Iweala wonders why we turn to violence as the arbiter of our disputes.

Question: What question should we be asking ourselves?

Uzodinma Iweala: I've been really thinking about a lot and reading about and trying to write about whay is it that we always turn to violence to solve, as like a solution to our problems. That's something that really...You know I guess I should just say, “Why is it that we always turn to violence to solve our problems?” That’s something that really, really bothers me – that we’re so quick to move in that direction, whether it’s . . . you know whether . . . You know I just don’t . . . It’s just something that really . . . like that really disturbs me and really bothers me. And I think a lot of it comes out of not taking the time to listen and reflect; that we’re so quick to . . . I mean you can tell like that’s a really big question for me. Like that’s . . . that’s one of the things that I think we all really need to explore is that . . . it’s just that. It’s why this particular path? That whether you’re from this place or that place, it seems to be the way that we interact with each other now. You know and that’s the language of fear, the language of violence, the language of pain, of . . . of hurt and suffering. That’s the currency of communication in the present day. Why is that? And you know if that’s . . . Why is it that way in the first place? And what can we do to transform that way of speaking or that way of framing . . . you know that way of interacting with people? Those are the two . . . I mean those . . . That’s really one question, but if anything that’s one that I keep on wondering about. And it’s something I think as a global society that we really need to look at and address.

Recorded on: 10/7/07