Gary Slutkin gives us a roadmap in The End of Violence.
Dear friends,
Last month, we shared Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon’s beautiful and revolutionary book, The Future Is Peace, which takes us on an unforgettable journey through the Holy Land, revealing that war is naive and peace is pragmatic. It became an Instant New York Times bestseller and has been embraced by readers, journalists, and even Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Check out Aziz’s answer to where he and Maoz met, and watch John fall out of his chair laughing.
If you’ve joined Team Peace, you’ll want to read Dr. Gary Slutkin’s new book, The End of Violence (Little, Brown), which upends everything you might think you know about the inevitability of conflict, abuse, and warfare.
Violence, Gary shows, is not an inescapable part of human nature. Nor is it an individual moral failure, nor a natural byproduct of our social order. Instead, it’s a contagious disease—and just like malaria and smallpox before it, violence can be contained and ultimately eliminated.
The following is excerpted from Gary’s introduction.
Violence is a disease state, one that infects our brains and bodies, impairs and alters their functions, and spreads on exposure from one person to another. Like other infections, those who come into contact with violence are at risk of contracting it. And in the absence of the right care, those who contract it are at risk of progressing to severe disease.
There are over a hundred studies showing that violence is contagious like TB, influenza, smallpox, polio, cholera, and COVID. It can spread just as rapidly and be just as devastating— if not more— for individuals, families, and communities. Like many diseases, it strikes every person and community differently and exacerbates existing inequalities.
We have spent the past twenty-five years trying to end violence using the same approaches public health workers use to contain and stop the spread of any contagious disease. And this basic epidemic-control approach has proven remarkably adaptable to all the forms violence takes in our world…Each syndrome of violence has its characteristic signs and symptoms, but it’s all the same disease.
This is good news.
It means that we don’t need to solve all our social problems or fix human nature before we can stop violence.
Another New York Times Bestseller from Suzanne Simard
Since we last wrote, Suzanne Simard’s mesmerizing second book, When the Forest Breathes, was also an instant New York Times bestseller. If you still haven’t picked up your copy, get inspired by a recent review in the Wall Street Journal.
In community news
- I had the privilege of interviewing Maoz and Aziz with an enthralled audience of 400. Keep an eye out for their future tour events—or catch their interview on NPR’s Fresh Air!
- Our beloved brain doctors, Dr. Ayesha Sherzai and Dr. Dean Sherzai—authors of The Alzheimer’s Solution—were on Mel Robbins’ podcast.
- I was also honored to be on the Wise Effort podcast to talk about one of my favorite subjects: staying grounded, hopeful, and joyful in troubled times.
- International treasure Sir David Attenborough turns 100 on Friday. Celebrate by buying A Life on Our Planet or watching one of his nature documentaries.
With gratitude,
Doug & the IA Team—Alyssa, Elizabeth, Jordan, Kelly, Rebecca, Sarah, Shannon, Tom & Wenonah