Yes, Violence Can be the Answer

That is the headline at American Thinker in reaction to the viral video of an Australian kid who decided to turn the tables on the kids who had bullied him mercilessly for years, including responding that day to actual punch in the face. I think Casey Heynes was fully within his rights as a human being to react as he did and, given what we have learned about the history of bullying Mr. Heynes endured, he fact that Mr Heynes didn't body slam his tormentors earlier is a demonstration of patience that I think a lot of kids wouldn't have.

Or, as American Thinker's Selwyn Duke points out--the fact that Mr. Heynes didn't react sooner may be attributed to the "experts" who say that violence is not the answer to any situation.

What a mountain of rubbish. Violence may not be THE answer, but violence is AN answer and in some circumstances the best answer.

Should violence be the first response to a problem? That depends greatly upon the problem. Should a country tolerate an attack by foreign power on its own soil and say, pretty please--don't do that again? No. Could the country try a diplomatic solution? Sure and it might work or it might not. Maybe violence--controlled violence in the form of a military strike--is the proper response.

The so-called "experts" will say that violence is not the answer and do so with regularity. But how much should a bullying victim endure? I would guess that Mr. Heynes had complained to his teachers, parents, and/or school administrators. I would not be surprised if his tormentors had not been suspended or otherwise disciplined for their actions. But what had it gotten Mr. Heynes? No doubt once released from their punishment, his tormentors resumed their activities. What had non-violence gotten Mr. Heynes?

As Duke writes:

Yes, Casey could have done a ‘50s-style duck-and-cover. Hey, kid, don't you know you should just cower and curl up into a ball? And, for sure, violence is never the answer...except with the Nazis, Mussolini, and Napoleon; during the American Revolution, the Barbary Wars, and the Battle of Tours; and when stopping the criminals during the North Hollywood Shootout, University of Texas Tower Shooting, and incidents every single day in which someone, somewhere uses physical force to thwart a crime. It's never the answer -- except, sometimes, when you actually have to deal with reality.

Mr. Heynes reality is not one that the experts were dealing with. The experts were not being subjected to verbal and physical abuse. Duke quotes another expert:

Perhaps he'll take the advice of another expert, child psychologist Susan Bartell, and find some other way to "manage" it. When analyzing Casey's response, she said, "A better course of action...would have been for him to walk away. Would have been for him to immediately take the power away from the bully, who was punching him in the face, and just run away, walk away...." "Take the power away from the bully...."

Take the power away from the bully by walking away--walking away. Really? Mr. Heynes had probably walked away dozens of times and he had not take the "bully's power" away. The only way these bully's were going to have their "power" taken from them was by force. Mr. Heynes no doubt tried what the experts say he should, walk away, ignore the bullies, talk to adults, etc. But the final humiliation, being punched in the face on video, was the last straw and Mr. Heynes took the bully's power by taking it from them by force. Mr. Heynes walked away from his tormentors with the sure knowledge that he responded with the only message these bullies can understand--violence.

I do not believe that violence should be the first answer in human relations, but neither do I think it is necessarily the absolute last resort. I do believe that there is a proper of amount of violence that can be applied to counter a violence visited upon you. The problem with these so-called experts is the almost patent hypocrisy. Would they be preaching non-violence if a criminal (and that is what these bullies are because the committed a battery on videotape and probably multiple assaults over time) was assaulting their own family? Would they go look for an "adult" or "police officer?" Or would they show a backbone and resist?

I know what I would do if someone is assaulting my family and I can assure you that the criminal will not be walking away. I will stand "trial" for my "crime" of using violence to stop violence every day and twice on Sunday without blinking, without fear and secure in the knowledge that I did right.

Mr. Heynes, I salute you, you didn't try violence first, but your reaction was right and the "experts" were wrong.