Compassion
and the Counterinsurgency
In
the wake of gang violence, it is easy to feel anger towards gangs and demand
greater power to force the gangsters into submission. The problem with this
line of thinking is that anger and violence often breed more anger and
violence. In the case of gang violence, calling for more force or retaliation
against the offending group can kill the gangsters responsible and decrease
gang activity, but it can only keep the peace temporarily. A more permanent
solution to the gang problem is to understand where these gangsters come from,
who they are, and how we can eliminate the problems that cause gangs to form,
or in other words, be compassionate. An prominent example of using compassion
over force is the strategy of counterinsurgency. Like gang warfare, an
insurgency is composed of a relatively decentralized group of cells who use
guerilla tactics against the established authority. The basic idea of
counterinsurgency is that insurgents cannot be beaten by force of arms, but by
winning the hearts and minds of the people. Humanitarianism and outreach
programs are utilized to dissuade possible insurgent recruits from joining, and
small unit force is used against only the most violent groups. By using purely
force to stop gangs, the remaining gangsters and members of the community view
the attacking party as an enemy and will go through great pains to retaliate
against the police or other gangs. By having compassion and helping to fix the
community, the need for gang protection and membership will fade as people in
the community can enjoy relative security and peace can be maintained over the
long run.
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