Sometimes Violence is the Answer

A piece of common rhetoric heard in schools since I can remember is that "violence is never the answer."  In the US, Teachers and even parents start teaching their children this as soon as they are old enough to talk.  You should never hit anyone.  If someone hits you, you tell an adult.  You don't hit back.  There is always a better way.  You can talk about it.  You can run away.  You can ask for help.  You should never act violently, because violence is never the answer.

This is a bold faced lie.  Sometimes, violence is the answer.  Finding an adult to help is fine when you are a kid, but what happens when you are the adult?  The police probably won't get there in time.  If you don't hit back, you could be permanently maimed or even killed.  You could try to talk it out, but in real life, the other guy is rarely willing to talk about it once it has gotten this far.  If violence is not the answer, there is no answer, and you might as well give up and let the guy who does believe that violence is the answer destroy you.

Violence is never the ideal solution, but sometimes it is the only solution.  The United States did not gain its independence by talking about it.  It did start the process diplomatically, but it was also prepared to fight, because the representatives of the various colonies fully understood that Britain was prepared to use violence to prevent independence.  At this point, there were two options: Submit to tyranny or use violence.  Since the problem was gaining independence, submission was not a valid solution.  In short, violence was the only answer.

This cliché, "Violence is never the answer," is a problem.  The problem is that in real adult life, sometimes violence is necessary.  When an adult who has been indoctrinated with this rhetoric faces such a situation, it becomes incredibly dangerous, because the only options are to act violently or become the victim.  The problem is that few adult Americans know when violence is appropriate or necessary, which means that a vast majority will become the victims.  Worse, those that are not the victims are the oppressors, because they don't understand when violence is not appropriate.

Sometimes, violence is the answer.  It is never the ideal solution, but sometimes it is the only solution.  Instead of lying to our children, and telling them that violence is never appropriate, we should be teaching them the circumstances in which violence is appropriate.  Some children will figure out that violence can solve problems for them, and if we don't teach them when violence is an appropriate solution, they will harm others by using it inappropriately.  When we preach that violence is never the answer, we are putting those who want to obey the rules at a severe disadvantage.

Let's teach our children the truth.  Let's teach them that sometimes violence is the only option.  Let's teach them that sometimes it is even appropriate to throw the first punch.  While we are doing this, let's also teach them when violence is appropriate.  If we teach our kids that it is better the give up than to act violently, we are ultimately making them slaves to those who are willing to use violence.  Instead, we should teach them that violence can be appropriate in self defense, when no other reasonable option exists.  Truly free men and women do not just give up when their freedom is threatened.  They fight for that freedom, even when the only option is violence.  Sometimes, violence is the answer.