There is a condition, yah gotta wanna it. All in favor of world peace speak up.

Those who don't want peace should refer to the thread..."War What is it good for" Or **** Off.

I've had enough and will start running my own little war..I'm a Newfie so you're all fair game.

Peace.....lets have some


Atomantillepall

War and Peace is such a big topic to discuss, I think I can only summarize my thoughts with the obvious.... ?

War = Bad
Peace = Good

done

random

how about reading the book i just finished today be Nevil Shute On The Beach

..that will change your mind about a WWIII

xD I have such a funny mock news clip about newfies, you have no idea how much I'm fighting posting it.

Peace will never happen in any of our life times, and if any of you believe in the bible and such, we won't have much of a life time anyway, judgment day shall come shortly after the middle east are all at war with each other... which lets be frank, is going to happen sooner then anyone use would really wish for, and the world is under one super power with one currency.

So odds of world peace would be slim to none. So make the most of what you have, because it isn't going to get any better.

My grandfather (who is over 80 years old btw.) has seen what a war is like. I hope that I will never have to experience the same.

For peace (drinks down on third!)

my mother's father who I just recently saw a week ago (while up to see all the memorials and stuff; got some great pictures if anyone wants to see them) has seen both world wars, and vietnam; my father's father (who.. actually i saw today) has seen wwii, korean war, vietnam, and the gulf war

unfortunately i have no idea what rank they are

One of my great-grandfathers (passed away post-war) was a Light horseman in WWI and was present at the last recorded cavalry charge at Beersheba; grandfather a fighter mechanic in WW2; a great-uncle flew Spitfires in Europe; another uncle served in Darwin and managed not to get flattened during one of several Japanese bombing raids and my closest uncle served in Vietnam. By some miracle they all survived to tell me the odd tale of their experiences. I myself joined the RAAF training corps at 15 and left at 17. My relatives were proud of me, but always said "get out before you hit 18 - don't join up". Wise words - now I work for the Red Cross, which was formed especially to aid the victims of war from all sides, be they combatants or civilians. A good career choice imho, unless you happen to driving an ambulance in Lebanon - some pilots seem to be confusing those big red crosses on the roofs for bullseyes...

They were indeed wise words, especially considering our Prime Minister seems dedicated to risking Australian lives for no good goddam reason in some desert thousands of miles away. It seems a common thread: he and two other war-happy world leaders (whom we all know and love :zombie have never actually served their countries in combat, and seem to have completely forgotten everything learned from the Vietnam war (among other bloody and pointless conflicts)..

Peace definitely = good
+1

Mommy mommy!!

You cannot have peace without war, its one of those ying-yang balancing thingys .

Dan,

I would say propaganda. How you can make peace with guns, people shoot other people with guns, they spread anger and hate. That doen't make peace. As much as I'd like to see world without killing and wars I doubt if it's possible. Or doesn't seem so likely with the current generation in power. I hope the more critical Internet genaration can some day stop the fight. But long as there are ignorant people, who don't know history in power it's no good, history teaches. Peace!

I wish we could all realise that the earth we're sitting on, is just a giant organsim, hurtling through a galaxy which is itself a humungous living entity hurtling around other galaxies. If you take a look around a little bit, you'll see how fragile every stage in this super-organism really is.

Any war i've ever heard of started as a result of Greed - simple. If we can find a peacefull way to eliminate greed. we can start looking after this place a bit more. Imagine what could be done for the good of the world, if all the scientists working on arms development, were to work on renewable energy sources, farming tecniqes etc. Around 35% of all the scientists in the US work for Uncle sam, and they're not exactly the dregs either, and over $1,000,000,000,000 (1 Trillion) dollars was spent on arms by the US last year. the mind boggles as to what could be done with those resources.

With a bit of work, we can actually start to sort out the problems we may be faced with in the future, it's more than likely that many more will die first. We are learning very slowly as a species.

Quote from Blackout :

I would say propaganda.

Propaganda is a matter of media. The winners are the ones to write history, but this writing is outside the scope of problem solving.
This is the ultimate lesson learned in school: the strongest writes the rules. Anticipating a reply that "physical force is immoral" as a refutal of said lesson is the fact that forces aren't uniquely physical, and wits are just as useful, i.e. "pen mightier than sword", although no more of a be-all end-all means either.

