By
Cormac Burke
Lots of us have the impression that the modern world is succumbing to violence. In the face of so many acts of sheer brutality and terrorism, no doubt we often ask ourselves: how can some people be so irresponsible, unprincipled, and violent? The answer, I would suggest, lies partly in ourselves. We are all partly to blame for the growing violence of the world we live in, because we tolerate or perhaps even seek and approve a permissive society. The logic is simple. A permissive society means a society that professes no fixed moral principles. Such a society inevitably generates a large mass of irresponsible people. And when people in general are irresponsible, a growing percentage becomes violent. 
