Turn on the TV or fire up your phone. You’ll find several narratives telling you how the world is spiraling out of control, full of racist cops and mindless thugs, terrorists pining to destroy the west and bombs that seem to be decimating every square inch of the Middle East. Eastern Asia is rife with internal conflicts, Burma is in the middle of a genocide and world superpowers seem to be running proxy wars anywhere they can. A lot of it is true, some of it is exaggeration and some is outright lies — it’s difficult to tell the difference between what’s what, but regardless: the world seems like it’s on fire.
Why is that? The media can be a malicious bunch, huddling around ten protesters to make it seem like the whole city is rioting. The media outlets that generally tell the truth are going to struggle with their ratings — how many times have you seen a small protest on television with ten people and sat down and watched, eyes glued to the screen? Probably less than you may have sat down and watched what seemed like an actual riot. Those views mean exposure to advertising, which means more money for whoever is broadcasting. So it is both the fault of the media and the consumer, if fault must be laid somewhere.
Uplifting news may garner a lot of likes on Facebook, but it still doesn’t have the impact that say, violence does, because it doesn’t stir the “I need to do something” response (even if that something never happens).
We also live in the dawn of the information age. Video from around the world is more accessible than ever — when we may have seen nothing but print headlines in the newspaper before, we can now view firefight after firefight in Syria, or racial conflicts across the United States, or a terrorist attack in Europe. These things are at our fingertips, and despite the fact that they might have been lessening in frequency compared to previous centuries, it seems more real than ever before as we watch it with our own eyes.
And these things have given many an inaccurate picture of the way the world really is — we are, after all, living in the most peaceful time in human history.
Some people call it the “Long Peace,” and it started at the close of WWII in 1945. The entire world that was engulfed in war, and after a brutal campaign and two nuclear bombs, the earth’s major powers found peace. Since then, war-related deaths on a whole have sharply declined.
Why is that? Some people attribute it to the already waning levels of violence (on a broad scale), and the slow decrease of violence over the years. Of course that is punctuated by insanely intense world wars made more deadly than ever by new technology, but on a big-picture level this could be a contributing factor.
Many people attribute the “Long Peace” to the invention of nuclear weapons. The world-changing level of casualties tend to happen when major superpowers get involved — that’s how world wars happen. Nuclear bombs changed everything with the phrase: “mutually assured destruction.” That means that if one power fires their nukes, everyone is toast. Everyone knows that total war will escalate to someone using their ultimate weapon since they have it, so in order to prevent nuclear destruction on a global scale, war must be prevented at all costs.
Of course, that has led to proxy wars, and just because we’re in the most peaceful era in history, doesn’t mean there aren’t devastating wars fought among local powers or superpowers via proxies. Lower levels of violence certainly doesn’t mean no violence at all.
But what about the United States? While the average levels of death and violence worldwide has gone down, surely our own country is worse off than ever before.
That would be incorrect. Violent crimes in the U.S. haven’t just dipped — they’ve plummeted. In the early 1993, the FBI reported around 747.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. By 2016, that number was down to 386.3. The reasons behind this decline has been a subject of debate, but the numbers are undeniable.
Why does that matter? It certainly doesn’t matter to the grieving mother who just lost her son to gang violence in LA; you can’t exactly pat a Rohingya refugee on the back and say, “Hey just be thankful that you’re living in the most peaceful time in history.” Nor would you say those things to a grieving widow who lost her husband to the fight in Afghanistan.
So shouldn’t we treat all these problems as if they were a part of a world in dire straits? Yes, absolutely. But it would be simply inaccurate to pretend like we are all living in peril comparable to previous centuries. Peace is fragile. The quickest way to lose something is to never realize you had it in the first place.
Featured image courtesy of the Associated Press.
Join our community. To comment on this article please join/login. Here's a sample of the comments on this post.
Master Luke, Of course Pravda was famous for printing "happy news" (re domestic stories anyway...) Here in the U.S. really bad things don't happen to the mass of the people... "Boy scout helps old lady across street" might be a touching sight...but media not interested unless he had to shoot it out with a Mexican cartel to earn his merit badge... Some of us in the Sofrep lash-up have recently lost family to illness. Sad, but as much a part of life as birth. Most Americans don't lose relatives to events like "ethnic cleansing..." We are, for the most part, a fortunate people. While understanding and concern about insanity elsewhere is wise... it is healthy to remember who we are... and where we live... https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bebc172902baf329a9eb947b5d271fcbd33ba791c94b0926a8e6c699386e2637.jpg -Yankee Papa-
How Far-Silencers are legal if you can pass a pretty severe background check, pay a $200 fee to the government, and wait 10 months for an approval and stamp. Seems a little silly when all it does is suppress the sound enough to go below 140 dB and save your ears. They really aren’t silent......
Aren't silencers illegal, who are you Felix Leiter?
Guilt. Our existence is so safe now , generally speaking , a majority of the population , is almost at a negative risk level. Mushy and soft , risk averse , and complacent , this just cannot be all there is now ,right? Many feel they need to be victims so to speak to engender , attention.... Fear felt by common individuals is a unifier, a giver of causes, and provides a reason to act , Or feel significant...even if , in reality it is only an illusion. Attention, is the candy in the age of “I” everything , so little dramas rule the days. People will search for commonalities with any tragedy and try to associate with it , bit part , walk on crisis actors. Tell them there is a great crisis coming , and suddenly , there is meaning to this existence! The fear gives us direction , where otherwise , there may not be any. Living with almost no real fears , they(we) are easily manipulated , because we have been ruled by fear , for so long , many expect and need it, to feel somewhat purposeful- the media , govt’s, and individuals in positions of power play on this seemingly needful expectation , with great success. Fight or flight fear factor was once critical to us on an hourly basis, to survive. Now it is mostly , just a tool to rule by. Or to market and sell. Why give up such a great tool , we have been conditioned now to believe in every danger , no matter how distant its actual effect or possibility of impacting anyone personally..... Fear gives us reason, and purpose....where as in more dangerous times, it kept us tuned up and alive. We miss that , if only deep in our instinctive subconscious minds. Our inner reptile. Now , we miss the significance of life and death struggles on a daily basis. Once upon a time , we were not mushy and soft, lazy ,and complacent. We still need the fear , but to have it , we need a perceived danger. A safe replacement , with little to repayment of positive benefit for prevailing against , and little consequence for failure in the face off , just isn’t the same. It is easier though. If this same bunch , landed on Plymouth Rock , no one would’ve got off the damn boat. The west , would still be wild , and not won. But once upon a time , we did. But then our fears were immediately and fatally apparent , we had to use them , listen to them and run , or fight and overcome them. Actual consequences , real danger , actual fear. Now , not so much.
You know I'm guessing that last line about 24/7 news cycles and mental health you probably just threw out there as a cliche. But I actually believe there's a great deal of truth to that