Against violent threats.
/*
The following is a detailed technical description of a philosophy against violent threats. I have known and followed this philosophy for many years, but never have documented or found an equal description thereof. Please feel free to debate and argue the topic; amendments and corollaries are welcome.
*/
In order to properly resolve any issue between two or more parties, the root of the issue must be found and its cause be remedied in a manner which all parties agree upon.
In terms of disagreements and arguments, violence is not a means of negotiation or education. Violence is only a form of control. Violence does not provide an answer for which two parties can agree, but rather forces opposing parties to agree, lest they be literally removed from the situation altogether.
Consequentially, threat of violence is also inconsiderable as a form of negotiation. If the threat of violence is presented, the presentor has essentially declared his or her party unaccepting of resolutions other than what has already been provided. Presuming such ignorance is not fleeting (that is, if responding to the threat with “your violent threat is out of line” does not stop the threat), the only outcomes possible is violent retaliation or unwillful submission. Neither of these are desired as an outcome, therefore any result of the violent threat cannot be considered a proper outcome.
Ultimately, this is to say that a threat of violence cannot progressively lead to anything except violence, and that since violence cannot be considered an acceptable outcome, neither can the threat of violence.
Example: what’s for dinner?
Case 1: violence.
A: I want chicken.
B: I want pizza.
Outcome:
A kills B, eats chicken for dinner alone.
Case 2: threat of violence
A: I want chicken.
B: I want pizza.
A: I will kill you if I don’t get to eat chicken for dinner.
Outcome:
Submission (Chicken for dinner)
OR
Violence, A killing B (resulting in Case 1 outcome)*
OR
Violence, B killing A (Pizza)
*Technically, A’s violent threat is inaccurate, as chicken is still the resulting dinner. This is actually a fallacy in my chosen terminology, but I refuse to analyze and correct it at this point.
So, being three months away from graduation, I’m getting worried about my future and what I’m going to do. Which is reasonable, right?
WRONG, according to Jefe (my father). I called him to talk about this, in the hopes that in his fatherly adult wisdom, he’d be able to help me. I should have…
How about a rebuttal?
1) agreed, whole-heartedly. See #3 for corollary (I’ve used this word a LOT lately).
(2) and (7) go hand-in-hand, but I’ll address each separately.
2) if you have no hopes or goals, you cannot be disapointed when they are not reached. FUCK THAT. Shoot for the stars. Be the perfect that no-one else dares because they are scared to and they have always been told it’s impossible. Prove them wrong. As I recently discussed with a friend of mine, “I am perfect; when I am proven wrong (and it is always important to be open-minded), I learn from it and change so that I become right, so until I am proven wrong again, I am once again perfect.”
3) Trade God for humanity. If the world is truly worth saving, then it will be the work of Man (…and Woman) that accomplishes this. Even if an all-powerful extraterrestrial intervines, it cannot save us from ourselves.
In another view, if you flip a coin, you have no control over how it lands. If you call heads, you can assume you called it right (it lands on heads) or that you called it wrong (it lands on tails). Since you have no control, you might as well assume, hope, and bet on getting it right.
4) Perhaps it is better said to not try to stick out. 60 years ago, a black man could not avoid discrimination, no matter how white he want to be. One cannot change who they are. But someone who molests children is a child-molester regardless of race or gender, and you should not fashion yourself as or in support of a child-molester. (Perhaps not the clearest advice ever given…I’m sure you understand, though.)
5) I cannot speak much on this topic, as I have lived in the South/Bible Belt all my life and we are known as hateful, backward fucks. There are always rejects like us, though, and there is always whispers of utopia somewhere out there where we fit in perfectly, or at least better than we do where we are. My advice on this, then, is to get out of the Midwest, out of the United States, and if need be, off of the planet Earth if need be, until you find where you feel you belong.
6) agreed, whole-heartedly. Self-improvement is never a bad thing ans is always possible. But remember that you are still perfect.
7) There is no reason to regret being wrong, making wrong choices, or being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Things could’ve been better. You always could have won the lottery. There will always be some law somewhere against what you are doing or thinking. What’s important is that you do right now what you know is best, and when you know better you do your best to become better. This is all anyone can do.
And, finally, the best advice I can give anyone is to not take to anyone’s advice, but to merely listen, think for yourself, and act on your own.
