Societies Need Violence

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Jerry Adams

English 112 sec 09

M. Ryan Wineberg

March 20, 2010

Societies Need Violence

H. H. Holmes, a prominent Chicago physician decides to rent out rooms during the 1893

Worlds Fair. Holmes motivation is more than that of a caring neighbor; he is seeking to quench

his thirst for murder. Holmes is Americas first serial killer, and he claims over fifty-seven

lives, using the vilest methods imaginable. Holmes magnificent building which inhabits an

entire city block is dubbed The Castle and it is just as gruesome as its owner. The Castle is

built during the 1888 blood spree of Londons Jack the Ripper and is constructed for the

nefarious purposes of mutilation and sick experiments, complete with vats of acid (for cleaning

and selling human skeletons) and torture chambers. Two men besides Holmes profit from this

grizzly story of mayhem and violence. H. H. Holmes is made internationally famous by the

Chicago newspaper tycoon Randolph Hurst who sensationalizes the story for a tidy profit (H.H.

Holmes - America's First Serial Killer). Holmes is arrested, not for murders which are to be

discovered later, but for the crime of insurance fraud by Pinkerton national detective agency; the

worlds first detective agency (Javers 32). The story of H. H. Holmes is more than that of

Americas first serial killer; it also illustrates the emergence of profit from the violence of others,

and Americas new appetite for sensational brutality as it slips into an urban consumer society.

Isaac Asimov, considered the father of modern science fiction, said, Violence is the last refuge

of the incompetent. His quote mirrors current views on violence in society. However, exactly

what makes the crimes of murder perpetrated by H. H. Holmes more grotesque than murder by

any government? The idea that contemporary society is more violent than previous societies is


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also a very slanted speculation (Levin 15). Nevertheless, a student of violence must contemplate

if it is truly in and of itself negative. It could certainly be argued that violence is the number one

resource in our society, and it generates trillions of dollars per year. Unfortunately, the economy

of modern society is driven by profit and funded by violence, causing numerous cases of societal

illnesses. Not unlike illnesses in a human body, societal illness is caused by functions that are

not working quite right. However, in the case of our modern world, our diagnosis is our natural

violence has shifted into unnatural channels causing a severe pain in the tookus of humanity.

Natural violence is beneficial to mankind, but unnatural violence which is manipulated by man is

decaying society and must be reversed.

First of all the very concept of violence being the number one resource in America and

generates trillions of dollars per year is very jarring, yet very accurate. The primary industry that

takes the lions share of capital to generate violence is the Department of Defense (DOD).

According to the DOD, the budget for the 2010 physical year is estimated between 880 billion

and 1.03 trillion (United States Department of Defense). The DOD has exceeded its budget for

the last eight years. This estimate does not include indirect costs such as interest on the debt and

the money it takes to care for the 33,000 newly wounded veterans. Many believe that the

indirect costs will become greater than the direct cost within the coming decade. Americans

very perception of violence has changed because of the way it has been presented to consumers.

We consume presented violence every time a politician sells us on going to war. Killing,

maiming, and destroying are O.K. for our government to do. We will even pay for it even though

violence is not proper for the public to perform because then it would be considered

objectionable. Do we believe this because we are told we should, or do we believe because of

the horror that would wash over us if we did not? The world has never seen a person who spent

over a trillion dollars in one year for the purpose of murder. According to investigative reporter


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Jim Marrs even the Nazis did not have that much money in their budget (114). This is a short list

of other industries that capitalize on violence and/ or the threat of it; the movie industry, the

music industry, the video game industry, the vaccination industry, home defense, self defense,

health care, life insurance, health insurance, the American Judicial System. More businesses

profit from violence than criminals do (Levin 46). There seems to be only one group of people

who do not profit from violence, the general populous. The general populous are the very group

who fall prey to those who profit from violence.

Furthermore, now that we have explored the concept of violence being the number one

resource in America let us consider why the everyday average American family suffers

immensely from an economy of unnatural societal violence (Levin 98). America is now a

culture of urban consumerism; this has not always been the case. Life used to be more

complicated than it is now. Day to day life on a farm is violent, killing chickens, slaughtering

cows, the devastation of weather. Living was an adventure, in which a man and a woman along

with their children really depended upon each other. Men would have to work hard in the field

and also tend and kill livestock. Women had household chores no less violent, preparing the raw,

fresh animal flesh for consumption. Most parents had as many children as they could to help on

the farm. Each person in the family unit had a job and was important. Today one of the top nine

leading causes of premature death is suicide, from people who feel like they dont belong (Beck,

Brown, Berchick, Stewart, and Steer 1). Children respected their parents because they knew

exactly what their parents did for a living and how their parents steered their families through

hardships. Today, when hardships befall a family, the Federal Government steps in with welfare.

