Introduction
- so many wonderful promises, so many hopes
wither or vanish. Why?
- lead young people to cynicism and violence?
- deception
- obvious that powerful realities of the culture
strangled many of the promising new blossoms.
- dominant culture
- money before people
- work towards the transformation of the U.S.
culture
- violence ... has deep roots in ... the North
American culture
- imitation
- scapegoating
- separation of people from the land
- dead end road of escalating violence
- my hypothesis is that some seldom-discussed
assumptions within the principles of the U.S. culture foster various
violences. As the U.S. culture spreads around the globe, these
incriminated principles help generate violence in other parts of the world.
- only a deep criticism of several principles of
the culture can bring light to the situation
- very difficult to be conscious of the true
bases of one's own culture
- being critical of one's own culture is often
considered sacrilegious or unpatriotic
- dramatic consequences the privileged status of
a few has upon the many
- contempt
- local needs were sacrificed to benefit the
desire of a colonizing nation
- scorn show to ... labourers; ... many
injustices inflicted to vulnerable workers
- the ugly face of poverty is visible to all who
choose to see
- people ... defensive
- However, an adult needs to denounce any false
security.
1. What Do We Mean by Violence, Nonviolence,
Culture, Market Culture and Principles?
- (violence) negates the fundamental humanness
or sacredness of the person or the creature
- strength as resistance is needed for any
personal, social or cultural change
- passive people, who constitute the most
impressive majority, need often to have their aggressiveness awakened to
start a struggle
- violence is a dysfunction in conflict
resolution
- an adversary who uses means that threaten the
humanness or the life of the opponent reveals a desire for murder, whether
partial or total, symbolic or real
- (nonviolence) is a method for resolving
conflicts and injustices, and it is a spirit
- truth ... is also the fact that human beings
in their core are longing for living relationships and communion, and for
experiencing a life consistent with that yearning
- seek to establish a new balance of power by
disarming their opponent with the inner power arising from their liberty,
courage, steadfastness, or love
- confidence in the intrinsic goodness of every
human being
- active nonviolence that aims at the
eradication of violences
- active "noncollaboration" with
injustice; it intends to paralyze the adversary or the adverse system but
respects the opponent
- six principles of nonviolence: 1. ...
not a method for cowards ... ; 2. ... win his friendship and
understanding ... ; 3. ... directed against forces of evil rather than
against persons ... ; 4. ... willingness to accept suffering ... ; 5
... avoids ... internal violence of the spirit ... ; 6. ... the
universe is on the side of justice.
- culture is the whole way of life, material,
intellectual, and spiritual, of a given society
- differentiating one group from another
- "market culture": the culture born
from the womb of the market; a culture in which the laws of the market
economy take the place of the principles on which previous cultures had been
established; economic rationalism
- a substitution of meaning has happened subtly
... market culture has established new points of reference in every
area of our lives
- human based cultures vs. market culture
2. Why Were So Many Wonderful Possibilities
Not Realized?
- eg. ... singers ... co-opted by the dominant
culture
- eg. ... hippies' intuitions, especially that
humanness and individuality should not be subordinated to money or
organization
- the establishment and the prevalent principles
- those working to develop a communitarian
spirit and communitarian patterns should take into account that their
efforts are simultaneously countered by the merchants controlling the
television channels who encourage passivity and individualistic patterns of
behavior
- television viewing is a requisite of the
American Way of Life; any TV advertising is certain of an impact
- eg. Kyoto ... has shown ... ecological choices
of the U.S.A. being dictated by corporate interests and not by the future of
the planet
- bitterness or despair takes the place of
reasonable hope
- destructive behavior of the culture we live in
- eg. the down-winders of eastern Nevada and
southern Utah suffer high rates of cancer and death (from past nuclear
testing)
- damaged millions of people for life
- hope was destroyed (of U.S. policy against the
treaty requirement to eliminate nuclear weapons)
- manifestation of a deeper reality ingrained in
the whole life and culture of the country: the need for total supremacy
- as the principles guiding the culture stay the
same ... the decisions will not change
- the Number One Syndrome: ... the need for
total supremacy. It is a principle of the culture.
