188. RFK: On the mindless menace of violence
This is my second quote adaptation from the great Robert F. Kennedy. It’s an extract taken from one of his most important speeches, titled ‘On the mindless menace of violence’, which Kennedy gave on April 5, 1968, the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. You can listen to him deliver the speech in this video or read the full transcript. Tragically, just two months later, Kennedy himself would become another victim of the mindless menace of violence.
Although this is a serious and sobering quote, I wanted to tackle it in a light-hearted nature, especially after last week’s heavy comic. I was reading a Peanuts retrospective book and was inspired to draw in a Charles Schulz style, and thought using kids to tell the story could be fun.
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Thanks to reader Jennie for submitting this quote.
Discussion (94) ¬
This is so good story telling you don’t need the text to understand it. English is a second language to my mother and just by looking at the comic she understood it.
Like Dylan and Lennon’s lyrical masterpieces captured the zeitgeist of the late 60s , in the same way your story telling is the moving entity of the contemporary time.
Thank You Sir.
This comic is so true in today’s world where we are seeing mindless hatred in every country. I hope people can relate to the deep thoughts you present in this wonderful comic. It is not by hatred but by mutual cooperation and love that we humans should continue to exist.
At the current time, given the events in the world, and the anniversary of the Sydney Lindt Cafe siege, this comic expresses what we need to do perfectly. I was excited to hear on the radio this morning that a group of Muslims attended the memorial service to show their support for the community and their disgust at the way Islam is corrupted by a misguided few.
Reminds me of a post I saw on Facebook: “A Jew, a Christian, a Muslim and an atheist walk into a bar…. Nothing happened because none of them were arseholes”.
Thanks for your fantastic and inspirational work Gav.
Pete 🙂
Another Awesome Comic!!! Gavin, you just keep getting better and better!!!
An awesome interpretation of the true world. The graph of my liking for your work is going up.
Hell yes.
This is so awesome!
Thank you
Nice comic. Would that were true…
Such a beautiful masterpiece, it makes me want cry with joy. (Doug starts shedding tears.)
When I was in the US for graduate studies we were literally referred to as “aliens” in tax and other official federal documents. I sure did not like it. Glad you depicted the other as an alien itself. 🙂
Fighting “the other” seems to give adrenaline and a sense of purpose to people in general. When we are done fighting each other based on religion, region whatever, then we think some xyz from outer space will come to attack us. Without that what purpose would any day have – unless we are fighting something someone. That is the implicit unconscious mindset.
Well said Ms. Vani. Humanity does indeed seem to evaluate its purpose only in opposition to things. Violence is a mere side effect of being anti-stuff and anti-people.
So in time! Esperially because our world cannot deny its own decaying aspect of discrimination among its inhabitants. Well said, Mr. Kennedy! Kudos for a great illustration, Gav!
Perfect for the time. And very well said (and drawn) 🙂
Thank you for this beautiful post. A reminder of humanity.
Can we get posters of this? Can we send them to certain American Presidential candidates?
Yes please!
Would you send some copies to the protestors as well? Violence does indeed begat violence and I see bad things coming.
Gav, I love your strips and this one is just another great example of how despite the political climate of today we need to remember how to treat other humans. Thanks for sharing this! Happy Christmas to you and yours!
BEAUTIFUL CARTOON.
This was beautiful storytelling, Gavin.
Amen.
Brilliant. Stopped me in my tracks, and gave me pause. Words as true today as they were decades ago.
You have a wonderful gift!
This story is very interesting,amazing,fun and i think it gonna be useful for everyone.
A very apt comic for our current situation worldwide. Many people seem to forget that violence begets more violence, whether or not it manifests physically or remains as a looming threat.
I think the world would have benefitted from RFK living a long and productive life. I really liked this comic. It’s a great quote to use for a tribute to Charles Schulz. But it made me sad because, in the UK at least, there is a general consensus the children should be taught to accept and welcome the other and that nonviolent solutions to problems are best. At the same time, we believe that acceptance and nonviolence don’t actually work in the ‘real world’. So we generally teach young children well in school while government and media constantly and consistently tell us that salvation is found in fear and violence.
Coincidentally, I recently finished reading Jeffery’s Archer’s ‘Shall We Tell The President?’ in which there is a conspiracy to assassinate the US President, only because she (its a fictional President) makes an earnest attempt to pass the Gun Control Bill through the senate and turn it into a law. Very, very apt.
A lot of schools have anti-bullying campaigns where this would be excellent.
I have bought some of your posters and if you turn this into a poster, please let me know because I’d like to buy it.
