[PhanthomOps]

Comrade:
Very true and astitute observation - thank you :)

LogicalLunatic:
Quote: "It matters not how people act, only how you react. Your reactions are the only thing you CAN control. Most actions percieved as threatening are actually benign in nature. This isn't really related to what is right and wrong. It merely pertains to how we interact."

Absolutely right on target - Thanks :)

The balance of your examples in this post are excellent - and if I am correct can be attributed directly to the perception of an individual or group as to the intent of another person or group.

Lava:
Quote: "I also found the original list of values a bit odd. Maybe different geography, time and culture get in the way, but for me those values were mostly just paid lipservice. They arent what was really encouraged:"

Odd as they maybe to you, I was raised with them, and boy did I get my a-- taned when I violated any of them. It wasn't until I was eleven years old and graduated from the Cub Scouts to the Boy Scouts that I fully understood what my parents were really trying to teach me.

Quote: "There is a big difference between lipservice and genuine values, and looking round this society I think its basically lipservice, with a bit of genuine thrown in. The proof is in the actions, not the words."

1000000000000000% right. Too many people today give lipservice in order to evade their responsibility, or to look good. Regretfully this is just a facade and is worthless.

Quote: "So the natural state of humans is war, not peace. The natural state is what existed pre-civilisation"

Would it possibly be more like people not taking the time or effort to understand, and the feeling that you just can't trust anyone that fuels indifference as opposed to war??

Samsara15:
Quote: "Good post, and I don't know why people can't get along with each other. Except to say that people are jerks, and don't follow what we were taught as kids. However, it seems to me that what I was taught, the same as what most of us were taught, from the Bible, was to be a liberal."

First, thank you :) :). Could it be possible that as we grow older that we form our opinions from our experiences, and realize that all is not hunky-dorey that we become more self-protective and indifferent towards others??

castille:
Quote: "Well getting along means we ALL agree on the same thing, thus we lose individuality."

Does it?? IMHO, I would say that there are a few people you would call friends - if so, then I would conclude that you have common grounds for agreement as well as disagreement. In that vein do you lose your individuality or not??

Quote: "We had 14! Beat you!
However I find your optimism about the world either honourable, or stupid. I cant decide which one yet. I don't mean optimistic "I'm going to beat up that guy because I know I can!", I mean morally optimistic "The world is a good place"."

Hey, I had all I could do to contend with the 4 that were in my neighborhood.
Although I have witnessed the worse in people first hand, I have been fortunate to have experienced a lot of good. I feel that in general, most people are decent and good at heart. It just seems that we constantly only hear of the dreggs of society. I am an optimist as I don't want to waste my life as a pessimist with the perverbal colud of doom hanging over my head.

Pooeypants:
Quote: "Well think about it, why do we go to war? Because of differences in idealogy, if we all thought the same, would there be conflict?"

Okay, forgetting "war" for the moment, you and I have a difference in our idealogy, and the way we generally look at things, however, are we actually engaged in war - or just a difference of opinions??? As long as there are human beings their will always be conflict of one sort or another, however, it is how we approach it that will determine peace or war.

white rice:
Your entire post makes a lot of sense, and points out just how our differences and preconceptions impact on our lives. Thanks :)