America's violent culture

[furface]

Of all the crazy things I've read about lately, this is the scariest. This is the root of a lot of problems in our society. We think that words are equivalent to physical violence. Americans think nothing of using violence to remedy just about every little thing that bothers them about other people. The idea that government can cure every problem is just another form of the idea that violence can cure everything, being that government's basic tool is violence.


http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/october_2010/most_adults_say_physical_bullying_cyber_bullying_a re_equally_dangerous

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of adults say physical bullying and cyber bullying are equally dangerous,

[youngbuck]

In other news, 69% of adults are complete dumbasses...

[ibaghdadi]

How credible is this? I'd like to hear more opinions.

I'm somewhat wary from those who hold that the most intractable problems of a society are inherent in the very nature and fabric of that society; i.e. "the problem is that you are who you are".

[MelissaWV]

In other news, 69% of adults are complete dumbasses...

More than that. 7% of the adults surveyed think the internet bullying is WORSE THAN physical bullying.


In light of the recent deaths of students who have been bullied online, many (69%) think it should be a punishable crime to harass someone over the Internet. Twelve percent (12%) think it should not be a punishable crime and 19% are not sure.

The results are a bit suspect to me. First off, it's a telephone survey, which already puts a big red flag up for me. Most people surveyed are of a certain sort these days. I know I don't have time to sit on the phone and answer these moronic questions.

I notice the story doesn't say what the question was, or how the survey was phrased.

Consider this hypothetical. The caller is asked how concerned they are about children in school being bullied online. They say they are very concerned. The caller is asked how concerned they are about children in school being bullied physically at school. They say they are concerned. That result, then, can be skewed to say that the person thinks cyberbullying is more dangerous, more of a concern, more pressing. It could instead, though, mean the person thinks the cyberbullying is more common these days.

[furface]

I agree there are definitely problems with the way the survey is laid out. The term "dangerous" is a bit ambiguous. "Dangerous" in what sense? There's been a lot of media attention to high profile cases where kids have committed suicide because of bullying. Maybe people equate danger with the victim going out and doing something stupid because of it.

I tend to equate the term with a generalized moral danger. I think there needs to be very clear lines drawn between the way we look at verbal abuse and the way we look at physical violations. There is a light year wide chasm between the two, and I think our society fails to drive that home.

Also, what is "physical bullying?" Is that someone verbally abusing someone in their physical presence or is it actually being physically violent with somebody? That's not quite clear to me.

But if I were asked the question, "Which do you think is more dangerous, cyber bullying or physical bullying" I would take it to mean a question about physical verses verbal abuse. Maybe I mistook the question.

I've been sued for defamation for insulting a publicly traded company's CEO online. The case was bogus and was thrown out, but I actually have a hard time convincing people that I had a right to insult this guy publicly. People tend to take the line "you shouldn't be able to hurt people with words."

I take the position that it's important to learn how to hurt people with words because it's a much more legitimate way to deal with conflicts than to do what seems too natural to our society, which is to resort to violence.

The modern psycho babble is that "sticks and stones actually can hurt." I say we need to go back to the idea that "sticks and stones" are actionable and "names" cannot harm in a material way. In fact it's a good lesson to learn to be able to let hurtful things people say slide off of you.

When I explained my positions to people who were critical of me for insulting the CEO, most people seem to accept it. I think there's a lot of media propaganda driving the idea that words can actually hurt. I mean, yeah, if your girlfriend lobs an insult at you, you're going to be hurt, but the media is claiming that strangers and casual acquaintances can actually hurt each other with words. It's nutty considering they go on to say how heroic it is to bomb Pakistan and how lovely it would be to bomb Iran. Words harm, but missiles don't. That's the message today. It's very Orwellian.


There's a strange religious link to this. Some of the heavier Southern Baptist ideological Christians I talk to will claim that we have been given the right to use violence against our enemies because of Old Testament stories of conquering people who were disobedient to God. I ask them about Jesus saying "let the person who is without sin cast the first stone." They say He's talking metaphorical about judgment, not about violence.

Really, could of fooled me. Again, it's this completely backwards think. I would say take the Old Testament metaphorically and the New Testament more literally, especially when talking about non-violence.

I claim our society cherry picks their morality for rationalizing violence.

[Theocrat]

We live in an effeminate culture, where people have been conditioned to be sensitive towards anything which offends them, whether it's physical or not. And, of course, in comes "Big Brother" to protect us all from those offenses. Surveys like the one in the OP (assuming they're accurate) shows that to be true, and it influences public policy a lot.

[raiha]

Maybe the problem stems from fear. Fear develops into violence..protecting your patch.
You've had the War Between the States not so long ago, WW's, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan so you are probably all suffering from intergenerational PTSD.(violent impulses stem fromt this) Your contemporary vets from your empire- carving also suffering from PTSD.
Then you have the myth of the chosen people coming to the chosen land brought over from the Puritans which gave them unbridled dominance over anyone who got in their chosen way Those native American heathen for starters. If you are chosen, that means God is on your side. And if God is always on your side, it means you can get an over-developed sense of entitlement which leads to the perpetuation of 'helping yourself' to whatever is going, often at others' expense.

America was once the hope of the world but sadly the ideals of social and political liberty are seen (by we lowly, 'unchosen' ones ..the rest of humanity) for what they have become...self-gratification and decadence, and the ensuing violence being the frustration of desire.