Like the weather, violence is an unpredictable constant. The world went through a "golden age" without war many years ago, but I doubt the people declared Golden knew what was happening in North, South, and Central America. I cannot believe that we have ever enjoyed World Peace. Like rain, it stops and starts, and no one really likes getting caught in it.
I looked up the origin of the song "Rain, Rain, Go Away" and found its roots were in none other than: that's right, war. (Click HERE for lyrics and origin). I did a little experiment about war's prevelance in our culture. I Googled "War" and I Googled "Peace." "War" had 957,000,000 matches, and "peace" had 267,000,000 matches. That's about 700,000,000 more articles about war. My conclusion- there's too much of it.
Another interesting thought:
Forbe's Most Dangerous City: Detroit, Michigan
Detroit High School Graduation Rate: 21.7% ****
Forbe's Safest City: Plano, Texas (suburb of Dallas)
Dallas Graduation Rate: 81.3%
Any correlation? I think so. One way to counter violence in our society is to educate ourselves. We can overcome adversity. Violence in our cities IS war, whether it is in text books or not. Guns, knives, bombs, what have you, is all human hurting human. War looms over us like a rain cloud. Let's hope for sunny skies soon.
****This scares me!
Hi Glenna, your post really reminded me of one I wrote earlier in the week. Music has a huge role in pop culture and the expression of political as well as emotional perspectives. War is present in everyday life, I am not sure I believe that any from of violence can be considered war. For example, a mother spanking her child is most definitely not war. However, in a broader sense I agree that the potential for war is ever present in society and the world.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your input! I don't think that any form of violence is an act of war, either. I was referring to gangs and other forms of violence between equally engaged forces.
I will be sure to check out your blog soon. I'm excited to see your view point on how pop culture infuses personal and political environment. Sounds interesting!
Glenna, I agree that there most likely has never been a period of world peace. I doubt that it is within man's capability to achieve it, as interests and view points will always come into conflict, and there will always be those factions or nations determined to impose their will on others. Wars have been present since Homer's description of the siege of Troy up until the Iraq war today. So while I'm doubtful of the potential for world peace, I would say though that the quest for it is admirable and the only way to improve our world.
ReplyDelete