Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

A Truism

“There is always a better way than the worst way.” I know this sounds like a Yogi Berra truism, but I’ve always thought that these words made sense especially because they used to spill out of my grandmother’s lips. In the least, they urged me to search for gentler ways of handling unpleasant stuff.

There is no need to apply dangerous and sometimes fatal instances of unnecessary harshness and aggression when confronted with a violent act, for the simple reason that violence begets more violence. No matter where it happens--in schools, homes, on the roads, in between gangs, groups, or countries—violence invites more trouble, even when it is meant to have calmed a bad situation momentarily.

The idea of reacting with violence as a surgical means is becoming to only way to change the affairs of people, the society, and the world. It is hard for me to figure out where and when this notion started to invade the minds of the world. Maybe it was there all along throughout history; maybe it came into fruition with the idea of the existence of evil; maybe it came with the cold war. Who knows!

I understand that we can’t dismiss unpleasant behavior or the guiltiest, but we sure can respond in a civilized manner that won’t leave more victims in its wake. Any violence–-even the kind that means to keep law and order--creates victims. Victims may not have been the target, but they are victims nonetheless. I think we are fighting our wars—personal or on a larger scale—the wrong way, because we are creating a lot of spillage that is going to be very hard to clean afterwards.

There is another point: those that react with unnecessary violence to any wrongdoing are those who are in the position of having power and are not hesitant to use it. Yet, all power has to be held accountable; otherwise, it creates havoc.

And the oddest thing is, some truisms make you think.