Violence is in some form an inescapable part of our everyday life. Its unstoppable repeated occurrence has made it such a common phenomenon that it no longer surprises us. We take it as something natural, something we cannot get rid of as it is embedded in the scheme of things beyond our control.

No doubt violence is a highly complex phenomenon but let’s try to understand some of its dimensions. To begin with, one can assert that it’s not made of a single strand. We can clearly see its natural and human aspects if experience is anything to go by. In nature we see violence as a daily occurrence. It’s in fact the source of life for all creatures. Carnivorousness is something we all are familiar with. Manu of Indian mythology/history who otherwise strictly forbids eating meat forcefully points to its natural aspect.

“…Those that do not move are food for those who move, and those that have no fangs are food for those with fangs; those that have no hands are food of those with hands; cowards are food of the brave. The eater who eats creatures with the breath of life who are to be eaten does nothing bad, even if he does it day after day; for the Creator himself created creatures with the breath of life, some to be eaten and some to be eaters (15.28-30),” quotes Wendy Doniger in her book ‘The Hindus: An Alternative History’. We come across a similar view in the Mahabharata when it says; “The mongoose eats mice, just as the cat eats the mongoose; dog devours the cat and wild beasts eat the dog.” So violence is an essential part of the natural world, even where we see none; those that do not move become victims of violence. Plants and grass are eaten by herbivores but the act appears non-violent because the victims do not have the power to resist and protest by displaying its anger and anguish.

But when we juxtapose the natural world with the human world we find the situation graver in the latter. The human world has traits of the natural world as well as its own characteristics, which are unique, not to be found elsewhere. We are an outcome of an evolutionary process spread over a long period of time. What made us transcend certain barriers placed before us by nature made us human. What made us human made us stronger than other animals. And what made us stronger has made us dangerous, dangerous to the extent that we can destroy ourselves and others that we see or do not see on this planet. With our nuclear weapons, the ultimate signs of power, we can cause universal annihilation. Friedrich Nietzsche in different words points to this morbid human tendency when he says; “Earth has a disease called man.” In our context, this ‘disease’ is human propensity for violence which is an inherent attribute of our being animals but more so for our being humans because of a transference of our violent urges to the far deadlier weapons of war.

Animal violence is instinct-driven which means it fulfills certain natural needs but it stops at that. A predator hunts when it is hungry. When satiated, it hardly looks at what can be its potential quarry. It does not use violence against others if they are not intruders. It does not threaten unless it is threatened. Human world is quite the opposite; it is not only driven by instincts but also by strong perceptions of conceived human needs. Such human needs are conceived because they do not fall in the category of essential human needs. They spring from subconscious memory of scarcity born of our long life spread over millennia in the animal world. Inherent feeling of scarcity creates a sense of insecurity. In order to overcome the perennial state of being insecure, which is more of psychological nature, humans create a catalogue of real and imagined needs that would, in their opinion, protect them.

This ability to create unneeded needs is linked with human consciousness that does not restrict humans to what is present as is the case with the animals. Humans have developed perception of time based on the phenomenon of change as shown by things in a state of flux in everyday life. They have become aware of ‘was’, ’is, and ‘will’ i.e. the past, the present and the future. Karl Marx alludes to such a unique human quality; humans can construct future plans in imagination. In other words, imaginative construction of their future plans makes humans potentially as much powerful as deadly. Blueprints of future plans are specifically born of consciousness that can see and visualize the movement of time. Conscious and subconscious memory of scarcity experienced in the distant and recent past and fear caused by sense of insecurity come together to create a psyche and a mindset that breeds among humans obsessive possessiveness of all resources, which, apparently, can guarantee an individual or a group an impregnable wall of safety. Such a phenomenon is highly visible at the level of what we call nations/countries. Since each group, nation/country has similar motives, they invariably come into a conflict as they stake their claim over what seems to provide them with a protective shield; resources, natural and human. Achieving such an objective is not possible without the use of force.

But effective use of force is nothing but violence whatever name we give it. Those who use violence suffer from false consciousness and fall victim to the illusion that they can be safe in their manufactured cocoon. The other side involved in the conflict would not allow that to happen; the victims would continue to resist the victimizers in ways visible and invisible. That’s why any scheme of things created by violence would not be able to bring peace. A society may have enforced peace but see how poet Brecht exposes such peace: “War grows from their peace /like son from his mother / He bears her frightful features.” — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2023