There is an unfortunate attitude propagated on large scales these days. It is almost like a conviction. A conviction that tends to become a sort of modern religion. This misconception can be summed up like this: aggression is identified with violence. Just ask around yourself a few quick questions like “What do you think aggression is?” or “Do you see aggression as being good or bad?”. You will be surprised to see that most people think of aggression as something bad. My take on this is that it’s a huge misunderstanding here. And it is even more unfortunate that this tendency is aggravating. Here I am sharing with you some concerns and also some possibly clarifying thoughts on aggression.

Aggression is not identical with violence

When aggression started to be seen more from its negative side? Probably since commodity gained more and more space in our lives. Or probably since moral values started to be misinterpreted, started to be one sided. Non-violence, as we all know, is the very basic principle of every moral scale of values. All religions are defining it as a cornerstone of their dogma. Also, all spiritual paths and methodologies are considering it the foundation of their ethical requirements. On the other side, there is a surprisingly big amount of violence oriented towards those of other religions or non-believers. And in terms of spiritual development methods there is the destructive attitude towards what is often called “the ego”. So, those institutions and frameworks that are propagating out loud their manifesto against violence, they themselves are in contradiction.

Eradication of aggression is a mere illusion

The more we tend to avoid it, the more painfully it will return into our lives. Avoidance, suppression, repression doesn’t seem to work. But admitting this – is not likely to happen soon. Not individually, not on a larger scale. And repressed aggression shows more of its shadowy side these days. On the individual side we face new symptoms and maladies of self-aggression that weren’t there before, at least not at such a large scale (like cancer, allergies etc). On the larger scale, with all the effort “to fight for peace” there are desperate wars carried out all over the world, and there is a completely new form of violence called terrorism, a cancerous malady of humanity, unseen before.

Life is a battlefield (too).

I am not saying that this kind of violence wasn’t there before. There was violence even on the streets of our cities before. The problem is that there was never a bigger effort to eradicate it like there is one nowadays. But it is rarely and accidentally effective. On the other side, those that say that “life is a battlefield” are also right. Sometimes in a positive sense. Mostly when it shows up in the form of competition, in carrying out responsibilities, standing up for demands worth carrying out. Overcoming commodity is a daily challenge for many of us. Society demands from us that we start every new workday, even if it doesn’t promises too much. It demands a daily self-sacrifice.

When we’ll start learning?

No one wants to have anything to do with aggression. Not really. It is annoying. Very. But still, we continuously have to face it. There are wars permanently going on, there is violence in the streets, there is violence on the TV. Actually, there is no TV without violence. The first thing that needs to be realized is that whether we like it or not, aggression will always be present in some form. Until we do not accept this, there is no chance for any clearing up.

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