Blaming the media for violence is misguided. To better understand the issue of violence and society, it is helpful to examine its historical roots. Certainly not all tribal societies were violent. For example» many native tribes in the American southwest were entirely peaceful. However for most tribal people throughout most of the world, war and violence have always been part of life. One of our oldest books, the Old Testament, tells of constant tribal wars among the peoples of the Middle East. Likewise, ancient texts such as the Greek Iliad 3 the Indian Bhagavad-Gita and the Nordic Beowul f all tell tales of war and violence. Certainly the peoples of ancient Babylonia. Greece• India, and Scandinavia were not influenced by the media, yet most of the earliest human records indicate that violence has been an ever-present part of human life. Since violence was with us long before modern media, it seems unlikely that controlling the media now would have much impact on stopping human violence.
A comparison of violence in nations around the world indicates that there is no relationship between media violence and real violence. In the United States, in 1996, there were 9,390 gun-related deaths. In the same year, Japan had 15 gun-related deaths. Yet the level of violence on television in Japan is higher than that in the U.S. Japanese TV often depicts graphic violence that would not be allowed on U.S. television, and Japanese movie-goers see the same major Hollywood films that Americans see, but street crime is so rare in Tokyo that most people do not worry about it. In contrast, in American cities, people in general, and women in particular, are afraid to walk alone at night. Security is an ever-present concern in the U.S. , where citizens limit their lives in numerous ways to 【reduce the chances of joining】 the 11 »000 people who are killed by guns in America each year. However, the number of murders in the U.S. is small compared to Columbia, where, for example， 23,000 people were murdered in 1999. Columbians have much less exposure to media violence than either Americans or Japanese： they have fewer I'V stations and watch fewer films. Indeed, those committing murders in Columbia are often people from the countryside who have the least exposure to the media. Phus people who are not exposed to the media are often more likely to commit violent crimes than those exposed to it. Since C anada borders the U. S.，Canadians receive the same TV and radio programs that Americans receive, yet gun violence in Canada is nearly one hundred times lower than that in the U. S. Clearly there is no significant relationship between media violence and real life violence. We need to look elsewhere for solutions to real-life violence.
The author cites the examples of ancient texts in the first paragraph to show that ______.
A.ancient texts are just as violent as modern media B.ancient societies could be both peaceful and violent C.violence came into being long before modern media did D.there is more violence in ancient • works than in the media正确答案C
