Any Hope For Us?

[Anna B]

6 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

Is it???

 

War might have evolved from what traditionally people see it as. It may longer not be vast armies across the globe warring with each other. But conflict, power, possession and one upmanship  is just as prevalent today than it ever was. 

 

There are various civil wars happening right now all over the place.

 

There are emerging nations battling with each other to be top dog in a race to become westernised and commercialised.  

 

There are huge numbers of radicalised terrorist groups and dictatorships committing monstrous atrocities every day.

 

They are land grabs and power struggles and invasions happening right now even close to home in Europe.

 

There are hacking attacks, ransom blocks, fraud and critical system failure threats which are all types cyber warfare happening all over our global communications network systems.

 

We have the tribalist extreme left and right political agendas and the war of information all over our media, literature and online resources.  Extreme polarised opinions all battling each other for prominence and credibility with the masses.

 

I'm not sure what sort of dream like vision you have of the world, but in my opinion war is certainly not going out of fashion. I have said many times before, we may be an 'intelligent' species but inbuilt primal instincts don't go away. There is always the fight for one's own survival and dominance.  There will always be those who take the extreme approach. There will always be those who unexpectedly transform and only show their true aggression when the going gets tough.  

 

It's easy to chant 'War is bad' and portray a demeanour of all peace and loving when everything runs smoothly. But you watch how people change if it really hits the fan.  

 

That's why war is never going to go away. The methods may change but the basic principle is still there.

True, but left to their own devices, and as long as resources are plentiful, most folk rub along just fine. It's the Psychopaths and Sociopaths in charge that start wars, not the ordinary folk. They then expect them to die for their country / cause without putting themselves in danger. Often the cause is nothing more than hubris.

A strong democratic system of reliable well meaning governance is also vital, and in a world of plenty, more egalitarianism with basic needs being met worldwide. 

 

Some wars may be justified, but all end round a table with negotiations. That's where they should start, and stay. Without the loss of millions of innocent lives in the process. 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Anna B

[Waldo]

9 hours ago, Anna B said:

True, but left to their own devices, and as long as resources are plentiful, most folk rub along just fine. It's the Psychopaths and Sociopaths in charge that start wars, not the ordinary folk. They then expect them to die for their country / cause without putting themselves in danger.

Indeed; people are all too ready to jump to a cause under a common flag, and feel proudly patriotic. No awareness of the extent to which the state has manipulated them.

 

To my mind, us little people (no matter nationality) have a lot more in common with each other than with our own leaders; and the real threat to humanity are the people in power, who seek power and lack wisdom.

 

We shouldn’t tolerate it, but what power to effect real change, do little people have?

[ECCOnoob]

2 hours ago, Waldo said:

Indeed; people are all too ready to jump to a cause under a common flag, and feel proudly patriotic. No awareness of the extent to which the state has manipulated them.

 

To my mind, us little people (no matter nationality) have a lot more in common with each other than with our own leaders; and the real threat to humanity are the people in power, who seek power and lack wisdom.

 

We shouldn’t tolerate it, but what power to effect real change, do little people have?

It's not as simple as that.   Who decides what this "real change" is? Who decides how they are going to implement it? What gives said person or group the authority to thrust their own ideals and ideas as if it's beyond challenge?  At what point do those so-called "little people" end up being just as powerful, forceful, influential and as much of a threat as the elitist leaders they purport to detest and wanted to revolutionise?

 

Slippery slope. Whose to say that those downtrodden "little people" won't become just as detached, aggressive, elitist and selfish when they get into a position of power.  It's basic human nature. 

 

We see it happen time and time before. The Great revolutions and great uprising of the so-called underdogs who topple their leaders and celebrate their new revolution of freedoms...... which before long, turns them to become just as profiteering, elitist, and antagonistic and opportunist as any other government regime.

 

We see it with the unions. All solidarity brothers and sisters...  All up the workers...... except of course if you're not part of their particular industry group and just some other low level worker for which you can just about sod off.  

In the big battle, as long as their union gets what they want, they couldn't give a flying pig about other workers suffering unreasonable inconvenience, having major disruption, potentially losing wages due to their actions.

 

We see it with our own neighbours and colleagues. All one big solid community all looking out for each other except when something hits the fan and you watch how quickly there will be fingerpointing,  looking after number one, scheming, lying and manipulations.

 

I am not one for buying into this whole power to the little people with their common cause.  There might be lots of talking the talk, but when crunch time comes, let's see how much solidarity there really is versus who takes those grabs for power and advancement.

[Waldo]

1 hour ago, ECCOnoob said:

It's not as simple as that.   Who decides what this "real change" is? Who decides how they are going to implement it? What gives said person or group the authority to thrust their own ideals and ideas as if it's beyond challenge?  At what point do those so-called "little people" end up being just as powerful, forceful, influential and as much of a threat as the elitist leaders they purport to detest and wanted to revolutionise?

 

Slippery slope. Whose to say that those downtrodden "little people" won't become just as detached, aggressive, elitist and selfish when they get into a position of power.  It's basic human nature. 

 

We see it happen time and time before. The Great revolutions and great uprising of the so-called underdogs who topple their leaders and celebrate their new revolution of freedoms...... which before long, turns them to become just as profiteering, elitist, and antagonistic and opportunist as any other government regime.

 

We see it with the unions. All solidarity brothers and sisters...  All up the workers...... except of course if you're not part of their particular industry group and just some other low level worker for which you can just about sod off.  

In the big battle, as long as their union gets what they want, they couldn't give a flying pig about other workers suffering unreasonable inconvenience, having major disruption, potentially losing wages due to their actions.

 

We see it with our own neighbours and colleagues. All one big solid community all looking out for each other except when something hits the fan and you watch how quickly there will be fingerpointing,  looking after number one, scheming, lying and manipulations.

 

I am not one for buying into this whole power to the little people with their common cause.  There might be lots of talking the talk, but when crunch time comes, let's see how much solidarity there really is versus who takes those grabs for power and advancement.

You're not wrong.

 

People do start off small, overthrow the current tyranny, and become the next one, happens all the time; the same things that motivated the previous regime, no doubt motivate the next one. Human nature is a bitch.

 

Replacing one tyranny with another, isn't what I have in mind, at all. Somethings need to be baked in to any system; such that it's just not possible for any individual or group to become a tyrant overlord oppressor etc. I don't know what such a system would look like; but perhaps some of the attributes of blockchain may be of interest, namely, it's decentralised (no central authority controlling and manipulating everything to their own ends) and also, it doesn't require trust.

 

As I see it, the core issue is how do you prevent and small group of people; gaining too much power and control, who are then in a position to make decisions that seriously impact on us all (starting wars, for example).

 

I just don't think the current system we have, in our country, yields the brightest, wisest and least selfish and greedy, decision makers in the world. Just look at who we've had in the last decade or so... (all that said, I think we're a lot better off than some countries. though of course, as a citizen, I'm not in a position to make an objective assessment on that front).

 

Again, it's irrelevant what I think and feel; we are where we are; it's just idle speculation on my part; and honestly, I have no idea why I give myself to such things; I should be attending to the feathering of my own nest, screw humanity.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Waldo