Our Responsibility

[Runa216]

<i>Runa216, if everyone in country of 10,000,000 was to be a pacifist like you, how would that country function? </i>

peacefully. if everyone was like me (and I do not have a superiority complex) then no matter where you went or what you did, then people would be willing to help. in any situation, people would be willing to help. in school and work, people would be humble, so there would be no reason to fight. if nobody wanted to fight, then there would be no fights, simple as that.

Scientific research could go either way, speed up or slow down. I say slow down because there would be no competition, so no need to rush, but at the same time, there would be no competition, so we would all be working together for one common cause.

it's farfetched, but that's what I'd like to believe.

Runa

[Runa216]

<i>Why is there a bad stigma attached to caring</i>

because unfortunately, money is more important than human (or animal) lives. Survival is not an issue anymore, we as a race are overconfident and believe that just because it's been there all our lives, that it'll always be there. survival is no longer the issue, profit is, that's why caring only goes so far, aggression and competition is where it's at, that's what people care about.

for the record, I do not agree with what I jsut said, in fact, I completely disagree with it, but that doesn't mean it's not the way the world really works.

and before anyone claims that lives are important, remember, saving lives is profitable, more people to fuel the economy.

"The bottom line is money, nobody gives a f*&^. 4000 hungry children are leaving us per hour from starvation while billions are spent on bombs." SOAD

Welcome to this reality, enjoy your stay.

Runa

[Runa216]

<i>I may be a loony leftie – but it's the only thing that keeps me sane.</i>

Thank you trent, the more I hear from you, the more of myself I see in you. trust me, I state a lot of crazy things on here, and I only say them as an observation. my honest opinion, I woul dlove to do all I can to help, no matter what happens. I do care about what's happening across the world more than my own backyard...you know why? because where I live, I'm safe, so I don't have to worry about that. all I want to do is help, and people think I'm a bad person for thinking those who put the dollar before the life are horrible people. people don't see that I want to help because they don't see me helping...there's nothing I can do, and I feel helpless.

by living in canada, I feel guilty because of so many people that don't have the same freedoms I do. I wish I could help, but I can't.

one day, I want to get together with as many like-minded individuals as I can, I'd be in heaven.

Runa

[G. Adams]

Quote by: castille You're a looney lefty if you're more concerned about what's happening halfway across the world than in your backyard.

Oh well you've swung my mind now castille, your definately accepted into the lefties...not.

The entire world is our backyard, the distances don't matter. In the end, if you leave these problems to fester, even right across to the other side of the globe, they will eventually bite you in the arse. Better to deal with them now while we can.

[Paul]

Our Responsibility

castille: > ["You're a looney lefty if you're more concerned about what's happening halfway across the world than in your backyard."]

Before an individual tells his neighbor to be responsible, it is nessesary for that individual to tell the person in the mirror to be responsible. It's all about walking the talk. Even as parents, when we don't walk our talk, we lie the our children.

Our Responsibility: "your backyard" First, the One in the mirror, then those in your backyard (family) then your neighbors and so on, as a stone is thrown in a pool, the goes out from the center.

May the Spirit of Love anf Truth be within you and your deeds be accordingly

Peace be with you, Paul

[Runa216]

parents can tell but never teach unless they practice waht they preach.

oh yeahh baby.

Runa

[Paul]

Runa216: > ["one day, I want to get together with as many like-minded individuals as I can, I'd be in heaven."]

Your not alone. One day soon (?) all those that belong to the 'religion of love' will know each other and will be united (get together) to show the world that peace is possible because of their love.

May the Spirit of Love and Truth be within you and your deeds be accordingly

Peace be with you, Paul

[Paul]

You may not believe me, but there are millions of people that already belong to 'the religion of love', but they are scattered all over the world doing their good works because of the love they have. How many million!? I would guess about 1 to 2 percent of the adult population world wide. Do you think that I'm high or low with that estimate?

May the Spirit of Love and Truth be within you and your deeds be accordingly

Peace be with you, Paul

[jeffl]

Quote by: Runa216 because unfortunately, money is more important than human (or animal) lives. Survival is not an issue anymore, we as a race are overconfident and believe that just because it's been there all our lives, that it'll always be there. survival is no longer the issue, profit is, that's why caring only goes so far, aggression and competition is where it's at, that's what people care about. for the record, I do not agree with what I jsut said, in fact, I completely disagree with it, but that doesn't mean it's not the way the world really works.

Runa, have you read (or seen) The Corporation, by Joel Bakan (et. al.)? By law, a corporation must put the profits of its shareholders first, as i understand it; and as a result, it is necessarily sociopathic. As if things weren't bad enough, now the law itself strongly selects for a sociopathic environment.

one day, I want to get together with as many like-minded individuals as I can, I'd be in heaven.