- assimilations of minorities carried out under
the guise of national unity represent a terrible loss for the American
people
- an only negative way of looking at the world
is not healthy. However, a refusal to look at cultural flaws and
defects is likewise unhealthy.
- purpose ... to motivate people for a change
that can heal the main sources of cultural violence
3. Market Culture: Its Emergence and Effects
- daily ... economic war
- advertising increases consumption, thus
creating new wants and even new needs
- affluenza: 1. the bloated, sluggish and
unfulfilled feeling resulting from trying to buy all the latest stuff and
keep up with the Joneses; 2. an unsustainable addiction to consumption and
economic growth without regard for the consequences to our families,
communities or the environment
- advantages for some ... destruction for many
- we now live in a market culture
- penetrates the whole social fabric ..
consequences ... are powerful, subtle, and destructive
- the criticisms ... are related to the
substitution of moral principles by principles that had been established for
the material success of the market system
- invoke the laws of the market
- family dramas, suicides, poverty, say the
corporations, cannot be considered. Competition cannot listen to calls
for compassion.
- eg. health care system
- life, human dignity, confidentiality, respect
for family and the needs of children become subservient to economic laws
- when the U.S. ... limits the entry of Mexicans
... it violates the most precious principles of the U.S. culture
- the few previous examples show how market
principles are often in conflict with a culture based on human values
- growth of industrialization and its associated
accumulation of capital created human struggles ... a conflict of values
- most people agreed that the market cannot run
wild and should follow moral principles
- politicians, ordinary people and even
ethicists began to bow unquestioningly to the laws of market
- the individualism exemplified in the role
model of the self-made man helped society move from a human centered vision
of life to market mechanisms, where human relationships have less and less
importance
- reduction of the human person to the
utilitarian aspect of its existence
- the human based cultures see the goal of the
culture as favoring a holistic development of the human beings and of the
societies created by the persons. The market culture's goal favors
material development and economic prosperity.
- on the international level, the
"structural adjustment" policy of the World Bank illustrates the
substitution of market laws for moral principles
- the World Bank was established on free market
and material development principles. The humanistic and religious
roots have disappeared.
- FDR pushed legislation that expressed a deep
humanist concern which could be found in the soul of most citizens
- often I hear parents complain that they do not
understand where their children found the values for their life
- financial interests control the media, popular
music and entertainment, and cast their values upon the children
- the result is a growing subservient mass of
people whose culture is now the Market Culture
- for the country's forefathers, freedom meant
exemption from the control of arbitrary power, religious or political
- most politicians today consider free markets
the backbone of freedom
- the well-organized market with its rationalism
has taken its place ... as the very backbone of our present U.S. culture
- in front of an international quasi consensus,
U.S. representatives are often alone in defending policies judged immoral by
a majority of their constituency
- the government is aware that it can disregard
public opinion because most protesters continue to abide by and nurture the
market culture in their daily buying choices
- the aggressive trade policy of the U.S. ...
bringing prosperity to a few, while imposing a disrespect of the wisdom and
uniqueness of host cultures
- people lose their points of reference and feel
disoriented, uprooted, and even violated
- important cause of the violence in their
homeland
- the violence flowing from the market culture
affects the core of any creature
- following utilitarian principles, the market
culture does not value the preciousness or sacredness of all creatures
- this violence imposed by the market culture is
so rarely mentioned
- when a materialistic culture replaces a
culture based on humanness, destruction follows
- life is devalued. There is a
desensitizing of awareness of the destruction and death that violence
inflicts on both the victim and the perpetrator
- the major focus is material prosperity.
Development and profit are the supreme values that justify choices.
