women if they think they are incapable, not able and lack to help needed to raise strong healthy children? Again abortion is more complex with other reasons.

As for violence, OP, the things you listed just sound like entitlement and a lack of coping skills and empathy when things don't go their way. It certainly has its roots in how they were raised and their life experiences.

 

[before.the.fall]

When you're motivated by a single issue, all issues start to look like your pet cause is responsible.

I just wanted to quote this, because I think it's a good thing to remember. Is this something you read somewhere or did you just write this yourself? It sounds really wise!

About 25 years ago I attended a seminar presented by a retired US Army general. He pointed out that it is very difficult for most people to be motivated to kill another human being. This is a very real problem for the military. In a combat situation many soldiers 'freeze up' in various ways. Some simply refuse to shoot, others will shoot but not at the enemy and some others will simply go through the motions without actually firing their weapon. For example, following the Battle of Gettysburg approximately 11,000 unfired muskets were recovered. The vast majority had been loaded and reloaded sometimes over a dozen times but had never been fired.

In the mid 1950s following the Korean war this officer was tasked with finding a way around this problem. As a psychologist he decided to try desensitization techniques. Recruits were shown professionally prepared extremely graphic films depicting military actions that included soldiers being wounded and/or killed.

Did this approach work? Yes, it certainly did as witness the Viet Nam War. Some American soldiers were desensitized to the point that military discipline was broken and mass killings of enemy civilians occurred.

So, what was the point of his presentation? He pointed out that desensitization actually works very well but it is no longer limited to military training purposes. The population, particularly the young and most impressionable, are now being exposed to movies, TV programs, comics and video games that are far more graphic and brutal than the military films that were prepared under his direction.

His concern was very simple and straightforward --- we are in the process right now of desensitizing an entire population to violence and death. It should be no surprise to us at all when we see young people brutalizing and killing each other sometimes on a large scale.

Is this a problem that we should be concerned about?

I think so.

I just wanted to say I really liked reading your post. It was extremely informative and very well-written. I appreciate you taking the time to write it here.

I also want to use an example people who work in slaughterhouses. Many have to electrocute, stab, or shoot (with a pneumatic gun) hundreds of animals a day. They can become severely desensitized and many develop PTSD. It has actually been shown that slaughterhouse workers are more violent towards their families at home.

I guess the more you experience (first hand or second) the less it affects you because if you didn't become desensitized, you could become terrifically exhausted from caring. I hate that, I wish we could all care as much as we were born to care.

 

[JackRT]

I also want to use an example people who work in slaughterhouses. Many have to electrocute, stab, or shoot (with a pneumatic gun) hundreds of animals a day. They can become severely desensitized and many develop PTSD. It has actually been shown that slaughterhouse workers are more violent towards their families at home.

That is a very interesting observation. In a related way I think that society, particularly our young people, has become very isolated from death on a personal level. As a boy spending summers on my grandparents farm I saw chickens slaughtered for the dinner table and even once a hog being slaughtered. It was raw and it was bloody but it certainly was not glorified or trivialized. You knew on a very deep level how final death was --- that hog would not be back for the next episode. The funeral industry has also sanitized death and in a way makes it seem somewhat surreal.

 

[Radrook]

That is a very interesting observation. In a related way I think that society, particularly our young people, has become very isolated from death on a personal level. As a boy spending summers on my grandparents farm I saw chickens slaughtered for the dinner table and even once a hog being slaughtered. It was raw and it was bloody but it certainly was not glorified or trivialized. You knew on a very deep level how final death was --- that hog would not be back for the next episode. The funeral industry has also sanitized death and in a way makes it seem somewhat surreal.

Very true. Notice how the extremely violent protagonists, such as the one in High Plains Drifter starring Clint Eastwood are displayed in a way that engenders both admiration and imitation from young viewers who are in the process of personality formation. People are also portrayed murdering without suffering and consequences whatsoever or as easily escaping the law. The message is clear. To be violent and to get away with it is both cool and easy so why not?

 

[JackRT]

Very true. Notice how the extremely violent protagonists, such as the one in High Plains Drifter starring Clint Eastwood are displayed in a way that engenders both admiration and imitation from young viewers who are in the process of personality formation. People are also portrayed murdering without suffering and consequences whatsoever or as easily escaping the law. The message is clear. To be violent and to get away with it is both cool and easy so why not?

