[1110.1409] Good Fences: The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Peaceful Coexistence

A similar
analysis of the area of the former Yugoslavia shows that during widespread
ethnic violence existing political boundaries did not coincide with the
boundaries of distinct groups, but peace prevailed in specific areas where they
did coincide. The success of peace in Switzerland may serve as a model to
resolve conflict in other ethnically diverse countries and regions of the
world.

[1110.1409] Good Fences: The Importance of Setting Boundaries for Peaceful Coexistence

To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he’s doing is good… Ideology – that is what gives devildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so that he won’t hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) Russian novelist and Soviet captive.
(via philosophicalconservatism)
Source: philosophicalconservatism

Take It from Someone Who Has Suffered Real Physical Abuse: Words Aren’t Violence – Quillette

Some readers may suspect that I went to confront him about what he’d
done, to ask for an apology, or to work out some kind of
accommodation—some arrangement whereby I could leave the room the next
time he went into angry-dad mode, lest I be triggered once again. But
that’s not what happened.

My professor’s anger was hardly unjustified. This was a class full of
adults. No one past potty-training deserves so many warnings for the
same offence. Even in that state of high dudgeon, he was never a threat
to me or anyone else. And it would have been selfish for me to ask that
he modify his behaviour to placate me. People lose their temper. They
get angry. Sometimes they yell. It’s my job to learn to cope with this
reality of the world—just as it is everyone’s job to prevent angry words
from spilling over into actual physical violence.

I take responsibility for my own fragility despite the fact that none
of my childhood abuse was my fault. I was born into the wrong house and
lost the parent lottery. This gives me some specific problems I must
overcome in order to lead a good life.

Take It from Someone Who Has Suffered Real Physical Abuse: Words Aren’t Violence – Quillette