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248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
Sometimes doing nothing is the most violent thing to do.Which is the act I place squarely in the hands of my mother. I do not exonerate my father and his subjective violence in any way, but my mother's embrace of systemic violence shouldn't be ignored either. Even if she didn't cover up a fractured skull, even if "I" really did slip into the corner of the wall, even if a wispy four year old's weight and inertia was somehow enough to literally crack his skull, even if my father had no hand in that long ago wound, she did know about many of the others. She knew, and she had options (unlike so many women), and she had potential support systems and escape routes (unlike too many women), and she did nothing. And I am fairly sure that even when I was four and had to wear a helmet ... even then when escape and safety was at its easiest ... I am fairly sure she did nothing.
Kai suvokiame k膮 nors kaip smurto akt膮, mes vertiname j寞 pagal tai, k膮 laikome "normalia" situacija be smurto. Tokiu b奴du auk拧膷iausia smurto forma yra 拧io normos standarto, pagal kur寞 tam tikri 寞vykiai atrodys smurtiniai arba ne, primetimas. 艩tai kod臈l pati kalba, toji smurto atsisakymo ir tarpusavio pripa啪inimo priemon臈, apima ir bes膮lygi拧k膮 smurt膮.
Jei n奴dienos vadinamieji fundamentalistai i拧ties tiki surad臋 savo keli膮 寞 ties膮, kod臈l jie tur臈t懦 jaustis taip, tarsi netikintieji kelt懦 gr臈sm臋, kod臈l tur臈t懦 jiems pavyd臈ti? <...> Prie拧ingai nei tikrus fundamentalistus, teroristinius pseudofundamentalistus nuod臈mingas netikin膷i懦j懦 gyvenmas labai domina, intriguoja, 啪avi. <...> Fundamentalistinio islamo teroras 苍臈谤补 pagr寞stas terorist懦 寞sitikinimu savo prana拧umu ir tro拧kimu apsaugoti sav膮j膮 kult奴rin臋 ir religin臋 tapatyb臋 nuo globalios vartotoj懦 civilizacijos antpuolio. Fundamentalist懦 problema - ne kad mes juos laikome menkesniais u啪 save, bet grei膷iau tai, kad jie patys save laiko menkesniais. 艩tai kod臈l m奴s懦 melagingi, politi拧kai korekti拧ki patikinimai, jog nesijau膷iame anei kiek prana拧esni, tik dar labiau juos siutina ir kelia apmaud膮.
Taigi blogas asmuo 苍臈谤补 egoistas, "m膮stantis tik apie savo paties interesus". Tikras egoistas yra pernelyg u啪sim臈臋s siekdamas sau g臈rio, kad tur臈t懦 laiko pridaryti kitiems b臈d懦. Pirmin臈 blogo asmens yda yra b奴tent ta, kad jam labiau r奴pi kiti nei jis pats.
Prisiminkime gerai 啪inom膮 antropologin寞 anekdot膮: "primityvai", kurie, manoma, turi tam tikr懦 prietaring懦 寞sitikinim懦 (pavyzd啪iui, kad yra kil臋 i拧 啪uvies ar pauk拧膷io), paklausti apie tuos 寞sitikinimus tiesiai, atsako: "沤inoma, ne - mes ne tokie kvaili! Bet man pasakojo, kad kai kurie m奴s懦 prot臈viai i拧ties tuo tik臈jo..." Trumpai tariant, jie perkelia savo tik臈jim膮 kitam. <...> Kad ir kaip tai atrodyt懦 keista, kai kurie tik臈jimai visada atrodo funkcionuojantys "per atstum膮": kad tik臈jimas funkcionuot懦, turi b奴ti koks nors galutinis jo garantas, ta膷iau tas garantas visada atid臈tas, perkeltas kitur, niekada nepasirodantis in persona. 沤inoma, svarbiausia, kad 拧is kitas subjektas, kuris visi拧kai tiki, neprivalo egzistuoti, kad tik臈jimas b奴t懦 veiksmingas.