In the past, family members were able to maintain strong emotional bonds. In our modern

society not only do parents divorce each other but children divorce their parents (Floyd 353).

Why has family bonding changed? According to Dr. Kory Floyd, communications scientist,


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physical arousal builds emotional bonds. Studies have shown that after family members engage

in physically stimulating activities together they reported an increase in relationship satisfaction

afterwards. Scientists attribute this to the family members transferring their physical sense of

excitement and physical arousal to their other family members, thus seeing their relationships as

novel and interesting (363). Today in our urban society most Americans live a very mundane

life in which all basic needs are provided for. According to the Center for Diseases Controls

recently released National Health Interview Survey which interviewed seventy-nine thousand

Americans over the period of three years; only 30 percent of Americans claim to exercise

regularly (CDC). Exercise is a universally excepted natural way of preventing depression. The

instances of domestic abuse and divorce have skyrocketed since America has moved to an urban

consumer society (Levin 13). Americans have not become more violent, they just simply are

violent in ways that do not positively contribute to their well-being. Americas new violence is

entertainment, wealth, and crime, not day to day living. Our positive natural violence is now

satisfied with violent movies, first-person shooter video games, violent sports, domestic

violence, divorces, murders, rapes, alcoholism, and suicide (Levin 187). Today families do not

need each other to survive. People feel lost and without a purpose and they cannot explain why.

Journalist Geraldo Rivera conducted his famous jail house interview with convicted murder

Charles Manson in 1987. The first statement that Manson made was, Violence will continue as

long as the government buys and sells it (Manson).

In addition to the suffering of the average American family let us focus on how our

government maintains its power with a monopoly of violence and fear. The most basic of human

law does not apply to our government and for this reason the entire flow of human violence is

misdirected. When America was hit with The Great Depression Teddy Roosevelt said, We

have nothing to fear but fear itself. During the financial collapse of 2009, our President said,


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Americans have a reason to be fearful, and then he continued to convince the American

people why there needed to be a bank bailout for their benefit, and those same bailed out

companies foreclosed on the very Americans who bailed them out. That instance was a good

example of using fear for political gain. Violence is wrong for the citizens. Members of our

society hear this on television and believe it. Our contemporary culture has created a society of

victims whose fears are manipulated for financial gain (Levin 57).

Comparatively, Individuals in our contemporary society have no idea of how to provide

the most basic of provisions for themselves. This incompetence permeates the culture and

creates a nation of dependents. People are dependent on fast food, dependent on services,

dependent on buying new items instead of fixing them, dependent on being entertained by sports

and television. There is a difference between consumerism and capitalism; whether an economy

is consumer or capital driven is decided by that nations government. Our government has taken

its place as the head of American families protecting us from seemingly ultimate doom. Whether

this state of affairs came about because of nefarious corporations or because parents simply

wanted their children to have it better than they did is inconsequential. There are alarming

statistics of the rise in single parent families (Levin 96). The reason for this increase is because

our natural violence has been diverted for economic gain and the complete family unit is not

needed because the government has filled that role.

Nevertheless, some would argue that the people who have examined this evidence and

have come to these conclusions are not living in reality. However, it can be further argued that

the current state of violence in our society is impeding us from advancement. In order for us to

function in our day to day lives, we need copious amounts of stuff and gadgets. Most Americans

cant start a fire without a match or lighter. This is not the sign of an advanced civilization. We

cannot find and prepare our food completely by ourselves. We must have electricity to keep our


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food. In real life, the less self-reliant you are and the more things you need for survival, the more

infantile you are. Many people need to stop and think about what they would do if they had zero

electricity, no transportation other than feet, and no fast food. When we stop to think just how

much of our lives the government actually controls, we begin to realize that we all have not been

living in reality. The things we thought were important, sports, celebrities, movies were not

important. The people who are not important mom, dad, brother sister, wife, and children are

actually of extreme importance, even essential for our very survival.

In turn due to the governments monopoly on violence, the people feel an unnatural

disconnect with the human race. Violence is real, powerful, dangerous, thrilling, and yet there

are many people who do not see it as a daily threat or motivation. Every day on the television or

in the other various forms of media, violence is portrayed, which makes for a compelling story.