- human beings become mere commodities ... and
the prostitution goes on
- the devaluation of life in a market culture is
further demonstrated in the casualness of killings between gang members for
the exclusive right to sell drugs in an area, or of deadly attacks for a few
dollars
- human life is cheapened. Greed makes
people unconcerned and indifferent to human life
- the North American media values the life of
one U.S. citizen more than many lives from a Third World country ... this
reveals a lack of awareness that sacredness of life knows neither racial nor
national boundaries
- de-humanization ... the most destructive of
all
- dehumanized when .. victims ... of superiority
- the market culture which claims to be the
culture of the future does not recognize the sacredness that is the most
valuable treasure of every created being
- when people sense that their preciousness and
their dignity are not recognized, they feel deprived of their humanness,
they feel de-humanized and sometimes express their frustration against the
violence of the market culture with violent acts
- as a remedy to desecration of the human being,
the daily actions that can help people retrieve their humanness are of major
importance. Being considered a precious person whose dignity is
indestructible invites people to a more human behavior, more respectful of
justice, and more peaceful. Hundreds of millions of market culture
victims wait for suggestions and help in retrieving their humanness.
- support
4. Seeds of Violence from Colonial Origin
- deceived by the American Administration
- former occupants of colonized lands became
victims of violence from the newcomers
- superiority ... is a mark of racism
- the U.S. administration violated many
international treaties signed between Americans and Indian Nations
- a practical contempt of non-Whites
- when the majority fears losing a privileged
status, intolerance increases
- the country's economic structures continue to
favor Whites
- wounds and anger are among the most frequent
causes of violence
- victims ... turn their anger and despair
against their own lives (eg. alcohol)
- high percentage of minorities ... in U.S.
prisons ... victims of unemployment
- black ghettos and Indian reservations are a
powder keg
- no noticeable progress in respect, esteem and
power happened
- "Why does the U.S. make us suffer so
much?" People referred to the economic colonialism imposed on
their countries, or to the aid given to their oppressive governments.
- How can such an imperialist spirit sustain the
foreign policy of the U.S.A., a country once a victim of British
colonialism? Modern psychology partially answers the question by
noting that victims of abuse and oppression tend to victimize others.
- colonized nations become colonizers.
Oppressed people become oppressors if they accede to power without healing
their own wounds.
- the North American society was established on
some assumptions rarely discussed: the primacy of the invading race, culture
and religion
- they clothed their search for wealth with
biblical motivations and pious proclamations
- These three ubiquitous realities of the
American Way of Life, suggest that they are the main values animating its
life and culture: 1. primacy of the invading culture, race and religion - 2.
material development - and 3. profit at any price. Obedience to God,
liberty, pursuit of happiness ... now carry little weight.
- the oppression of the American Way of Life
upon people of other countries has to be recognized
- threats and pressure, psychological or
military, are exercised as needed for this outcome
- Messianism and the Number One Complex: idealistic,
self-denying, hopeful of divine favor for national aspirations
- such competitive thinking, according to
psychologists, is very destructive; comparison damages relationships as it
erases the uniqueness of a person or a group and competition destroys
communitarian spirit as it opposes the natural law of human interdependence.
People lose the ability to think of themselves as part of a larger group.
- domination
- much of the desire to be Number One is clearly
nationalistic ... search for mastery over others
- no healing of these old wounds will happen
without a national upsurge of truth and courage
- racism, disdain for others, and total
submission to a materialistic vision of development and profit-making will
be brought to the level of a practiced civil religion
5. Individual and National Dreams
- the American dream ... is reduced to the
accumulation of material possessions
- more difficult to see the difference between
reality, illusion and dream
- immediate satisfaction ... instant
gratification
- before these last years the training of
children emphasized the fulfilling of their needs through effort, learning
and saving. Now both youth and adults ignore that preparation, get
frustrated if their wants are not satisfied immediately, and become violent
- the Sirens continue to allure
- vulnerable to persuasive salespersons or
telemarketers ... temporary credit
- frustrations and anger easily lead to
violence, a violence that becomes casual
- a consumer driven society systematically
arousing people's wants exacerbates the frustrations of those whose desire
for material gratification far exceeds their resources
- indigenous cultures who wish to keep their
traditional way of life conflict with promoters of the American
Way who pretend that such amenities are necessary
- addictions enslave people ... temporarily
release the tension created by the injuries ... numb their wounds ... truth
is that it creates a dependency
- the market culture reduced the dream to only
becoming rich. To promise to every American richness is in itself a
violence towards the rest of the planet, as it can be done only at the
expense of others.
