083 - The Hidden Violence of Poverty

"Poverty is the worst form of violence."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Humans are prone to "Duration Neglect", and remember peaks of activity far more easily, such as the "Peak-end Rule", tending to discard information below a threshold of common activity, even when that activity is only "common" in war.

My newsfeed, search engine results (even when wholly unrelated), and some conversation now serve as a constant reminder of this. Thanks to prolific data poisoning I have prevented those systems from siloing me into any polarized faction, so I still see what both sides share.

While I don't agree with Gandhi on many things, his assessment of violence through poverty was quite accurate. Poverty is also systematically neglected in the human brain's consideration and memory, in both duration and because it offers few "peaks". Poverty also causes far more widespread and long-term harm than direct physical violence in a majority of cases.

The current moment of conflict between two countries that people have suddenly turned their attention to is just one peak in a war that has lasted over 75 years. The crimes of that war are not limited to physical violence, nor will any amount of physical violence likely end it.

The comparison to Ukraine is rather perverted, as it is reversed. One should not be comparing a single peak in a 75+ year war to Ukraine, but rather asking if Ukraine will become another 75+ year war. When one country invades another, occupying their land and attempting to annex it, then if the invaded country mounts stalwart resistance there may be no end.

Both examples of war have filled many mass graves and inflicted immense poverty, in addition to direct physical violence. That is what war does.

If you want to cement strong emotions in your memory as they relate to these current events, make those emotions carve a path that ends war in all of these aspects.