Monthly Archives: January 2018

Announcing the Release of My New eBook

The world seems to be growing more violent day by day. When was the last time you picked up a newspaper or turned on a TV news show without facing reports of apparently senseless murders, attacks, or violent conflicts? No matter what the explanation, how much sense does what happened make to you?

How do we make sense of violence? Consider the following:

  • In 2002, the US youth homicide rate was more than 10 times that of other leading industrial nations.
  • In 2002, 25% of women had experienced domestic violence and 6 million children witnessed domestic violence annually.
  • The world spends just $1 on conflict prevention for every $1885 it spends on military budgets.
  • In 2010, the federal government spent over 1.3 trillion or 9% of the Gross Domestic Product on violence containment (war, police, and prisons).
  • In 2014, the international Global Peace Index ranked the United States as the 101st most peaceful country of the 152 which were ranked. Criteria were how much a country goes to war, political instability, number of murders, protection of human rights and public security with a small number of police officers. If number of prisoners executed and the percentage of citizens incarcerated were included, the US would have ranked even lower. I have not seen any indication that any of these have changed significantly for the better in recent years.

Where does all this violence come from? Writers and researchers have taken the position that one or more of the following contribute to violence: violent media, genetics, family break-down, lack of moral purpose, the criminal justice system, family violence, the drug trade, and capitalism.  Cases have been made for all of these as explanations of the level of violence in the United States. There is no general agreement on the cause of violence or what to do about it although most people agree that something must be done and soon.

(Excerpt from What To Do About Violence)

What To Do About Violence is my latest book. It is a brief FREE ebook available on Amazon about the nature of violence and how to approach it on personal, family, community and government levels. Download your free copy here.

What Can YOUR Government Do About Violence?

There is no life to be found in violence. Every act of violence brings us closer to death. Whether it’s the mundane violence we do to our bodies by overeating toxic food or drink or the extreme violence of child abuse, domestic warfare, life-threatening poverty, addiction, or state terrorism.

~Bell Hooks~

Lately our government, at least at the national level, seems to have forgotten who it works for. Congress recently passed a tax bill into law despite it being in great disfavor with a significant number of voters. A slight majority of Congress appears to be pandering to its wealthy donors and other wealthy citizens to the detriment of the rest of the country.

Violence remains a significant problem in our country although it has not shown an overall increase in recent years. Yet our communities across the country are rife with violence. We have too many mass killings, sexual assaults, suicides, drug overdoses and incidents of family violence.

In the past few articles, I have addressed what violence is and what causes it, what individuals can do, what families can do and what communities can do to reduce violence. Governments at all levels have approached the problem of violence mainly by looking for ways to punish perpetrators. Yet many violent people are motivated by anger, fear and pain. Punishing people for any of these only compounds the problem.

So what can government officials, citizen representatives at various levels, elected bodies and agencies created by them do other than punish people?

Here are some goals our representatives can address on our behalf:

  • Set up and fund programs in our communities to understand why people feel angry, powerless, fearful and in pain.
  • Establish community programs to address these concerns.
  • Do what it takes to help people rise above poverty.
  • Help neighborhoods find ways for their residents to live in safety.
  • Help citizens learn that skin color, national origin, religious affiliation, gender identity, sexual orientation and personal wealth have nothing to do with the value on anyone’s life.
  • Make sure that all citizens have adequate health care.
  • Help every citizen find a way to be a productive member of society.
  • Find a responsible way for citizens to own guns.

How do we get elected representatives to adopt such an agenda? Remember that all of them at every level are elected by those who they represent. They work for you. You will be bombarded by political advertising in every election cycle. Rather that listening to the onslaught, we need to start listening to each other person to person and in community forums. Once we understand what we all need we can elect people to act in our best interest who are willing to listen to each other and to us. It sounds daunting, but it can be done if we set our minds to it. Start doing your part today to build a more responsive government.