On Violence

Violence is a common word, but I don't think it gets properly defined. I am going to give my definition here. Here I go:

Violence is any action or behavior of any size that is performed out of a feeling of powerlessness. It is that which is done when a person has nothing else they feel they can do. It can come it the form of passing thoughts toward oneself or others, or it can be words, or physical actions. Violence is usually in the form of an attack, and it is different from aggression.

Aggression is the display of power, active movement in the world. Violence is faux-aggression, an admission of weakness on the part of the perpetrator. It carries a thrill with it, a rush of release, which is the pressure of the negative feelings releasing temporarily, but it is a temporary, hollow sensation. Truly strong people have no need of violence; they may act aggressively in the world, and they may defend themselves from violence, but it is quite a different kind of behavior.

Things like fighting or wrestling may or may not be violent depending on the emotional place where it comes from. They may be play, or a display of dominance, which are aggressive, but they only become violent when the person feels that they must hurt the other to preserve their own identity.

By this definition, violence is relatively rare in the animal kingdom. A lion killing a gazelle is not an act of violence; it is the aggressive nature of the creature. Humans hunting and killing in the same way is not violent, although I have reservations against the activity when done for sport. Fighting between animals is usually an aggressive display, and rarely does it become violent.

I realize that many people may not agree with this definition. I think it is important to distinguish between aggression and violence, because humans are aggressive creatures, and this is something we should respect about ourselves, but I do not think that we are by nature violent creatures. Violence is the result of an unnatural way of living, a way that does not acknowledge our natural aggressive needs, or that funnels them into narrow avenues of behavior. For example, adults have relatively few socially acceptable ways of playing outside of sports. I think that is one reason for the growing preponderance of video games.

If you are reading this and you have an alternate definition of these words that you think is more useful, I would like to see it. Please share it with me.