There’s never been a more violent time to be alive than RIGHT NOW!!! Watch the news and it’s clear: we are a doomed species, and it’s all because we are violent. Never have we seen such horrible acts of crime and cruelty. Only…that is not at all true.

The truth is, we do live with violence in society, but just how bad is it? That’s our topic this week.

We begin with the news…watch and you can easily believe “OMG, VIOLENCE IN AMERICA IS OUT OF CONTROL! I’M MORE LIKELY THAN EVER TO BE A VICTIM OF VIOLENT CRIME!!!” We discuss whether or not that’s true. It is true that violence in America does exist, and that we have a reputation for being very violent. But are we any more violent than England, Greece, or really anywhere in Europe?

After that, we move on to ourselves, discussing whether or not we are, or have ever been, violent individuals. Find out where we stand on violence in media (television, movies, video games, and music). Can these things influence violence in society? Then we move on to this question: “What do you think causes someone to be a violent person or to commit a violent crime?” (Does one necessarily have to be a violent person to commit a violent crime?)

There’s no denying that some people have a certain obsession with violence, whether it’s being violent themselves, or attracted to violent things. We ask each other why we think that is before talking about the first violent thing we remember seeing.

The stories of some lives are told in scars — we can both point to scars on our bodies as reminders that we were once young and stupid and willing to try things we knew would most likely fail. But do we carry any scars obtained through violence? Find out! Also find out, on a scale of one to ten, how much we fear violence being committed on us or on someone we love.

One cannot deny America’s obsession with guns. Does gun ownership or a lack of gun control contribute to violence? Also, will humans ever grow out of being a violent species (or are we even a violent species now)?

We close out the show with two questions about violence:

• Is violence a necessary evil?
• Is violence necessary at all?

We’d love to hear your thoughts about this episode and your feelings about violence. As always, feel free to comment!

And as an added bonus, here’s Shawn’s mugshot!

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