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The past centuries have left us with a dual notion of violence; legitimate when carried out by institutions, illegitimate when exercised individually. And so, as a result, violence—and extreme violence in particular—is first of all a perception graduated by the commentator based on cultural references. Even so, it must be noted that brutal acts have been on a downward trend in the West since the Middle Ages, with some notable differences to be taken into consideration, in particular the cases of Japan, Europe and America. In light of this perspective, the most recent attacks—including the one against Charlie Hebdo—would be more an expression of the worrying failure of a model which, in fine, is no longer capable of suppressing or avoiding flagrant inequalities than an expression of an increase in “historical” violence.