And yet we've somehow run out of fingers to point, am I right? That should be the punchline to a bad joke, but unfortunately you are correct in pointing out (pun intended) that this is indeed what our reality is turning into. The fault can and does lie within ourselves.

This gets tricky, as that thought can lead to a legit accusation of "victim blaming". I recognize that. I also recognize the sheer weight that the other and the state, can unfairly and unequally have on individuals who rightly are victims. Accountability for human atrocities should be upheld and violence not normalized.

Here's the positive side of being held accountable. As much as I am able, I can choose to not add to the violence and hatred. That should just be the baseline for everyone, but it's understood that it isn't. It is pacifism. It is "turning the other cheek" as well as "breaking the cycle". Violence can only end with mutually assured destruction as long as violence is an option. The other way, pacifism or what I'm now calling pragmatic pacifism, is to actively choose NOT to be a conduit for propagating violence. The expectation being to not end the cycle completely, but at least reduce its frequency as close to 0 as possible. Thank you for inspiring my next article!

From there, what we do with the other and the state... Well, that's really up to us isn't it?