Sonic violence

written 2026-08-09

A big problem with our world no one talks about is that you're allowed to assault people as long as you do it through sound.

I live in a city. As I write this, there are people blasting music at volumes that should be illegal anywhere in a city, but they're doing it *right outside my house*, and at 2:00 in the morning. They're not only violating my right to sleep, they're inflicting physical pain on me by their sheer volume.

I've gone out to scream at them. They don't care.

In theory this *is* illegal, and you can call the police. But that seems not to be enforced. In my case, I've already tried it and the police told me they couldn't do anything because... this party is approved by the city government.

I would prefer to be punched than subjected to this. And since they're doing it on a street directly adjacent to at least three apartment buildings, they're inflicting this violence on dozens of people, so it's dozens of times worse than punching someone.

These people are morally legitimate targets for violence. If the police wouldn't defend them, and I had a suitable weapon, I would.