Violence,
it has been a part of every living creature since the beginning of time. It is
human instinct to defend yourself, to survive, and most of the time, survival
is brought out through violence. Many people argue that violence is not nor
ever will be the answer, and although this can be argued in some situations, it
can still be argued that violence can be beneficial in some situations when it
comes to avoiding worse or more severe violence in the future.
In the French Revolution, King Louis the Sixteenth and his wife Marie
Antoinette ruled France in such a way that left their country starving to death
while they lived a very comfortable and extravagant life. They would spend
large sums of money on things like jewelry, clothing, and furniture; leaving
nothing for the starving people of France. Taxes were set so high for the
lowest class of people that it was only a matter of time before a rebellion.
Soon enough, France did rebel and King Louis and Marie Antoinette were
executed, although this was a violent way to end the reign of King Louis the Sixteenth,
most believe it was necessary to save the lives of everyone else in France. A
violent end was inevitable in this situation.
When Julius Caesar was dictator of the Roman Republic, he was overthrown and
assassinated by some of his closest confidants, it was gruesome and very
violent, he was stabbed to death by a group of Roman Senators. Caesar didn't necessarily
do something to harm others but he was still a dictator. This use of violence
can be controversial in a way, because in the opinions of some, violence should
be used to prevent more violence in the future, yet not many people were in
physical harm when he ruled, yet violence was needed because Julius Caesar
would not have just stepped down.
In situations like the Second World War, violence was the answer at all. The
Second World War was a dark time, so many innocent people lost their lives, and
the United States had a role in the loss of thousands upon thousands of people.
In 1939, the US began work on the Manhattan Project; it was meant to be a
response to the attack the Japanese made on Pearl Harbor yet the US
took things to extreme levels. Two nuclear bombs were to be dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki; two cities in Japan, and in 1945, these two bombs were
dropped, killing over 60,000 innocent people. Violence should never be used to
harm any innocent person, which these bombs did.
Violence is a difficult thing to think about. It can be thought of in a
positive way, like to stop rulers like King Louis the Sixteenth, or Julius
Caesar, however it can also be used to crush innocent people, like in the
nuclear bombings in Japan. It is believed that most times, harming another
person is inexcusable, yet sometimes in a defensive way, violence can be used
to create a positive change and outcome.
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