I hear that! For my part, i have to put truth first; i can put truth and love together, but i can't put love before truth 'cause it's truth i love.:)

[Runa216]

I'm not even all that worried about truth, I don't mind some lies as long as there is peace. (I know I sound like a broken record.) but seriously, I don't mind people BEING bad people, I don't agree with them acting like bad people. seriously, what does one have to gain from killing or hurting that doesn't involve money?

Runa

[jeffl]

Quote by: Runa216 I'm not even all that worried about truth, I don't mind some lies as long as there is peace.

Thanks for mentioning. Good luck with that.

[Runa216]

I said that wrong. well, not really, but all I was trying to say was that peace was more important than truth....but it's really not, because inner peace is only acheived through truth.

Runa

[jeffl]

Quote by: Runa216 I said that wrong. well, not really, but all I was trying to say was that peace was more important than truth....but it's really not, because inner peace is only acheived through truth. Runa

As is outer peace, aswell; i think. Thanks for clarifying.

[Runa216]

yeah, that's pretty much it. sometimes when typing for three hours straight, I start to falter and miss bits.

Runa

[Trent]

[LEFT][LEFT]Quote by: castille
"You're a looney lefty if you're more concerned about what's happening halfway across the world than in your backyard."

Who says I'm more concerned? Can't I be as concerned?

As an adult I feel a responsibility to protect children from emotional trauma and physical pain or death. A child is, after all, depending on the adults around him or her, to protect them.
Imagine there is a little girl playing in your back garden and suddenly she explodes into flames. Nasty, right? You want to rush out and help her.
That makes you human.

Now imagine you really are 'half way around the world', rolling down a dry road in a tank. You come upon a little girl standing by the side of the road, one arm and shoulder horribly burnt - 3rd degree burns that have deformed her. She is screaming and begging for someone to help her.

You go to help her, (after all, you're human) -just as you would if she were standing screaming in your backyard - and it wouldn't matter to you what nationality she was - I can guarantee - if there was a small child standing in your back yard screaming in agony - you would respond.
That makes you human too.

It's exactly what Sergeant Kevin Benderman did (- Benderman's worth listening to on -www.BendermanDefense.org) when his patrol came across the badly burned little girl in Iraq. He instinctively wanted to help her - the natural response. After all, he is unhurt and under no threat.
But he was stopped from going to the child's aid.
He was ORDERED not to help her.
Now he's facing a court martial for refusing to re-deploy to Iraq.
Perhaps it was that little girl, or the pits of bodies that included children's remains (pits that hadn't been covered and were being visited by stray dogs) that made Benderman sick of his work and unable to deny his conscience.

He was half way around the world - and found out the hard way that a child is just a child, an innocent, no matter where in the world they happen to be going through their individual, private pain.
And that makes him human.

I think we should also remember that 'half way around the world' is someone elses doorstep.
Yes I care what happened to the little Iraqi kid that Benderman couldn't rescue from the nightmare of war.
True, she's one of many...
But she's still an individual soul. A child. A human. One of us.
Where she exists geographically is unimportant.
Truth is, we are all humans.
Loony or not.

Trent[/LEFT]

[Runa216]

trent, I really like you. and you are more than right.

I care for others, and I want to help no matter where they are, everyone suffers.

Runa

[castille]

Quote by: G. Adams Oh well you've swung my mind now castille, your definately accepted into the lefties...not.

Ok, Stalin boy.

The entire world is our backyard, the distances don't matter.

What are you going to do for the people of Iraq? Protest? If everyone tended to matters in their backyard, instead of worrying about someone else's backyard, we'd live in a more peaceful world.

Remember when the Christian states of Europe started worrying about the Arabs' backyard? That was the Crusades.

[G. Adams]

Your right castille, if people did stop worrying and interfering with other peoples business, the world probably would be more peaceful. It doesn't neccesarily mean the world and it's inhabitants would be better off.

[castille]

if people did stop worrying and interfering with other peoples business, the world probably would be more peaceful. It doesn't neccesarily mean the world and it's inhabitants would be better off.

That's your theory. But tell me, in reality, has it really done any good? Was most of the world better in 1492, or 1892?

Sure, according to you, its the "mission to civilized the savages". But did you ever consider, despite the lower living standards of the "savages", they were happier left alone?

[G. Adams]

Quote by: castille That's your theory. But tell me, in reality, has it really done any good? Was most of the world better in 1492, or 1892? Sure, according to you, its the "mission to civilized the savages". But did you ever consider, despite the lower living standards of the "savages", they were happier left alone?

Yes, I would rather we had kept out of Africa for anything other than trade, and not in slaves. I wish we hadn't started the 'Great Game' with Russia. I wish there had never been the Western carve up of China. I wish we had went to the Americas with open arms rather than guns and small pox ridden blankets.

But that is a different time, and a different world. We live in an interconnected world. Unless you are suggesting we return to the pursuit of autarky, we have to involve ourselves with other states for the sake of our own survival.