Violence can’t be reduced using the state, because the state *IS* violence. By definition, more state = more violence. If people are serious about reducing the amount of violence and oppression in the world and want to do something about it, I would suggest taking a deep look at systemic justifications for violence and working to eliminate them.
You see, there are types of violence and violent people that are rightfully seen as threats (Type A — Murderers, rapists, thieves), and there are also non violent, victimless behaviors and people that are falsely categorized as a threat (Type B — Addicts, gun owners, migrants). Then there are types of violence and violent people that are legitimized with concepts like “duty”, “security”, “democracy”, “enforcement”, “hero”, “justice”, “legislation” and more (Type C — Police, military, politicians).
Type C people and behaviors will never be held accountable because they cloak their violence so successfully — often by lumping Type A and B violence together to project a hypersensationalized fear narrative — that even people who count themselves as advocates of non violence will accept Type C violence as the Orwellian pathway to less violence (Let’s call this Type D — Voters, citizens, taxpayers).
I would suggest that Type D violence is the most insidious of all, for by outsourcing its violence to Type C it can plausibly deny complicity, and because they serve as the ratchet point for continuously escalating tension between Types B and C. Type D voices are the ones calling for more Type C, increasing the pressure on Type B, a fraction of whom eventually exhibit Type A behaviors in sheer hopelessness or desperation.
In short, only Type A violence fits the organic definition of initiated violence, but it is the cycle of escalation fueled by the artificial Types B, C and D that drives the great majority of Type A behavior, and far outnumber it. Types B, C and D violence are the only kind of violence that advocates have the rational power of persuasion to prevent, and we can only accomplish that by steeling ourselves against pressure from Type D voices to “do something” by which they mean more Type C violence.
Never let a Type D aggressor shame you into believing the “something” they want you to do will reduce violence. In typical Orwellian fashion, their narrowly defined “something” is more Type C violence!! Advocating the elimination of Types B, C and D violence is not “doing nothing”. Identifying the most actionable and numerous type of violence and calling for their removal is the most direct and sustainable way to long term non violence.