Your comments reminded me of a little book by Canadian historian Pierre Burton entitled "Why We Act Like Canadians". The difference between Americans and Canadians can be summed up in two short phrases. American --- "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" and Canadian --- "peace, order and good government". There were plenty of American outlaws who escaped to Canada and a few confrontations with Mounties but no gunplay even when the single Mountie was outnumbered, They surrendered peacefully knowing at some level that the Mountie was not just a local sheriff concerned only with his own town and who would be happy for the outlaws just to ride away. They knew that if they gunned down a Mountie they would be hunted down systematically no matter how long it took and that the end was certain --- a bullet or a noose. Something similar happened during the Klondike gold rush. The Alaskan side was a violent, lawless free for all while the Yukon side quite peaceful once a few Mounties arrived.

 

[DaisyDay]

I have repeatedly encountered individuals who feel entitled to physically assault based on such things as:


1. Rejection of dating proposal
2. A certain facial expression
3. An opinion
4. Voting for a disliked candidate

just to name a few.

Seems as if they automatically assume that such reasons justify a physical attack.

Where does this presumption that one can inflict severe physical pain on another human being when that human being's behavior isn't what we prefer come from? One fellow who was rejected on a date proposal threw a bowling ball at a lady's head and sent her to the hospital. I mean, there are other alternatives to violence. So why this radical, irrational predisposition to hurt and maim others who are exercising their basic human rights?

Some people learn it in school.

Corporal punishment in America’s public schools seems like a relic of the past — a practice we had surely banned long ago. The reality, however, is that it’s perfectly legal to physically discipline students as young as preschoolers in 19 states. And according to a new report, corporal punishment is most often used against black students and students with disabilities....

On exactly who is being punished, the report found that racial disparities in the use of corporal punishment are common, with Alabama and Mississippi home to the largest disparities. In particular, black children in those two states are at least 51 percent more likely to receive corporal punishment in over half the school districts. Black children were also three times more likely than white children to be corporally punished in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Tennessee. In finding such disparities, Gershoff and Font wondered if black children were simply more likely to attend a school that uses corporal punishment. But they found the opposite — it’s white children who are more likely to attend such a school. They write:

Racial disparities in school corporal punishment are similar to those found for suspensions and expulsions, such that black children receive all forms of school discipline at a higher rate than their white peers. Research has largely concluded that disparities in suspensions and expulsions are not explained by differences in misbehavior; rather, black children are disciplined more severely than their non-black peers for the same misbehaviors. Few studies have investigated the source of racial disparities in school corporal punishment. An analysis of one Florida school district found that black children were more likely than other children to receive corporal punishment despite committing a smaller proportion of severe offenses.

The report also found that boys are substantially more likely to experience corporal punishment than girls in more than three-quarters of school districts in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas. In some schools, the corporal punishment rate for boys was five times the rate for girls. Also, children with physical, cognitive or emotional disabilities were more than 50 percent more likely to be physically punished in 67 percent of public schools districts in Alabama, 44 percent of districts in Arkansas, 34 percent in Georgia, 35 percent in Louisiana, 46 percent in Mississippi and 36 percent in Tennessee. The researchers noted that because federal law allows for children with disabilities to receive extra support and assistance at school, the corporal punishment disparity may suggest that “school staff are often responding to their challenging behaviors with harsh, rather than positive, disciplinary methods.”​

http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphand...sabilities-bear-brunt-of-corporal-punishment/

 

[Kylie]

I have repeatedly encountered individuals who feel entitled to physically assault based on such things as:


1. Rejection of dating proposal
2. A certain facial expression
3. An opinion
4. Voting for a disliked candidate

just to name a few.

Seems as if they automatically assume that such reasons justify a physical attack.

Where does this presumption that one can inflict severe physical pain on another human being when that human being's behavior isn't what we prefer come from? One fellow who was rejected on a date proposal threw a bowling ball at a lady's head and sent her to the hospital. I mean, there are other alternatives to violence. So why this radical, irrational predisposition to hurt and maim others who are exercising their basic human rights?

We disagree on evolution, but in this matter, I completely agree. Aside from self defense (or defense of others), there is no justification for assault.