- Manifest Destiny of the Nation
- how I wish that Americans would not fall into
the same arrogance
- "We have to spread our system and
culture." ... the CIA exploited this ambiguous religious and
nationalistic missionary zeal ... violences followed
- it is time for the U.S.A. as a whole to look
clearly at that mission and to face its ambiguities and its resulting
violence. A collective national psychotherapy is urgently needed.
- a courageous process is needed to bring the
profound healing which is required
- because they are poor and did not make it,
they believe they are rejected by God. Society tells them
- signs of a deep frustration ... violences is
brought by this disappointment
- inside the U.S.A. there is the realization
that the nation is moving in the opposite direction of what the Founding
Fathers had dreamed
- Freedom is shrinking. The primary
freedom, to make profit and accrue wealth, is held by the few.
- a national frustration that the manifest
destiny ... is not recognized by everyone on this planet
- crisis
- national bursts of violence against whoever
resists the "benevolence" and the "divine" nature of the
U.S.A.
- I see an incredible violence in the belief in
a Manifest Destiny. I see also the wounds inside North Americans that
this exceptional mission has not been realized as they have dreamed.
More violence follows.
6. An Individualistic Role Model, the
"Self-made" Man
- individualism lies at the very core of
American culture
- this individualism may have grown cancerous
- they are incomplete persons whose development
has been blocked
- his woundedness provokes frustrations and
violences
- Paul of Tarsus warns of the danger of doing
great things, and not having love that is the core of human existence
- the self-made man is the American success
story
- What does the model of the self-made man say
about what it means to be human? How does one become a complete
person? Is the ideal human being independent of others?
- Social commentators and ethicists denounce the
destructiveness of North American individualism.
- four relationships are essential for becoming
fully human: 1. relationships with other persons and groups, small or large;
2. relationship with "God" (spiritualism); 3. relationship with
all of creation, animate and inanimate; 4. relationship with the totality of
the self, including the "dark" or "shadow" parts.
- a person is created through relationships.
Growing as a person means entering fully into these relationships and being
changed by them.
- experiencing the dignity of the self and the
other
- becoming human includes the understanding that
people share a common humanity and a common world
- vs. exploitative relationships
- some psychologists claim that today's
ecological crisis threatening sustainable life on earth, injects fear and
increases the difficulty for future planning
- develop inside themselves virtues, instead of
fighting against their sins. When virtues or the light inside us
grows, the dark side of us that leans towards sin decreases considerably
- the self-made person, dependent on success for
his self-worth, cannot acknowledge his shadow. His pride blocks his
need for God (the spiritual) or others. Barring himself from true
relatedness, he is a prisoner in his own self-made cell, a wounded man.
He has lost touch with the core of his humanness, and thus with his
divineness.
- must remove him from his pedestal
- often the self-made man does not appear
threatening, but behind the smile of his auto-satisfaction lies a terrible
violence
- freeing the self-made man ... will be a very
difficult enterprise
- give up their pride and dominating spirit to
enter respectful relationships
- anthropology enfleshed by the self-made man
grew from the struggle for life and from the wounds of past dysfunctional
relationships
- my statement that the current anthropology is
truncated and is the main cause of violence of the North American culture
may provoke scepticism and raise eyebrows
- the ethic of authenticity might be the most
important treasure of the North American culture ... on the other hand, this
richness carries in itself the danger of a self-centeredness, bringing very
destructive consequences
- when people do not strive for wholeness, their
distorted vision of the human being favors the growing market world
- correlation between inner emptiness and
consumption ("I shop therefore I am") ... the weeds of Greed, the
Number One syndrome, and the self-made man model compete to occupy the empty
space inside the human being
- only the painful experience of failures may
bring new life as it shakes the bases of one's existence and forces
re-evaluation. The first requirement is recognition of one's own
incompleteness
- is there a greater experience than personal
fulfillment through a nurturing relationship?