When two or more parties fail to convince one another of which is "right" (IOW which one happens to stand closer to the truth) or to "negociate" compromises to their differing views, it eventualy comes to force.
Fear of pain happens to stick out like a sore thumb to people who don't realize that there is no substitute to absolute integrity, and that anything short of that is already "false".
When you argue something with someone, it is already warfare. It is as analogous to "war" as genetic warfare vs. the environment, where the fittest survives adversity. When you argue any idea, you're putting that idea to a trial of fire, so to speak.
Conflict, armed or not, is a part of life as soon as you're born. Reducing it to a matter of humanity, or scaling it on a scale of humaneness or inhumaneness is anthropomorphism.
IMO it's symptomatic of the effective inability to recognize "danger" before it has passed the threshold of physical or "emotional" pain tolerance.
It's another thing to weigh means of conflict resolution on that scale, but then you're arguing emotions, and emotions are meaningless to reason. Are things to be done in fear of consequences?
Reason is sovereign.

Quote :

How you can make peace with guns, people shoot other people with guns, they spread anger and hate.

By supressing an agent of war. What do you do when the mindless bully at school corners you? Give him flowers? It is a system of physical fitness, just the same as writing gibberish on your written university exams is unfit for a good grade

Quote :

That doen't make peace. As much as I'd like to see world without killing and wars I doubt if it's possible.

Killing? What about the concerns of those people whose conviction it is that anyone not approving of their faith or faith-dependent responsibilities should die in the name of their faith? Are you going to remove from them their freedom to chose to do so at the cost of your life?
It will be possible when the people involved in the world's "problems" solving are sufficiently wiser and knowledgeable, like you said.

Pie in the sky ideals are nice, but the bottom line is that in terms of overall geopolitics, it's just a matter of demographics.

Quote :

We are learning very slowly as a species.

Care to compare technological advance over the last century with that of the few centuries, and of the few thousand years before it?

War will happen. People are greedy, people in power don't want to loose that power. It's a powerful thing, power. Even you and me if placed into a position of absolute power would find yourself doing or contimplating inexplicable things.

Wars will never stop. There will always be fighting. If you got invaded would you just sit there and say, 's'ok. Come on in. I don't fight, I'm all for peace. Here have my country, my home, my wife. It's all yours.'

Would you?

Wars happen.

But they need to happen for the right reasons. This defending democracy rubbish, this preemptive dealing with potential evil doers, this using religion as an escuse, it's all big steamy bull doings.

We (In Britain) arn't in fear of our borders. We don't have some megalithic dictatorship breathing down our necks. We live in a Kangeroo democracy and should hold our leaders accountable for his, sorry, their actions.

I've heard of a great new political party that has been formed by the parents and family of sons and daughter lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. People who died in wars and areas that they shouldn't have been in. The party is called spectre and they are putting forward candidates forward in all the constinuencies of Ministers who voted for the Iraq war. Which includes Jack Straw and Margaret Beckett to name just two. Labour have no great majority in anywhere now and I really hope that this Spectre can make real progress. They have already overturned a high court desicion not to have a public inquiry into the Iraq war. So in the autumn hopefully you will see William Goldsmith, Tony Blair, Jack Straw et al having to explain why we where lied too and why we entered into an illiegal war.

I am all for peace. But it ain't never going to happen untill you can take away the motives for war. And as long as there is money, resources and power to be had that will never happen.

And I for one wouldn't think twice about having a go at someone trying to get into my house. Although I wouldn't nessesarily go round to someones house and have a go just because I think they might come round to my house with that big knife that they might have brought but never did, or if they did they got rid of it really quickly, and I know they got a really big knife because I was the one who sold it to them in first place so I know the buggers got a really big knife hidden somewhere in his house because I just know ok. So therefore I'm allowed to go to his house and beat him up because I think he's got a big knife and he's going to use it on me. Well maybe not on me because I live to far away, but he might use it on his nieghbours, ok, more neighbours than he allready has. But I didn't care about that but now I want to build a driveway extenstion that runs through his back garden so if I go and lay into him a bit shouting lots about big knives and how that he might in the future come and murder us in cold blood whilst we are sleeping with the big knife that I sold to him then I can get on and build my driveway without anyone shouting at me for doing it. Great. Only I can't find the big knife that I sold him. Which is strange because it was a really big knife. I've looked everywhere, under the floorboards, in the walls, under the kitchen table. but it's not there at all. So now I've started looking nextdoor as well. Shouting alot about how if they have got the big knife they might come and murder me in cold blood whilst I'm sleeping with the big knife that I sold them. So whilst I'm doing that, I may as well get my driveway to go through their back garden too.

So I wouldn't do any of that. Because I'm a peacable chap.

Just don't come into my house with a big knife.

Quote :

inexplicable things.

How does that work? If something has no reason to happen, then how could it?

Hitting the bully in the face is right, but killing his/her relatives doesn't make sence.

Depending on the context, including your intentions.

