Unfortunately, our world (as far as I can tell, to this day) seems to come with a general understanding that "if you want something, and the other person doesn't want to give it peacefully, then you have to take it by force." This is not unique to students. It is simply the human impulse of wanting something paired with the belief in the righteousness of the claim to owning it that creates sufficient resolve to override other concerns of mutuality, reciprocity, a general commitment to non-violence, etc.
As an example... A while ago, I listened to the Hitchens vs. Hitchens debate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjQs_QjSwc&t=1033s indexed to 17:13 minutes into the video), and found myself thinking: well, if this is the kind of politics we employ, then there should not be any surprise at the resistance we face.
Humans are terrible at remaining committed to peaceful resolutions of a situation in which they do not get what they rightfully believe is theirs, whether that is a tangible resource (oil in the Middle East) or a policy they wish to see enacted, in order to achieve a world order more in line with their moral intuitions...
They believe in freedom of speech, provided it's their speech coming out of your mouth.
I paraphrase Bill Hicks: "You are free! To speak as they tell you!"
Unfortunately, our world (as far as I can tell, to this day) seems to come with a general understanding that "if you want something, and the other person doesn't want to give it peacefully, then you have to take it by force." This is not unique to students. It is simply the human impulse of wanting something paired with the belief in the righteousness of the claim to owning it that creates sufficient resolve to override other concerns of mutuality, reciprocity, a general commitment to non-violence, etc.
As an example... A while ago, I listened to the Hitchens vs. Hitchens debate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjQs_QjSwc&t=1033s indexed to 17:13 minutes into the video), and found myself thinking: well, if this is the kind of politics we employ, then there should not be any surprise at the resistance we face.
Humans are terrible at remaining committed to peaceful resolutions of a situation in which they do not get what they rightfully believe is theirs, whether that is a tangible resource (oil in the Middle East) or a policy they wish to see enacted, in order to achieve a world order more in line with their moral intuitions...
Hitchens' prediction was spectacularly wrong.
From a geopolitical perspective, had the West not intervened in Kuwait, we'd have been much better off.