Aggression...it's been in the media quite a bit lately. Bob Etheridge reacting aggressively to aggressive "kids" on the street; a NC Republican chairman pushing a critical Democrat and receiving a nose punch in return, and a police officer on the news this morning for slugging a young woman after she shoved him.
I know we like to think of ourselves as a civilized society, but the reality is we're actually quite tame in comparison with historical Americans and other countries. It's not unheard of for Japanese and Korean governments to have out and out brawls during governmental meetings, and the US Congress in its earlier years actually had one Congressman cane another.
But the real clincher was the Confederate States of America Congress, where members accosted each other so much that it prompted then Vice-President Stephens to say it was a good thing their meetings were closed to the public and kept private "some of the most disgraceful scenes ever enacted by a legislative body." Among some of the assaults: Benjamin Hill of GA bloodied William Yancey of AL with his inkstand. During an argument, the Journal Clerk of House shot and killed the House Chief Clerk, and Henry Foot of TN attacked colleagues various times with the following objects: his fists, a bowie knife, a revolver, and his umbrella.
So comparing our past with today's "assault and atrocities", we're actually quite tame. I mean, what's a little punch in the nose or grabbing a person by the scruff a neck compared to being beaten with a cane, umbrella, or inkstand? I'll leave it to each individual reader to decide whether or not our society has actually become more civilized or wimpier. :)
I know we like to think of ourselves as a civilized society, but the reality is we're actually quite tame in comparison with historical Americans and other countries. It's not unheard of for Japanese and Korean governments to have out and out brawls during governmental meetings, and the US Congress in its earlier years actually had one Congressman cane another.
But the real clincher was the Confederate States of America Congress, where members accosted each other so much that it prompted then Vice-President Stephens to say it was a good thing their meetings were closed to the public and kept private "some of the most disgraceful scenes ever enacted by a legislative body." Among some of the assaults: Benjamin Hill of GA bloodied William Yancey of AL with his inkstand. During an argument, the Journal Clerk of House shot and killed the House Chief Clerk, and Henry Foot of TN attacked colleagues various times with the following objects: his fists, a bowie knife, a revolver, and his umbrella.
So comparing our past with today's "assault and atrocities", we're actually quite tame. I mean, what's a little punch in the nose or grabbing a person by the scruff a neck compared to being beaten with a cane, umbrella, or inkstand? I'll leave it to each individual reader to decide whether or not our society has actually become more civilized or wimpier. :)
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