Someone forward this to that idiot Trump and ISIS
If only it were as easy as being nice to and buying ice cream for violent bigots. The oppressed minority buying their tormentor an ice cream will only ensure that the tormentor now expects ice cream in addition to unfettered permission to bully them. Migrant immigrant workers have essentially “bought” every fruit grown in America with their sub-human wage for super human work, and we buy this extremely cheap fruit as if that’s really the price of it. Same goes in every industry where the work is done by people who have to accept the lower wage.
You talk as if these labors were not given freely and eagerly. There is one primary reason that wages for fruit picking is so low (no matter your color or national origin): because there are tons of people clamoring for the job because their alternatives back home are by far inferior.
Change this one fact and the candidate pool will dramatically reduce. Once this happens then the wages offered will go up. Supply and demand.
Don’t know about “freely and eagerly”. These labors are given because people are desperate. Nobody freely or eagerly seeks the chance to do physically grueling work for substandard wages. (Unless they are masochists.)
Using “supply and demand” to justify the exploitation of desperate people is just treating human beings like economic commodities, no different from televisions or toilet paper.
Of course they are freely and eagerly given. Were they not then said individuals would have remained in their country of origin. One must be careful not to confuse “freely and eagerly” with “happily”, but happy labor is not the point being discussed.
One last point, there is no justification being offered on my part. Only explanation.
I understand the novelty of the comic going with.
However the real problem of bullying is how society perceive it.
In the comic if u look when he shove the alien down, the rest of the kids cheer him for that. So technically he just got away with being an asshole.
That is pretty much how bullying works. Its simply being Alpha.. the big man. Of cos if u harass pretty much everybody then u make enemies of everyone. However if u only harass a minority group, then you empower yourself and will start to respect you.
Its similiar to prison, parents and teacher are view as jail warden and the bully is the prison predator. So if you dont want people to mess with you then you have to show who boss.
I picture myself showing this to my right-wing, Trump-fan American parents.
And then I picture them reminding me that RFK was murdered by an immigrant.
Knowing them, it seems useless to point out that most immigrants don’t do things like that, and that JFK, MLK, the Birmingham four, and many others were murdered by home-grown Americans. For a certain kind of mind, anecdotal evidence trumps statistics. Stories are simple and easily comprehended in a way that numbers and charts are not.
Truthfully, I hardly ever try to discuss politics with them anymore. Argument has never been my strong point, and their minds are very, very hard to change. It just makes me angry and upset, and doesn’t do any good. So, lately, I just apply Buddhist practice, unattaching from their willful blindness and avoiding pointless anger and frustration.
They are, after all, only two of many millions who hold such views. I can’t change the minds of any of the others, either. I can’t change the mind of my Fox-News-watching co-worker who thinks the Planned Parenthood videos are real, or my former co-worker in California who thought all terrorists were Muslims, or my Tea-Party congressman, or my Syria-bombing, drone-deploying, whistleblower-prosecuting president.
The one mind I have the best chance of changing … is my own. That can be difficult, too. But at least that mind wants to be changed in positive directions. That mind knows that some of its attitudes aren’t working out and are actively harmful to its own health. So, little by little, it can change.
Maybe, little by little, the world can, too.
This one is beautifully wonderful.
This reminds me of a quote by Matin Luther King Jr. :
Darkness can’t drive away darkness; only light can.
Hatred can’t drive away hatred; only love can do that.
Oh yeah … the ice cream reminds me of this wonderful video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BFvN-idN1s
I think one of the most important aspects of this poster is that hatred is taught / learned.
Beautifully done!
I agree, no one is born with hate. It always warms my heart to see kids playing amongst each-other, so innocently, without a care in the world for differences in race, religion, gender identity, etc. If only adults could find that innocence in their hearts again.
i need to rant… *sigh* i’m so tired of everyone believing that being opposed to lawbreaking = hating lawbreakers. for every other crime, it doesn’t matter if the criminal’s feelings are hurt. yet for immigration, we are not supposed to use the proper term “illegal alien” because it hurts people’s feelings?! wtf. laws are laws. if you break the law, i’m not a “hater” just because i point out that you did something illegal. this is ridiculous. if you are a foreigner and you would like to live in the US without being called “illegal,” then COME HERE LEGALLY. don’t break our laws and then complain that your feelings are hurt.
Leaving aside the international nature of this issue — Gav lives in Australia, and there’s plenty of debate in Europe about the refugee crisis — you seem somewhat uninformed about just how extremely difficult US law makes it to come here legally. You also seem to have an odd idea of what law is.
Law, by and large, is simply the expressed preference of those who happen to be in power. It is not necessarily fair, or equitable, or even-handed. It is simply a matter of those in power making the rules.
