Violence is fractal

The kiddo was holding the weekend edition of a national newspaper with both hands. He was standing less than two feet away from me. Then, he inquired about all the horror the world was witnessing these days. He looked terribly puzzled. Sad. Perhaps, afraid.

I babbled a few words about the many wonderful things the world is home to, but he didn’t react to it. He insisted on how horrible it was.

I told him how love was the ultimate driving force of all the heated messages on social media. Expressed in anger, frustration, and pain, yes; but born out of love for people. I also mentioned that powerful voices are working on restoring bridges where burned, and activists are guarding words, so they don’t lose their meaning. I topped my speech by saying “I am optimistic!”. Yet, he didn’t react. He seemed unable to keep his sight out of the picture of crumbled buildings under his eyes.

Then, I left. Puzzled. Sad. Very sad.

It is time to change the narrative…

Photo by Антон Дмитриев on Unsplash

For centuries, violence has been associated with the idea of fighting. The history books depict our past as a succession of wars and dominations, with a strong contender exercising its power onto a weaker opponent, usually in a violent form. We have also heard stories of heroes confronting that power with sagacity and bravery, emerging victorious occasionally. Yet, the ideas of strength and power to inflict pain, to hurt, or even to kill, have remained tied. 

Actually, the access to tools that allow us to exercise violence against others has been popularized in recent years. Owning a gun is easier than ever. But it is not only about guns, it is also about media and social media when used against others, it is about cars and trucks when driven aggressively, it is also about hostile attitudes at our common places being normalized. One doesn’t need anymore to be the strong contender to be able to inflict pain on someone else.  

Most of the time, violent crimes are committed by weak and fearful individuals that attack some of our neighbors, schools, or institutions. Still, the narrative on the media remains that of a strong power inflicting pain on a weak contender. But that is not true anymore! Of course, there is pain, and of course, there is violence inflicted on the victims of those attacks, but we need to understand that those acting violently are not strong, but weak and fearful. Neither they are smart. Frequently, they are even insane. 

Moreover, those being attacked are not contenders, neither are they weak. Like most of us, they are brave and strong, and they have chosen to delegate the monopoly of violence to our institutions, understanding that happiness is something we may only pursue together.  

The narrative has to change, so it has the way we approach the problem and, ultimately, the way we fix it!

Importing Totalitarianism

We are losing this war and we know it! Democracy is gone. Likely for ever. I am not talking about changing the world – a romantic vision so frequently misused – but about Europe and about U.S. About a terrible trend we are witnessing these days and as for many other topics we are not reacting to. We might talk here about our role in most of the conflicts around the world, about our unbalanced trade agreements or even about our own social unbalance or unequal wealth distribution. But what I am referring here to is the alarming trend of importing totalitarianism to our already weak democracies.

Two notorious examples these days: In Europe, Angela Merkel hunt for a journalist on behalf of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In United States, Obama not disclosing 28 pages of a relevant report on 9/11 following the request of the House of Saud. In both cases what is worrisome is not the diplomatic deals or the strategic interests of Governments and Leaders. What is really dangerous is that our so called Leaders are ready to import totalitarianism to our democracies. Angela might have used her power and connections to put some pressure on that journalist – we won’t be surprised as connivance and confrontation between the media and the politicians is our bread and butter – but she accepted to run a trial against him instead. A trial because of an opinion! In Europe in the XXI century! Obama might have passed some regulation to avoid juridical actions against the Arabian partner but he should have disclosed the documents definitively. But both have chosen to accept the ruling manners of the dictators. They have decided to act against values of our democracies in most of the cases core of our national constitutions. In other words they have decided to import totalitarianism.

And this is just the beginning. It is not only the control of our economies by supranational entities. It is not the impoverishment of our work force. It is not even the shameful war in Syria and the intentionally directed refugee crisis. It is the core of our democracies that is being attacked. And let me insist here, it is not a thread anymore but an attack! Access to information, free press, independent juridical systems and all those core values of our modern society, those that flourished in Paris in 1789 and that have brought the most amazing period of knowledge, wealth and freedom to Europe and America for the last two hundred years. I do not know what those ruling elites have in mind but I wonder by when we will start deporting our own citizens to be judged and imprisoned by dictatorial regimes because of their thoughts, by when secret services of third countries will freely operate in our territories to “protect their interests”, by when there will be no more voting and no political debate, by when we will re-enter the Dark Ages.

Kratos

Democracy. Coined from Greek “demos” [people] “kratos” [power].

Multiple approaches to democracy can be discussed or identified. Ancient Greece, Rome or some State-cities during the Middle Ages and Renaissance period implemented democratic systems limited to some of their citizens. In Brazil nowadays participative democracy movements are becoming more and more popular. But when talking about democracy the widespread concept in Western Europe is the representative democracy.

A key element to sustain this political model where the people vote regularly their representatives is the division of the powers: legislative, executive and juridical. Representativeness coming through political parties and closed lists, Congress and Senate are configured by identical forces what definitively makes the system weaker. Contaminated with politics through the professional associations and the nomination procedures the juridical system can neither provide independent judgment nor fair decisions. Thus the whole model rests on one single power. The said fourth power, the media, could act as a counter balance. Or even public demonstrations. Unfortunately both have been taken by political parties’ interests. So for today representative democracy is not any longer what the etymological definition of democracy stands for.

Open lists, more direct democracy, funding independent media or critical presence of the people on the streets appear as the few options to avoid the demagogy that every democracy is doomed to according to Aristotle.

International Criminal Court

If I had to mention whether one idea or the name of an institution whose meaning has been pushed far beyond its original sense this is the International Criminal Court.

Born in the repugnance at the horror of the genocide brought for first time to our homeland Europe by Adolf Hitler this organization was created to fight war crimes late in the nineties and it was considered by myself as by many other people as a decided step towards the ultimate level of coexistence, democracy and peace.

Some ten years later I’m not sure if my anger is boosted by the misuse of this organization as another tool on geopolitics or by the fact that my dream has been broken. An institution where accusers and accused should be sit one next to the other. An institution pretending to be judging former allies; the ones our politicians raised to the power then trained on the use of repressive techniques and of course to whom they provided great financial support to enhance their arsenals and military capabilities.  Then after a change on the strategy chased and showed as what they are, criminals, useless for Western superpowers now on.

I’d like to believe that Carla del Ponte’s pride is to have at least those criminals prosecuted. Even being late. Even being just a few of them. But I see no real commitment to sit all of them at The Hague court, neither to have them sued on time. Worthless to talk about NATO and war in the Balkans. Or about her findings in Kosovo and Albania clashing with French diplomacy. She ever chose to accuse the executors of those horrible crimes whilst shaking the hands of the true criminal minds. I wish I could trust on her and on the assignment she got from such said International Crime Court but I can’t.