Friday and a busy day - lunch with a client (the same one I blew off last week!) and a new project I picked up that I'm excited about. One of those word of mouth things where they found me - the work dropped in my lap. When the project was described to me, I all but declined it because I know next to nothing about the technology - call recording. Rather than present myself falsely I said, "I don't think I'm your gal for this project - I have no expertise in analyzing and doing vendor selection for call recording solutions." Funny that the rest of the conversation was them convincing me that I could do the work, they sold me on taking the gig. So it will be good to learn something new with no pretense. Thank God for Google - over the weekend I'll read everything I can about the different call recording vendors! And cool that, at the end of this project, I really will be a call recording expert! Reminds me of my first husband who was a litigator. Because of the cases assigned to him, he ended up being a nationally recognized expert in Firestone exploding tires, Manitowoc crane accidents and gas explosions!
This morning I've been thinking more about yesterday's topic - violence and mulling over the thought that we may bear individual responsibility (in addition to societal responsibility) for the violence we consume. Talked at length to Josh about this when he came over for dinner last night and I agreed with his concerns that we should be very mindful about trying to regulate the consumption of violence. He and I agreed that the consumption of violence is a very tricky thing. Here are some of my thoughts:
- to deny our love affair with violence would be to deny basic human nature. Violence is woven tightly into our lives and it's nothing new. Think Roman forums - crowds feasting on images of Christians being eaten by lions. Some of the best movies (I'm thinking, for instance, about the Lord of the Ring series) are rife with violence. Great art often contains violent images. Good men are called to violence to protect their own - it's in their DNA to use force when needed. Don't think I would want to be with a man who couldn't protect me.
- technology has made the consumption of violence so much more prevalent. Compare and contrast the viewing habits between modern humans versus people of yesterday. It's almost exponential! There used to be constraints on what was acceptable to present to the viewing public. Now the gloves are off - almost nothing is sacred and the images are coming fast and furiously with few controls.
- It's one thing for adults to negotiate their way in an increasingly violent world but something very different for children who are being fed a steady diet of violence. Doesn't it make sense to be concerned about everything your child is consuming whether it's high fructose corn syrup, hours of screen time, junk food, or...violence?
- Thinking the answer lies somewhere between personal responsibility and a careful use of government controls. When I Fandango'd the movies playing at my local theater yesterday, I expected to see some kind of rating for violence that would be useful for parents and people not wanting to take in a violent flick. The ratings told me almost nothing and there was absolutely no mention of violence. Seems PG-13 and R have more to do with sexual content than violent content. Even the kids movie, Wreck It Ralph described scenes with violence but the reviewer said it was appropriate for kids! So, some kind of credible rating system that addresses specifically the violent content in all media would be a good start, right? I can also see the government playing a role in regulating violent imagery in advertising (as they should also be doing with substances like alcohol and tobacco). The feds could put its muscle behind educating the public about gratuitous violence and encourage public debate about violence in our culture. There is a lot to discuss, including how we've institutionalized violence. Once we start getting introspective about this topic, the discussion has to also include the U.S.'s use of violence in the world (walk softly but carry a big stick - quote from Teddy Roosevelt)
- Then it comes down to individuals being careful consumers of violence - that's where the personal responsibility comes into play. It's not realistic to think we can cut violence out of our consciousness' - we are a violent species. What we can do is turn the volume down - admit our consumption is out of whack, not healthy and then seek solutions for violence abatement and moderation
And that's how I see it....challenge today is creating your own mission statement about your own consumption of and relationship to violence. Where do you stand on this issue?
Peace,
Sarah
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