I'm glad you re-posted this interview as it's a very important conversation. Unfortunately, one variable in this conversation is always overlooked. Most violence is committed by men. Why is this? What is it about too many men that they believe they are allowed to use violence to force others to do what they want? This is also a universal fact around the world, but the difference is that men in the US have easy access to guns.
I actually think Sen. Murphy gets into this a bit more in his more recent interview with us (https://the.ink/p/senator-chris-murphy-pursuit-of-happiness); so does Dr. Murthy (https://the.ink/p/vivek-murthy-loneliness-men-crisis) — I think they've both been very invested lately in figuring out what to do about what a lot of people have been calling a "crisis of masculinity" — looking for ways to provide a better answer than violence, or fascism for men (and we're really talking about white men here) who are having so much trouble finding their way in a world that's changing to give women, people of color, people trying to figure out gender in different ways, a fair shake.
Chris Murphy here provides some hope regarding some of those who chose to enter the political arena. It's heartening to see a cogent, substantive treatment of one of the fundamental contentious issues that has so divided this society.
And since the "like" comment icon doesn't seem functional (at least in my browser), I would like to thank Patricia Jaeger for her question (really, almost as much a tautology): most violence is committed by men - for the same reason - likely a species characteristic.
It is just what we seem to be. What men, in particular, seem to be.
Which doesn't let us off the hook; our responsibilty is to recognize this honestly, and attempt as best we can to negotiate with this behavioral tendency within us. (But yikes! What are the prospects for this? Steven Pinker aside, do we really do with this anything? A reading of hIstory would seem to offer different interpretations. )
With respect to the perspective expressed above: I think that the roots of American - and human - violence go back further and are deeper than a crisis of masculinity in our current milieu, a difficulty of accepting and granting those of other identities a fair shake.
Of particular salience in this regard: Chapter 16, beginning at page 250.
It's good to strive for solutions, but I think that for there to be any chance of this, the root must be understood, and dealt with on this basis (if it is possible).
(Anecdotally, violence has been a theme in my life. I guess it depends somewhat on in the circumstances in which one lives. What I saw and experienced had little to do with adjusting to with accepting social change.)
I'm glad you re-posted this interview as it's a very important conversation. Unfortunately, one variable in this conversation is always overlooked. Most violence is committed by men. Why is this? What is it about too many men that they believe they are allowed to use violence to force others to do what they want? This is also a universal fact around the world, but the difference is that men in the US have easy access to guns.
I actually think Sen. Murphy gets into this a bit more in his more recent interview with us (https://the.ink/p/senator-chris-murphy-pursuit-of-happiness); so does Dr. Murthy (https://the.ink/p/vivek-murthy-loneliness-men-crisis) — I think they've both been very invested lately in figuring out what to do about what a lot of people have been calling a "crisis of masculinity" — looking for ways to provide a better answer than violence, or fascism for men (and we're really talking about white men here) who are having so much trouble finding their way in a world that's changing to give women, people of color, people trying to figure out gender in different ways, a fair shake.
Chris Murphy here provides some hope regarding some of those who chose to enter the political arena. It's heartening to see a cogent, substantive treatment of one of the fundamental contentious issues that has so divided this society.
And since the "like" comment icon doesn't seem functional (at least in my browser), I would like to thank Patricia Jaeger for her question (really, almost as much a tautology): most violence is committed by men - for the same reason - likely a species characteristic.
It is just what we seem to be. What men, in particular, seem to be.
Which doesn't let us off the hook; our responsibilty is to recognize this honestly, and attempt as best we can to negotiate with this behavioral tendency within us. (But yikes! What are the prospects for this? Steven Pinker aside, do we really do with this anything? A reading of hIstory would seem to offer different interpretations. )
With respect to the perspective expressed above: I think that the roots of American - and human - violence go back further and are deeper than a crisis of masculinity in our current milieu, a difficulty of accepting and granting those of other identities a fair shake.
Of particular salience in this regard: Chapter 16, beginning at page 250.
It's good to strive for solutions, but I think that for there to be any chance of this, the root must be understood, and dealt with on this basis (if it is possible).
(Anecdotally, violence has been a theme in my life. I guess it depends somewhat on in the circumstances in which one lives. What I saw and experienced had little to do with adjusting to with accepting social change.)
https://www.academia.edu/36350859/Jared_Diamond_The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Third_Chimpanzee_1991