OF VIOLENCE, CRIME AND SHANTY TOWNS

The eternal dream of a utopian society has been hampered at every step by a myriad of obstacles. The dream has always been there but achieving it has proven to be an uphill task. Some of the stumbling blocks it has met include incurable diseases such as cancer,poverty,war,crime and violence. Achieving general utopia in the entire world has always been a long shot but one cannot stop humanity from dreaming. Some of the top advocates for a utopia society have given up on that dream out of sheer despondency. Apparently,it might be one of those dreams man will never achieve no matter how hard he strives. Today we will delve deeper into one of the impediments of the utopian dream which is violence or we can christen it as war. Apparently,wars have been around from time immemorial and stories of wars have been extensively recorded in historical books. The old testament of the bible is awash with stories of battle won and lost. It is imperative to vanquish war to achieve even an iota of the dreamt world. On the contrary, however,war and state of pandemonium has increased considerably and almost virtually engulfed the whole world. Our efforts have achieved exactly what was not required. My focus will be directed towards violence in specific areas. In large cities and towns in almost all countries there is occasional violence or insecurity certain areas not particularly all around the towns. These places are always characterised as backward, middle and low income areas with poor infrastructure and facilities such as hospitals,schools,roads and sometimes lack of electricity. Open stinking sewers snake around the areas filling them with a terrible stench and diseases. These areas are always designated to the poor, the Wretched of the earth. It’s quite interesting that every big city in the world has such areas with similar qualities, maybe under different names as some are referred to as slums while others are honourable called ghettos. The only different thing is the names all the other things are similar. Perhaps,the poor people are same everywhere. Another notorious aspect of these areas is crime and violence. The governments all over the world have failed to solve these issues. Everytime there is an outbreak of violence,all they do is send security reinforcements which only worsen the already tense situation. It’s like pouring petrol on a burning fire,all one gets is a bigger fire. It becomes mutually destructive. It’s clear that the governments don’t know the real issues at work here. If only they knew violence would be avoided. According to Frantz Fanon in his book The Wretched of the Earth, violence is as a result of age long neglect by those in power and creation of a state of hopelessness and desperation in these settlements. Fanon explains that this state of pandemonium first manifests as internecine chaos between members of the same community possible neighbors in response to trivial issues. A neighbour might kill another neighbour’s child for just making noise. Considering they lived together and have been friends ever since this is considered a psychological problem of neglect. The psychological breakdown increases the frequency of death, crime and overreaction to petty issues. However,after a while this anger is directed towards the direction of those in power and things will certainly get pretty out hand. It might eventually lead to overthrow of the government. Fanon’s main example is the colonial era and the fight for independence in Algeria. It can be argued that Fanon lived and died long ago and this conditions do not work in the modern world. However,let it be known that Fanon was a psychiatrist and his study was from firsthand experience, furthermore these things continue to happen because time and time again we have continued disregard his findings and blind to history. Most terrorists operate from bases deep in the jungle and wilderness which have been perennially neglected by the governments. People majorly involved in crime do so because they have no other option to survive since they are not provided with all the requirements to be nurtured in the upright manner. Its a reaction to the pathetic living conditions they have been subjected to all along. Nobody is born a criminal, criminals are made just as racist and terrorists. The best reaction from authorities is to provide these people with the appropriate resources for efficient self development. In Kenya for instance, it’s awfully absurd to compare children from Kibera to those from Runda or Karen. They can never be the same. The chance of children from Kibera are slim. A big majority of them never make it. In European nations, black people and Muslims are treated with contempt even with quality education. They can’t get good jobs just because of their religion or skin colour. Just try to imagine their frustration. That’s why majority of terrorists are graduates from top schools. Mandela once said that when a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in,he has no choice but to become an outlaw. Treason is a crime of the state.