An afternoon chat with some fine, edu-ma-cated friends, and the discussion of violence came up. That and the objectification of women - though not necessarily in conjunction. The discussion was whether or not the two should be eradicated (again, as their own separate entities) from the face of the earth, and how this would be done.
One of my friends argued for the fundamental shift in how we perceive the world. Instead of saying, "this is the way the world is and it won't change; all we can do is survive it to the best of our abilities," he argued that we should instead perceive a violence-free world, or a world where women are treated with equality, as being wholly possible. In that perception lies the means to change.
