There is a cultural factor promoting violence which nowadays undoubtedly is highly effective is the mass media. And particularly everything that enters our minds through pictorial media.
Interpretation
The quote highlights how mass media influences and perpetuates violence in society.
Alva Myrdal's quote points out the significant role that mass media plays in shaping cultural attitudes towards violence. She suggests that the imagery and narratives presented in visual media are particularly potent in influencing public perception and behaviors, thereby serving as a powerful factor in promoting a culture of violence.
In practice
In discussions about media regulation, one could use this quote to highlight the responsibility of media creators.
Because war and preparations for war have acquired legitimacy, and because of the tremendous proliferation of arms through production and export, so that they are now available more or less to all and sundry, right down to handguns and stilettos, the cult of violence has by now so permeated relations between people that we are compelled to witness as well an increase in everyday violence.
War is murder. And the military preparations now being made for a potential major confrontation are aimed at collective murder. In a nuclear age the victims would be numbered by the millions. This naked truth must be faced.
The longing for peace is rooted in the hearts of all men. But the striving, which at present has become so insistent, cannot lay claim to such an ambition as leading the way to eternal peace, or solving all disputes among nations.
Democratic communities have a natural taste for freedom: left to themselves they will seek it, cherish it, and view any deprivation of it with regret. But for equality their passion is ardent, insatiable, incessant, invincible: they call for equality in freedom; and if they cannot obtain that, they still call for equality in slavery.
In order to satisfy one human stomach, so many lives are taken away. We must promote vegetarianism. It is extremely important.
What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?
Things may look different to you than they did before. I've had that experience myself. But don't let appearances fool you. There's only one reality.
It is difficult to be sat on all day, every day, by some other creature, without forming an opinion on them. On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to sit all day, every day, on top of another creature and not have the slightest thought about them whatsoever.
Instead of buying six things, buy one thing that you really like. Don't keep buying just for the sake of it.
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