This makes violence a fictional character, and, to a public that does not directly face the threat of

real violence, it is hard to relate to. Stories of people being murdered in the inner-city and

soldiers being blown up by bombers are common place. This bombardment of media violence

makes it easy for mainstream society to disconnect and believe that violence is not so bad

because it always happens to someone else. Senseless violence will not stop until stopping it is

more important to society than profits. How can a society be expected to care enough to actively

stop the spread of violence when they have become so disconnected with even the members of

their own families? In a famous poem First They Came, German Pastor Martin Niemlle

explains the dangers of being complacent in the face of violence(1946):

They came first for the Communists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.


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Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,

and I didnt speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me

and by that time no one was left to speak up (Niemlle).

Molly Levin, editor writer research associate and author of several studies on violence wrote a

book called, Violence in Society, which masterfully outlines the causes of violence in society.

Many soldiers survive war with a greater sense of thankfulness because they are alive. Life used

to be a daily battle in which a rural America fought and made this country one of the most

influential in the history of the world. People made goods with their hands, and this spurred

physical ingenuity and physical creation. People were closer to violence, they lived and breathed

it. When you live close to violence and you see it as a real threat, you will avoid it in your own

family while having a better understanding of its effect on others (Levin 7). Some would argue

that deindustrialization would be a step back into a less civilized society. The truth is that the

same business leaders born of the industrial revolution also sought to industrialize war.

Next, in his bookBroker, Trader, Lawyer Spy, investigative journalist Emon Javers

writes of an account by Roselli Mahu (Mafia gangster and CIA operative) about when Howard

Hughes wanted to retain his intelligence services to prolong the profitable Vietnam War.

Hughes sought to prolong the war because his company had a government contract to sell

helicopters to the United States. Mahu said that he declined the offer (Javers 98). Indeed

America herself was expanded on the violence of Indian wars and built up on the back of slaves.

What most history books fail to teach and citizens fail to realize, is not only did the government

allow such practices but it politically endorsed racism for the growth of the country. Howard


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Zinn a historian and professor of history at Harvard, chronicles the birth of racism in America in

his bookA Peoples History of The United States. Racism is not a natural state in man; it is a

trained response to certain conditions. Slaves were a cheap source of labor for influential

businessmen in the new world. These prominent businessmen were farmers and at the time they

were called plantation owners. The government both local and Federal set forth certain laws and

judgments which would keep blacks as a cheap source of labor. Later these hideous acts were

politicized by the government by deflecting the cause of racism on to poor uneducated whites.

In truth poor whites at the time worked alongside the slaves and only had the penalty of

government laws on their side. In his book author Howard Zinn tells the account of a black slave

woman who had the child of a white man named Robert Sweat. The ruling of the court was as

follows:

The said Negro woman shall be whipped at the whipping post and the said Sweat shall

tomorrow in the forenoon do public penance for his offence at James city church (30).

Like racism, violence toward other members of humanity is not natural but conditioned by

society for profit. In order for our society to mature, we must consider the greater consequences

of the hijacking of natural violence to the greater society.

In addition, many alcoholics have described their addiction as a method of escape from

personal troubles. Many recovering alcoholics have stated that upon emerging into a sober

world, they were at the same mental and emotional maturity level as when they began drinking

(alcoholics anonymous). Today our society has been drinking itself drunk with violence, and

vomiting disillusionment in the form of violent crimes. Our Nation is emotionally immature

because of its ignorance of violence. Like a three-year-old in a giants body, our society does

not realize that the consequences of its greedy actions shall echo through the world for centuries

to come.


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Nevertheless, not unlike alcoholism there is a cure to the disease of unnatural violence.

The answer is not as drastic as lowering the bones of society into acid and selling the corpse for

profit, as H. H. Holmes did and Howard Hughes attempted to do. The answer is much simpler.

