thread: 2005-05-16 : Violence
On 2005-05-17, Christopher Kubasik wrote:
Ben's post came in as I was wrapping up...
soooooo.....
Ben, why the disconnect?
What is it about Ron's comments, or mine, that make you think that if there "is a situation in which the right thing to do is to not fight, to not hit, to submit or to walk away," Ron and I would both attack?
Ron said explicitely that to assert one's position one must use violence. Already in your hypothetical, it's clear that "one's position" is not on the line—because violence is not a required option.
Moveover, in my long post about my Bukido, I made it clear that simply by how one speaks, how one carries one's body, you can often avoid violence. No one in my class is looking for violence. Most of us will never throw an actual live attack for the rest of our lives.
Why you're assuming I WANT to fight is beyond me. I've said nothing of the sort.
I said I'm ready to. I've said I'm willing to back what I want out of this life with physical violence if need be. I've also expanded the defintion of violence from just fleshy contact to how I carry myself, the use of my voice and so on... (How you guys don't see thousands of "non-violent" protesters gathering as a potential threat of violence in the eyes of their oppressors is beyond me...!)
I think most peoople read Ron's post and only saw a fist hitting someone in the face. (Over on Ben's live journal, someone has already defined it as opening fire with a gun on anyone who disagrees with you!)
You guys are using a very narrow, specific image of violence.
Ron, I suspect, and I, I am certain, are using a much broader definition of "violence." As in "The Warrior Spirit"—which Ron refenced. Which is how one carries oneself and conducts oneself in the ways of the world to assert one's postion.
Notice, for example, Lance Armstrong. A man who asserted his position in the world. A very violent man—to his body—if you take the time to read his autobiography.
Or MLK—his affairs, his sexual energy—we don't want to talk about those things, because we think we can dodge that stuff in light of all the "good" stuff he did. No. We can't. It's ALL connected. And anyone who can't see that is living in the denail Ron refenced. He was an Aggressive man, with the warrior's spirit, who asserted himself so strongly into the world he took actions—in many ways, that would make us uncomfortable to do oursleves.
Which is really what this all boils down to:
How much are you asserting yourself in the world?
Before you judge Ron's comments insane (and even cowardly), because you know YOU would never do the "wrong" thing—please look at the full context of his comment. It all rests on asserting one's postion in the world.
Okay, you're all good people, who would never do anything to harm someone.
And you're asserting yourself into the world, how, exactly?
I have no idea if you are or you're not. But are you? And if so, how? And if not, why not?
Christopher
