It’s not that slow
Why “violence” should be redefined in the dictionary
When you hear the word “violence,” the automatic image that comes to everyone’s mind is something along the lines of people fighting each other, terrorism, or war. Never has the thought of global disasters, or even global change, come to mind.
Slow violence is best described by environmentalist Rob Nixon as, “violence that is neither spectacular nor instantaneous but instead incremental, whose calamitous repercussions are postponed for years or decades or centuries.” It involves things such as natural disasters, climate change, radioactive residue left from wars, and oil spills. We usually do not seem to take these sort of events as an act of violence, rather we see it as something produced from nature, or even something that does not even matter in the long run, while in reality, it’s very real.
As described by Cody Lacrosse in this video, we never really see the actions or the changes of slow violence, which is why we do not think it is actually happening. We live in a world when only things that happen in that moment matter. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 mattered because we saw images of people in distress, the towers failing and being completely destroyed by these airplanes crashing into them. That’s instantaneous. That is violence at it’s best. These types of images spread throughout the world and become a staple as to what should matter and what violence really is. But should these types of events really be the only things to be considered as violence?
Let’s take the example of climate change. When I say those words, most people will not be phased, or even think it exist (*cough cough* President Trump). But it’s a very real thing. Let’s take the example of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The picture on the left was taken in 1993, while the picture on the right was taken in 2000. According to Tim Ward, 90% of the glaciers surrounding the volcano have vanished since we first came into contact with Mt. Kilimanjaro 150 years ago. The rate on which these glaciers are evaporating have more than doubled since the 1970s, which is around the time that human created climate change came to exist. The fact that these glaciers have been evaporating is evidence that climate change is a real thing — and it is not happening that slow, considering the rate has doubled within the past 50 years.
Mt. Kilimanjaro is expected to have no glaciers within the next 20 years. This is going to cause a dramatic change in East Africa, especially in regions such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Sudan, which are already experiencing a horrible drought. This automatically effects all the people who live in those areas, but do we care enough to help them and make a change? Probably not.
The main question a lot of people ask about when it comes to things such as slow violence is why should anyone care about this when nothing is really happening right now? Why should politicians focus their concerns on issues such a climate change if it is not affecting the people right now at this moment, and is not going to get them any sort of political prestige or recognition?
Rob Nixon tackles this question in his text about slow violence. He ask the question “How can leaders be goaded to avert catastrophe when the political rewards of their actions will be reaped on someone else’s watch, decades, even centuries from now?” And that is very true. We’ve seen various politicians come and go that do not do anything about environmental issues, or even acknowledge that they do exist. So how are we supposed to change their minds?
Donald Trump, (unfortunately) President of the United States, has made promises to get rid of many issues and policies concerning the environment — such as getting rid of Barack Obama’s initiative called the “Clean Power Plan,” Dakota pipeline debates, and even step out of the Paris Deal that is very much relevant and important to the whole world — not just the United States. The day of his inauguration, he even went as far as to get rid of many pages from the White House website — including the environmental page. With a president so ignorant and close minded, how are we supposed to show the effects that slow violence has in our world, and just how important it is?
There are two ways we can go about changing the minds of politicians when it comes to issues regarding slow violence. One way is to give incentives to politicians if they come up with a policy or an action that can help raise awareness about slow violence, or even policies that help fix the problems. The second way, is to keep fighting for the cause. By doing rallies, protest, and getting more self aware about things that happen in the world, we can make a difference. If we let our voices be heard among the many, we will and can make a change.