War will continue as long a religion is @ the forefront of society

We are learning ver slowly as a species.

Quote from Breizh :

Care to compare technological advance over the last century with that of the few centuries, and of the few thousand years before it?

it's not really about technological learning. it's more about learning from the mistakes of the past. Our technological advances are unfortunately the reason we are struggling, we haven't learned use our tools wisely enough.

with technology growing at an exponential rate, we also have to look ahead to see furture problems in a similar way, and so far we've failed dismally to see whats ahead of us. 250 years ago, when the industrial revolution kicked off. nobody was thinking about global warming, or particulate emmisions. and it's only now we can see where the course they set for us all those years ago will lead.

with the increase in technology, comes an increase in effectiveness over the "enemy". as long as people percieve themselves as under threat from those who surround them, they will feel the need to become stronger than their neighbour. as soon as we can realise we don't HAVE to fight each other then we'll be ok. trouble is - there are too many people out there there, utterly convinced that they are RIGHT and the other guy is WRONG ('cos god said so)

If god is omnipotent, WTF do we need religions for? I see god in the trees, the grass, and the rivers, in the bugs and fish, the wonder of this planet we live on is enough of a god for me. and if everybody had the same love for it all that i have. there would be no war, or persecution, no religion to indoctrinate minds into what's good or evil, it's pretty damn obvious to all those who truly love this place.

I love these little rant threads, clears the head a bit

Quote from Breizh :

Depending on the context, including your intentions.

If your country is attacked with made up excuses it's your right to defend your area, but it still doesn't make it righteous to kill civilians.

Quote from Theafro :

If god is omnipotent, WTF do we need religions for? I see god in the trees, the grass, and the rivers, in the bugs and fish, the wonder of this planet we live on is enough of a god for me. and if everybody had the same love for it all that i have. there would be no war, or persecution, no religion to indoctrinate minds into what's good or evil, it's pretty damn obvious to all those who truly love this place.

very well put there theafro!

World Peace as a forum thread? What is this a beauty pagent?

"Hi my names Shirley and i'm from Minnisota, and I would just like to say that I really want world peace, thank you MOMMY!"

If we had world peace what would politicians use to flex their ego with? Nothing would ever get done because no other nation would fear any other. War keeps this fragile society of ours alive.

It's just unfortunate that the capacity to make war is too readily abused, and that is something I would like to stop.

Revolution anybody?

Peace is possible but it'll be a very very very hard thing. It might even require another evolutional step in mankind (or the emergence of another intelligent species) for that to happen, because the modern world is almost hopelessly depended on our sins to keep it in order, and because it's so dominant in everyone's life it'll be very hard for any individual to live with his ideal while being able to make an impact on the contemparory reality.

World peace is an impossible dream. To have that there must never be a single argument between two human beings ever again about anything. A war is just a bigger disagreement between people with Big Red Buttons in from of them.

It's like trying to cure Poverty - it just ain't gonna happen no matter how many millions you throw at them.

Blackout, In that case, I'd agree.

Theafro,
Learning from our mistakes is, grosso modo, the essence of technological advance.
You're selling your idea of magical god-love, but really, what's your point?
Religion is irrational, there's nothing to argue for or against it, and as such, has no practical value.
God, flying spaghetti monster, eye of the beholder: YMMV.
That said, if you really are ready to make no compromises to be at peace yourself, regardless of what's happening.. you really don't need much:


Becky, are you saying there's no better alternative to fear, as a purpose?

you know my favorite album from Megadeth is, Peace Sells - But Who's Buying?

face it, War is a neccessary evil. War mongering must be a dominating trait in the Human species - which makes sense seeing that a pacifist usually would
not compete for resources aggressively.

My Father-in -law served in WWII, he fought along side Aussies and New Zealanders in New Guinea... got wounded... resent to the US as a guard at a German POW camp ( you know they had to segregate the SS soldiers from the regular ones?) and then got sent to Germany towards the end of the war.
He won't watch war movies or news footage... I guess he's seen enough.

I see a potential problem with warfare in the future as it won't be so much nation on nation fighting, but battles between different ideologies.
With the world becoming more & more global, the prospect of regional conflicts spreading into other areas increases.
Also, as the world gets more "globalized" The people will get more educated and intelligent. They may advance enough intellectually to decide that their current political structure is no longer suited for them...
In the coming years I see more civil conflicts happening... not just in deverloping countries and the Middle East, but in the Western nations as well.

Getting rid of religious nut-cases, psycho despots and corporate thugs, sounds like a good idea, then somebody else will just come along and replace them.

LOL World Peace is kinda like the words Fair and Free... people use those words all the time but there really ain't no such thing