At one time, US law allowed certain people to own certain other people. Provisions protecting such law were written right into the Constitution. At various times, by law, various groups have been legally prevented from voting in the US. Majorities have used law to oppress minorities throughout history. For that matter, powerful minorities have sometimes used law to oppress less powerful majorities, e.g., in South Africa.
Even when law seems even-handed, it may not be just. A classic quote from Anatole France comes to mind: “In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.”
Some laws currently in place in the US make it illegal to help undocumented immigrants in any way. In the past, other laws made it illegal to help escaped slaves. During World War II, it was illegal to hide Jews in German-controlled territory, or to criticize government policy. All of these laws were broken repeatedly by people who thought those laws were wrong. Some died for it.
So, now, here, in the US, we have a majority white population, descended almost entirely from European immigrants, decreeing that immigrants are no longer welcome. Indeed, even immigrants descended from the original inhabitants of the Americas are not welcome. We say, in effect, that it does not matter who was living here before; we are living here now, we make the rules, and the rules say stay out, and we have the power to enforce that.
And then, we have people defending this by saying, hey, it’s just the law. Don’t call me a hater. All I’m saying is that they’re breaking the law. Why can’t they just obey the law, and apply for one of the very small number of green cards that are issued each year? Why can’t they just stay where they are, and risk murder by corrupt (and often US-backed) governments for speaking their minds? Don’t they have any respect for the law?
@TUALHA Oh well stated!!!
Making it next to impossible for some people to immigrate to the US then telling them if they want to better themselves they should “come here legally” is just a cruel joke! And you are totally correct, law is not the same as justice. There have always been times throughout history when breaking the law is the only way to seek justice.
The “aliens” in this comic are clearly refugees, not illegal immigrants. But even if they were, the problem that is highlighted here is that the media stereotypes entire ethnicities as illegal migrant workers, criminals, terrorists etc. As a result, law-abiding citizens often face discrimination based on their skin color, language or culture. Why not leave it to the legal authorities to deal with illegal immigration and treat our fellow human beings as just that, human beings.
All terrorists are muslims, we dont want them here. How do you wish to distinguish terrorists from the refugees ? You cant. Thats why we should let none of them to Europe.
This is an awesome comic and I love.
Reminds me of following article though, its a good read.
http://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/opinion/tipu-jayanti-celebrations-what-is-the-truth-about-tipu-sultan-was-he-secular-or-communal/
yes it is awesome
Thanks Gavin, a timely reminder – if we indeed need one – of JFK’s awesome words on violence: In this age of Police Extra-judiciary killings of young black citizens of their own country, as-well-as summary executions of citizens out and about their business, leisure, worship Etc. by their fellow citizens, by the easy access to guns and munitions. This ray of sanity is very apropos in the sea of crazy reaction via the Blog-o-sphere!!!
the green kid remind me of this guy: http://41.media.tumblr.com/074432e17c410d3e89be6506d2ec4ce6/tumblr_n0ji7cPKIt1rzlgoko7_1280.jpg
Wonderful! keep it up
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Thank you.
Yes….we all must have a hope for a bright morning,when the sun will not burn but shines on our skin.When there is peace and one will be treated as an alien just because he doesn’t belongs to same community or colour or religion as we are
This is gorgeous, and undoubtedly one of the most meaningful pieces you have. By fighting prejudice the way you know how- through art- you are expanding the world for modern artists on social issues. Thank you.
I love this cartoon! Violence is something we are taught growing up by media/family & we are led to believe it solves things yet it solves nothing.
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Great work, it’s different and fun
Without violence, human couldn’t learn each other better. Great words and wonderful comic. Thanks for posting this.
Very cool. Poignant!
Yes….we all must have a hope for a bright morning,when the sun will not burn but shines on our skin.When there is peace and one will be treated as an alien just because he doesn’t belongs to same community or colour or religion as we are
Thanks for the wonderful and insightful post
Outstanding! Please keep up the good work!
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So apt for a time when the world seems to be falling apart with hatred
Wonderful!!!
I like it!!
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thanks for writing this post.
Thanks for this comic.
like it. nice article.
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In real life the green alien and his gang just rapes the kids sister.
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thank you
More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you’ve been bad and good.
Life be not so short but that there is always time for courtesy.
People who don’t cherish their elderly have forgotten whence they came and whither they go.
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We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glowworm. ~Winston Churchill
Thank you Gavin for your “RFK: On the mindless menace of violence” comic post
http://vuelosdelalma.blogspot.com/2013/11/kampung-inggris-pare-kediri.html
I would honestly LOVE to get this in a poster format!
Pretty funny
Knowing Is Not Enough; We Must Apply. Wishing Is Not Enough; We Must Do.
In real life the green alien and his gang just rapes the kids sister.
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