- while no group is perfect, to walk alone in an
effort to reform society damages deeply those who do so
7. Facing the Tangled Roots of Violence
- credit the U.S. culture for the presence, in
other parts of the world, of the destructive values that I pointed out
- old market praxis that the most important
lender can make the law in any deal ("the Golden Rule: he who has the
gold makes the rules")
- prevalence of material interests over any
moral considerations
- eg. G.A.T.T. and M.A.I. - in other
developed and developing countries the undemocratic secret preparation of
the M.A.I. provoked reactions
- the reality is that the financial powers de
facto control the economic situation and present their control as a Law of
the Universe
- the world over, the global culture where a
market culture assumes that it has the right to establish the principles of
morality, seems really to be an export of the U.S.A
- racist policy continues
- the certitude of a Manifest Destiny of the
American people, that continues to give foundation or to cover new forms of
imperialism, does not seem to have an equivalent in any other part of the
world
- the self-made man is truly an American
creation
- the specific type of American individualism
exemplified by the self-made man gave to the substitution of market values
for human centered values, a dynamism simultaneously subtle and extremely
powerful
- recognize the determining action of the U.S.
culture in the arising of new global values
- more scholars have examined the violences
coming from the growth of cities at the expense of traditional social ties.
Western civilization is, without doubt, the deeper cause of the global urban
mushrooming.
- the causes of violence explored in the
previous chapters grew on various grounds: a truncated anthropology
resulting from wounds contracted in the Old Countries and giving an
erroneous understanding of human growth; various scars inherited from a
colonial past that started as a heroic adventure; desires and passions
common in every human being but fuelled by the abundance of land and
resources; an American dream; an ambiguous special destiny; and a market
culture subtly replacing any previous values of the culture. This is
not an exhaustive list.
- we need to understand some of the dynamisms of
these causes and their interactions in order to prioritize our efforts for
transformation into a more humane and just situation
- (some) establish a list of violences so
extensive that they become lost ... we do not need to fight all the
manifestations of violence at once
- the ultimate roots of violence ... may be the
lack of spiritual development
- our common responsibilities arise from living
in a specific culture, in a limited territory, at a unique time. This
context of our existence limits our means of action
- power and desire seem the most common forces
acting between the potential violence and the violence itself
- Rollo May, in "Power and Innocence",
describes this in five levels of power present as potentialities in every
human being's life: 1. the power to be; 2. self-affirmation; 3.
self-assertion; 4. development of aggression when self-assertion is blocked;
5 violence as ultimate explosion if all efforts toward aggression are
ineffective.
- de-humanization ... gives birth to open
violence
- the importance of mimic desire at the source
of various violences
- artificial development of wants impossible to
satisfy
- unfulfilled desire gives place to frustration
which grows, brews inside the person, or explodes
- oppressive models
- these dynamics involving power and desire are
those which allow the roots of violence to visibly manifest their
destructive potentialities
- avoid the frequent confusion of mistaking them
for the roots of violence
- anxiety about the future and fear of lacking
power are most likely the seeds of greed
- market culture develops wildly and spreads its
violence all over the world since it follows the penetration of businesses
built on the principles of economic rationalism that pretend to be
inescapable
- the market culture became a cancer .. because
of ... truncated anthropology. European and Asian cultures emphasize
relationships more.
- Greed is nurtured by individualism.
- those who are conscious of what is happening
can act to rediscover the sacredness
- this consciousness is essential in resisting
the attacks of the market culture
- destructiveness of the market culture ... has
become the worst violence done to human beings
- greed helped racism to develop
- Messianism and Manifest Destiny of the
American nation helped the search for material prosperity, along with the
omnipresent greed that infiltrates such a pursuit
- the Number One complex ... favors domination
- this is the opposite of a mentality of
interdependence, complementarity and solidarity. With such a
competitive and dominative mentality, true relationships are almost
impossible, as dialogue is not sought.
