My brother Bryan and I got into a fight last summer. Since I’m two years older and much bigger, I won. In result, my dad had to come home from a dinner party to get get Bryan to bed. Needless to say, I felt bad. I was babysitting, so I was supposed to be mature and in charge. I hadn’t been and I let my family down. Since then, my brother and I haven’t fought. I also haven’t been babysat since then. Every culture experiences violence, but people learn how to control themselves, or they know other people will control it for them. Albert Einstein once said, “peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved through understanding.” This quote shows that violence can’t achieve peace, yet violence is in our everyday life. Violence is in our culture.
Violence is in our history. The 13 colonies became its own country through violence and war. Examples of violent quotes like “give me liberty, or give me death!” by Patrick Henry or "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," by Nathan Hale before being hung by the British. While these are both very patriotic and such, but it just encourages violence more. America has been so many wars it seems unreal the we actually were in all those wars. A few of the major ones are the war of 1812, Mexican-American War, Civil War, wars with Native Americans, both World War I and II, War on Terrorism, and not to mention the Cold War. We are again in War in Afghanistan. Our country was created through violence, and we can’t stay away from it.
An example of violence is shown in our sports. Our most popular sport without question is football. Football is also a very violent sport, probably the most violent sport other than wrestling or boxing. Internationally, the world’s most popular sports are soccer (or futbol) and basketball. While both are contact sports, they aren’t collision sports like football. When the most popular sport in America is as violent as football, it just leads to more violence in the American culture.
Violence is in our entertainment. Some very popular violent movies include Jaws, Drastic Park, The Matrix, Terminator, Alien vs. Predator, James Bond, Saw, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Saving Private Ryan. Studies show that there is a definite short term increase in violence, while they are uncertain about long term. Another study shows that the most popular movie quote of all time is “I’ll be back” which is from Terminator. If our favorite quote is from a violent movie, the American public not only watches violent but they are very popular.
So what if violence is in our culture. The world’s favorite sport is soccer, and how violent is that compared to football. We should not accept our violent culture as the norm. We as citizens should try to become a less violent culture. While we can’t change our violent history, we can change our sports and entertainment. Violence will never disappear, but we should try to minimize it.