Violence in America

... Is Not Inevitable

As threats have proliferated in every corner of the political landscape, one of the latest being the assault of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the United States must face its ever-growing violence.  Ahead of the 2020 election, we warned that an election by itself would not heal the growing social, cultural, geopolitical, and civic dangers that emanated from an inability or unwillingness to contain the psychological dangers from the highest office of the land.  Then, January 6 happened. Now, no one will deny that we are in a new reality of political violence:

Threats of political violence have increased tenfold in the five years after Donald Trump’s election, with 9,625 incidents documented in 2021, according to the New York Times.  Members and election officials of both parties have reported an increase in violent threats and incidents.  Congressional lawmakers have increasingly been concerned about their safety.  In a May 2021 report, Capitol police said federal lawmakers experienced a 107 percent increase in threats compared to 2020, especially after the January 6 insurrection, which, in the absence of consequences for the principal instigator, rather served for recruitment than as a deterrent.

Since at least the mid-1990’s, the global community has recognized that violence is predictable and preventable.  It is not just a naturally-occurring phenomenon we must live with or can only respond to in the aftermath.  It is therefore time to consult with the experts who accurately predicted and warned against this kind of violence from the start, far before it actually began.

We do not have to live this way. There are solutions. Recognizing this is the beginning of a world free from violence.