First something light, but still related to my post:
Now to be more serious:
I thought it only appropriate to start my first serious blog post with with the book that got me interested with violence and war almost a year and a half ago: "Among the Thugs" by Bill Buford. Now, this books is more a study of crowd psychology, but its is a valid starting point for anyone interested in violence for multiple reasons. First, as I stated in one of my comments, violence and honor have gone hand in hand since the dawn of man. Another reason is that you could say violence occurs when two factions, or crowds, dispute something that may be important to them, but not important to the majority of the world's population. This book deals with that conjecture amazingly. Maybe the most important reason is that it's just a really good read, and not too scientific. I digress from my point.
The book is a study of violence that occurs between the fans of opposing soccer teams in Europe over an 8 year period. All the while, the author records the passionate emotions of the men he followed, and the events he witnessed in stunning detail. He meets racists and nationalists along the way who try to use the fervor of the soccer crowds for their own agenda's and fail. He meets Italians, or "I-ties," and other Brits along the way who could turn on him at any moment depending on his "team." What's really interesting is that the author originally intended to observe, but eventually gets pulled into the violence himself, and finally embraces it. In doing so, one sees the amazing progression from the civilized man he thought he was to leader of an unruly mob, bent on the destruction and "capture" of Italy.
His conclusion?
"I was surprised by what I found; moreover, because I came away with a knowledge that I had not possessed before, I was also grateful, and surprised by that as well. I had not expected the violence to be so pleasurable....This is, if you like, the answer to the hundred-dollar question: why do young males riot every Saturday? They do it for the same reason that another generation drank too much, or smoked dope, or took hallucinogenic drugs, or behaved badly or rebelliously. Violence is their antisocial kick, their mind-altering experience, an adrenaline-induced euphoria that might be all the more powerful because it is generated by the body itself, with, I was convinced, many of the same addictive qualities that characterize synthetically produced drugs. "
The question?
Can his findings be generalized to the whole populace, and indeed, the history of man itself? People will say that violence occurs for many reasons, but can this truly be one of them? An anti-social kick?
Before you condemn this whole study as folly, think of life in general. There are often times when people choose sides, and violence will occur. Like the study, this often happens with sports. Passions will be inflamed when one person's side loses, wins, or is badmouthed. Violence can occur for no other reason than you grew up watching a team. Now extrapolate this to a bigger arena. Nationality, religion, the amount of sides we can choose in life are endless and make us the unique people we are. But this also mean that violence is necessarily part of who we are, no matter how we may try to suppress it?
Well, that's just depressing...I think I need some of that Habiro Happy Cola.
