Why do we condone violence?

[malthaussen]

30. Wouldn't that be predicated on the assumption...

... that society wants to promote behavior that makes us feel good? Do you have any evidence for that extraordinary claim?

Seriously, though, consider the truth of your second paragraph. While there are some indications that reactions to violent confrontation are to some extent linked to gender, even the supposedly more violent portion of society (i.e., the males) have to undergo considerable training and brainwashing before they can be forced to kill other people. (The tyranny of the bell-curve applying, as always) In fact, studies have shown that few soldiers actually try to kill enemies in firefights, preferring to keep their own heads down and hope like hell they don't stop something. Given this, it would be reasonable to speculate that society promotes violence in the hope of inuring potential soldiers from such fear so that we can get what we want from the people on whom we make war. If that is the case, though, it sure doesn't work, as truly violent people make up a minority of the armed forces, while there are still quite a few freelancers out there who would never even dream of joining the military -- where their violent tendencies would be regulated.

So my instinct is that there is more to it than that. Perhaps we might speculate that society encourages violence in order to create fear in the citizenry, and thus to justify government and the concentration of coercive power in the hands of the rulers and their soldiers?

-- Mal