- frequently irritates foreigners aware of this
ridiculous pretentiousness as a source of dramatic violence
- however painful it is to face this reality, it
is essential to look at it
- truth makes us free. Otherwise freedom
does not exist.
Afterword
- healing of a nation or of a culture requires a
good diagnosis before the choice of a medicine
- heal the principles on which our culture is
established
- only a persevering intellectual, moral and
structural effort can change the wide-spread mentality concerning the
becoming of a person
- establish limits on market laws
- if the ecological movement understands better
that the future of the planet depends on a nonviolent way of life, a well
founded hope can develop and bear fruit
- material measures, however sophisticated,
cannot succeed in healing the American culture. Anthropological and
spiritual vision requires a deep transformation of people.
- process having both spiritual and structural
effects
- the possibilities of nonviolence for a
"total revolution" which does not mean only a turnover of power
holders, but a compete change of mentality and structures
- UNESCO Culture of Peace Program
- eradicating the true roots of the violence is
the only hope for healing the violence dwelling inside a culture
- nonviolence builds its strength on the
importance of relationships
- awaken the good inside their adversaries
- confidence in the divine power of the good and
its unity
- nonviolence ... is a spirit and a methodology
aimed at disarming an opponent and destroying the germs of violence
- refusal to use any tricks
- it avoids words and actions which might incite
the actor of injustice to become more aggressive
- the market culture ... discards the value of
sacredness in the name of effectiveness
- nonviolence resists this stance, and proclaims
that the freeing and growing of sacredness is an important element for a
real efficiency ... avoiding material destruction
- culture of relationships ... communities
- will there be enough willingness to accept the
various requirements of groups and communities?
- the pyramidal model so frequent in the
dominant culture in the U.S.A. will need to be replaced by the circular
model used in consensus groups
- creativity
- needs charismatic animating figures
- e-peace
- inner source of power
- in a nonviolent struggle, strategy attempts to
provoke a change inside the adversary through the power of truth and love.
if such a change does not occur, then strategy strives with a more powerful
mass movement to exert constraint so that the opponent feels compelled in
his own interest to accept the just demands of his adversary. In both
processes of the nonviolent actions, respect for the sacredness of the
adversary is a fundamental element.
- Gandhi's ... non-cooperation (with the market
culture) is the first step ... for now, boycott seems the most appropriate
means ... when the motivation of boycott is the dignity of the human being
who is not for sale, it exerts a powerful attraction
- dissent through actions of non-cooperation
should lead to the creation of alternative structures, shaping the future
and involving the participation of huge numbers of people
- it requires shaking off passivity and
motivating people to accept a personal sacrifice
- keeping the human person at the center of a
Way of Life
- people growing up in the North American
culture either have been deeply damaged during the first years of life,
losing adaptability, or are unwilling to develop creativity and adaptability
... passivity ... TV
- the survival of democracy and of the human
race need an active participation of at least a large minority. These
people work to help large numbers become more human
- new teaching methods ... Paulo Freiere
- Nonviolence is not an easy way. It
requires people not afraid to challenge their own mentality, the behaviors
of others, and the structures of society.
- require a wider perception of the attack on
humanness ... that consciousness is a prerequisite for any motivation.
- the dynamism of motivated people able to be
agents of change
Some Principles of a Nonviolent Culture:
1. The human beings do not exist without
relationships.
2. The human dignity should not be alienated.
3. All of creation, animate or inanimate, is
sacred
4. Means that do not respect the human dignity
and other expressions of the good cannot be used even for beneficial
results.
5. The same good with its power exists inside
each of the opponents during a conflict.
6. The power of truth and love, that has a
divine origin, is greater than any other power (brute force, psychological
power, wealth).
7. The collective expression of the inner power
requires a certain level of social cohesion.
8. The challenge of communities and the pursuit
of the common good are a requisite.
9. Nobody has the whole truth. No culture
has the whole truth. Each one sees and serves only a part of the
truth.
10. To accept the risk to suffer rather than to
impose suffering on others.
- participate in motivating others
- the market culture is suffocating the center
of our being
- what is at stake is important enough to start
changing