The answer is held in the meaning of one word, responsibility. First, we all must take

responsibility for our own education. Secondly, we must all take responsibility for our own

families. Next, we must all take responsibility for our own survival. Finally we must all take

responsibility for our neighbors like they were ourselves. There is a great danger in giving any

person or entity the responsibility over our education, our families, our survival or that of our

neighbors. The reason why is because if the entity in charge of any of these life issues becomes

corrupt in the least it would be unable to not infect the entire society with its will. With

education, we have more education foundations trying to shape Americas young minds into a

focused world view than ever before yet; Americas college entrance scores are lower than most

industrialized nations. It is hard to say why this is the case, yet it can be pointed out that these

education foundation are primarily funded by big business. We adult women and men must take

responsibility for our familys well being and this responsibility includes; nutrition, education,

health care, and even exercise. This almost seems like common sense; however, it is alarming

how many parents just live their lives without showing interest in what is going on with their

childrens educational, physical, and emotional needs. There is a saying made famous in the

nineteen eighties the children are our future. I find this saying to be at the crux of the problem

in our society. The truth is that we are our childrens future and it is time for us to except the

responsibility. Adults must also take responsibility for their marriages, and work through issues

instead of divorcing. The education of communication classes will give some powerful tools for

this necessity. The responsibility lies with us. We must take responsibility for our own survival.

Life is a participation sport. We must prepare our families for natural disasters, trauma and


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medical emergencies. If we keep a supply of emergency food, water and disaster preparedness

plans our survival and the survival of those around us will increase substantially. Having

emergency supplies is not hard to do if you skip going out to the movies, going out to eat,

expensive cell phones, and the luxurious price of cable. Instead of always seeking our own

pleasure we should spend discretionary money on supplies and survival education. Finally we

must start talking too and caring about our neighbors. It is very easy to go years without even

talking to your next door neighbors. The reason for this is because in our busy urban lives we

have transportation that allows us to travel many miles to work were we talk to people all day.

When we require help around the house or something needs fixing that we do not have the tools

or skills to fix we call a service to repair it. We must take responsibility in all of these areas

because if we dont we will continue to be mentally immature. Contemporary social immaturity

entails not comprehending the effect the American Governments policies has on our lives and

that of the rest of the world.

In closing, a revolution is uncalled for. Simply stated an honest evaluation of violence in

our society is not only required but is long overdue. Everyone must ask themselves; do

governments dictate what makes some violence O.K. and what makes other forms of violence

unacceptable? Are we told that violence in nature is just nature and violence in man is

abominable unless it is government sanctioned? Are we living the natural consequences of

Americas transition to unnatural violence? Do governments maintain their power with a

monopoly of violence? Does the American family suffer from our societys unnatural violence?

Is there a cure to unnatural violence? Now that we have examined and discussed these issues we

can come to the educated and logical conclusion of yes. In Leonard C Lewins now infamous

book, Report from Iron Mountain, a group of scientists enlisted by the government conduct a

study on the possibility and desirability of peace, the scientists come to the following


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conclusions. Peace should be avoided because there is nothing that can fill the financial void

that the end of War would make in the economy, and that War should be promoted because of its

economic stabilizing qualities at all costs (Lewin 106). These conclusions can only be held

accurate if your only goal is to maintain and expand the current state of society. However, if

your goal is for the further maturity of society as we know it, then we will have to kiss our

current economy goodbye because it is, in fact, dependant on unnatural violence to maintain it.

To return to an economy based on natural constructive violence we would need to initiate

deindustrialization and begin living in smaller more self-reliant communities. This is a basic

reboot of society, in which natural violence plays a day-to-day role in the lives of its citizens, and

not be the basis for a juggernaut world economy. Societal reboot is the cure to the societal

deconstructing effects of unnatural violence, but it must occur naturally. Natural violence is

beneficial to mankind, but unnatural violence which is manipulated by man is decaying society

and must be reversed.


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Works Cited

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Beck M.D., Aaron , Gary Brown M.S., Robert Berchick Ph.D., Bonnie Stewart Ph.D., and

Robert A. Steer Ed.D.. "Relationship Between Hopelessness and Ultimate Suicide: A

Replication With Psychiatric Outpatients."American Psychiatric Association 4.147 (2006):

291-296. Print.

"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p.,

n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. .

H.H. Holmes - America's First Serial Killer. Dir. John Borowski. Perf. Tony Jay, Harold

Schechter, Thomas Cronin. Facets Video, 2003. DVD.

Levin, Molly Apple. Violence in society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1975. Print

Manson, Charles. Personal interview. 12 Feb. 1987.

Marrs, Jim. The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over

America. Brattleboro: Harper Paperbacks, 2009. Print.

Niemller, Martin First They Came Speech. Confessing Church, Frankfurt, German. 6 Jan,

1946

United States Department of Defense (defense.gov).United States Department of Defense

(defense.gov) . N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .

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