Listening recently to an NPR segment on the high number of deaths in Chicago, I found myself agreeing with all of the perspectives offered: loss of hope, poverty, gang wars, access to guns and lack of opportunity. But I wondered about the elephant in the room; the ever present American cultural message that violence is an acceptable way to solve problems. It’s in our films, on television, in video games and everywhere in the news while our Department of Defense budget exceeds 600 billion dollars. Bullying and the psychological violence that ensues has expanded from the grade school playground and made it all the way to Presidential politics. We seem to be obsessed with violence and aggressive behavior. Read more…