Iris!!!! This is powerful and heart stopping and deeply felt. Send it to the NYT! To all the possible outlets. You are not alone in holding and reverberating from violence. You are rare in being willing to claim what you are feeling about it. Most go numb with overwhelm.
In Ursula K Le Guin’s book “The Word for World is Forest” she also wonders about the reversal of violence. Humans colonize and enslave beings on another world who are naturally peaceful, but in order to drive away the intolerable slave masters, the peaceful beings take up violence. It works. But then they wonder if they can ever go back to being peaceful again. Once the idea of murder is introduced, can it ever be retired? I’m also reading “The Dawn of Everything” by David Graeber and David Wengrow. It appears that there is evidence in pre-European Native American history of cities that got very big, leaders abused power, and then the people rose up and destroyed everything, then consciously created systems of government in which is was impossible for anyone to get too powerful again. So I’m hoping that it is possible to put the weapons down-- after the revolution.
Mmmm yes! Similarly, I love the way Starhawk explores visions of peace in the midst of violence in "The Fifth Sacred Thing." I also hope (and believe! most of the time) that peace is possible, eventually. I have been wondering recently whether it is true that power corrupts or if it is perhaps more accurate to say that power reveals.
If there is a clear right and wrong in a conflict, should compensation be given to the righteous to offset the wrongs committed against them? Given that all parties in a conflict often claim moral superiority, how can we discern the truth? Moreover, can we ever convince the unscrupulous that they are in the wrong? The main issue with the narrative of peace on Earth is that retribution is often justified by historical events and the belief in the superiority of certain claims. Even if we can judge morality correctly, the aggrieved party may use that judgment as the basis for future actions, perpetuating the cycle indefinitely unless conflicting beliefs are assimilated or eliminated. Peace on Earth may be a very violent idea despite the intent.
Iris!!!! This is powerful and heart stopping and deeply felt. Send it to the NYT! To all the possible outlets. You are not alone in holding and reverberating from violence. You are rare in being willing to claim what you are feeling about it. Most go numb with overwhelm.
gosh darn it i love you beyond. thank u for seeing me and reflecting my strength to me. it means so much.
In Ursula K Le Guin’s book “The Word for World is Forest” she also wonders about the reversal of violence. Humans colonize and enslave beings on another world who are naturally peaceful, but in order to drive away the intolerable slave masters, the peaceful beings take up violence. It works. But then they wonder if they can ever go back to being peaceful again. Once the idea of murder is introduced, can it ever be retired? I’m also reading “The Dawn of Everything” by David Graeber and David Wengrow. It appears that there is evidence in pre-European Native American history of cities that got very big, leaders abused power, and then the people rose up and destroyed everything, then consciously created systems of government in which is was impossible for anyone to get too powerful again. So I’m hoping that it is possible to put the weapons down-- after the revolution.
Mmmm yes! Similarly, I love the way Starhawk explores visions of peace in the midst of violence in "The Fifth Sacred Thing." I also hope (and believe! most of the time) that peace is possible, eventually. I have been wondering recently whether it is true that power corrupts or if it is perhaps more accurate to say that power reveals.
Iris this is true alchemy of the heart and the written word combined with the wisdom of spirit only you could manifest!!!!
If there is a clear right and wrong in a conflict, should compensation be given to the righteous to offset the wrongs committed against them? Given that all parties in a conflict often claim moral superiority, how can we discern the truth? Moreover, can we ever convince the unscrupulous that they are in the wrong? The main issue with the narrative of peace on Earth is that retribution is often justified by historical events and the belief in the superiority of certain claims. Even if we can judge morality correctly, the aggrieved party may use that judgment as the basis for future actions, perpetuating the cycle indefinitely unless conflicting beliefs are assimilated or eliminated. Peace on Earth may be a very violent idea despite the intent.