|
Post by Rook on Dec 22, 2012 22:37:42 GMT -5
I was about to write that the World didn't end yesterday. Maybe it had. I look all around and read the news reports and hear about all the killings and massacres. Murdered kids. WTF is going on with our human race? Seriously? Do we have any right to even keep going? Raping the Earth and causing problems is all this race seems to be up to. Oh...and killing each other, must not forget that. Since Mother Theresa has passed on is there anyone doing truly good acts for the sake of doing good? Not that I have seen. I am putting myself out there for ridicule but I'm sad we didn't go away. Sad we didn't get crushed. Can anyone really defend our race if it were on trial as a whole. Sure there have been technological advancements but ZERO advancements of 'man'. We can talk person to person at any place on this Earth with technology yet some religions want nothing more than to slaughter each other. I struggle to understand it all. Know this: if there was a button I could push to wipe this Earth of the human stain known as man you couldn't keep me from it. I assure you. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWwGV0sdOr0I am ashamed to be human.
|
|
|
Post by ElegaicRequiem on Dec 22, 2012 23:43:26 GMT -5
It'll be much better when I enact my plan to wipe the Earth clean, save for a few select individuals. The best part is that James Bond is fictional, so there's no one to stop me!
AHAHAHAHAHA!
|
|
|
Post by RedsandRoyals on Dec 23, 2012 0:02:17 GMT -5
I'm not ashamed to be human, I'm proud to be human (or Welsh, anyway, which is close enough). I'm not proud of how we act some times, though.
Reds
|
|
|
Post by Rolling Thunder on Dec 23, 2012 0:41:41 GMT -5
Without humans, there can be no "evil", and there can be no "good".
The moral compass which informs you of our evil is a human construct. "Good" is human. "Evil" is human. Humanity is all of these things, not merely the good or the evil. It is hundreds of millions of people, trying to do nothing more than raise, feed, clothe and educate their children. It is the man who sacrificed himself this morning, somewhere in the world, to save someone he loved. It is the woman who has spent the last thirty years of her life caring for and educating the children of others, for a pittance. It is the men who raped and murdered a fellow human being last night. It's the scientist who's desperately working to cure HIV/AIDS. It's the squaddie with a rifle, paycheque and a myth of his own importance. It's the over-entitled housewives, the Hizbollah militants, the do-nothing social justice "activists", the mothers, the fathers, the paramedics, the nurses, the children caring for their dying parents.
Humanity encompasses all that is good, and all that is evil. It can not be "evil" - evil is but one part, one fragment of the human experience. It can not be "good" - good is just another part of who we are.
|
|
|
Post by dangerrod on Dec 23, 2012 2:03:19 GMT -5
Humannity used to really annoy me too, until we had our daughter!
Now life is about the little things and the image of one child smiling and laughing should be enough to end all the hatred in the world
Unfortunately the evil in this world gets more air-time than the good, but there is good out there you just have to find it!!
Danger Rod
|
|
|
Post by Wraelis on Dec 23, 2012 3:26:40 GMT -5
The way I look at it Rook is that there will always be people who are downright dumb, selfish, or hell, evil for that matter. As much as that is crap and there's a hell of a lot of bad stuff going on there's still a handful of us out there who are just downright good. As depressing as the rest of humanity can be, there are those that really shine out there. It's a heavy burden, but it's up to them to not just shine, but to really show the rest it can be done. From that more good people will arise and eventually the tide will turn. Maybe it's just me being stupidly idealistic, but I'd rather be like that than hopeless.
|
|
|
Post by Empirespy on Dec 23, 2012 4:21:12 GMT -5
Although it may seam that only evil is happening, that good is on the downturn, I do not believe it is. I used to watch the news, and wonder why it was always bad things, and then I realised it's because that is what the news is showing us, it's wants us to think. A story of evil is better than a story of good, from an entertainment quality. You are more likely to remember it for one, as if I stop a bomb, and save a thousand lives, I'll be remembered a month, then forgotten. If I make that bomb, and kill a thousand lives, I'll be remembered in infamy forever. If the planes that hit the twin towers were stopped, we would have forgotten it years back. So the good is happening, it's just the media doesn't want yuo to see it. -Empirespy
|
|
|
Post by The Refined Gentleman (M.I.A) on Dec 23, 2012 4:49:41 GMT -5
Although it may seam that only evil is happening, that good is on the downturn, I do not believe it is. I used to watch the news, and wonder why it was always bad things, and then I realised it's because that is what the news is showing us, it's wants us to think. A story of evil is better than a story of good, from an entertainment quality. You are more likely to remember it for one, as if I stop a bomb, and save a thousand lives, I'll be remembered a month, then forgotten. If I make that bomb, and kill a thousand lives, I'll be remembered in infamy forever. If the planes that hit the twin towers were stopped, we would have forgotten it years back. So the good is happening, it's just the media doesn't want yuo to see it. -Empirespy Pretty much stole the words from me. I don't blame people who lose their faith in humanity though; it takes some real mental fortitude to be an optimist in today's world.
|
|
|
Post by AshotNINJA on Dec 23, 2012 4:59:38 GMT -5
i really hoped the end of the world would be zombie themed...
humans have always been horrible to one another... its no different now.
|
|
|
Post by Rolling Thunder on Dec 23, 2012 5:49:11 GMT -5
The cruelty we note because the kindness we forget.
|
|
|
Post by Soap on Dec 23, 2012 8:09:47 GMT -5
i really hoped the end of the world would be zombie themed... humans have always been horrible to one another... its no different now. I don't want to be an end of the world, but I think a zombie out break could get of a bitof dead wood, and bring about some sort of natural selection again. Lets face it, they are a lot of bad people / idiots in this world. That said, I don't want my family, friends, or me to die.
|
|
|
Post by Adam Selene on Dec 23, 2012 9:28:17 GMT -5
It has always been easier to destroy than to create or preserve. So people only worry about keeping their own conscience clean and let the rest of the species do it's own thing.
Personally I would like a element of natural selection in the development of the species; if you don't improve your body or mind you get eaten, but we have killed off most of your predators and wrapped ourselves in cotton wool.
Rook, you sound much more world weary than than me, I'm probably coming off as enthusiastic about our future.
|
|
|
Post by Rook on Dec 23, 2012 11:57:28 GMT -5
Ahhh good old youthful enthusiasm. Love you guys. The World is headed into the toilet so get ready. Some of you already live without basic freedoms, supposedly for your own good. Corporations now have immense power compared to actually individuals. The camera watching you is now ubiquitous, constantly eroding the last bastion of privacy. Taxes, oh Hell taxes. I won't even go there but I'm sure you know already where I'm headed. Money is an illusion. I could go on and on. Big Brother.
There are more people alive today then have ever lived in recorded history. Urban sprawl is choking us. Allow me to be the first to tell you that each of you is truly in competition and contention with everyone you will ever meet on the planet. More people are coming into this World but less and less land is being created each year. We are all competing for the same resources. How do I know? Because it seems we can't work together for the common good anymore. If our race learned how to share and I mean share as in the childlike Kindergarten kind of sharing we would ALL want for nothing. Think of the planets that could be colonized. Instead we have idiots who are killing each other over passages written in a book.
BUT, having said all that; I'm a such a lover of what I have called M.A.C.E.(Mayhem Anarchy Chaos Entropy) only so much that it(MACE) actually betters human lives. Changes us for the better. I am unable to cite anything positive coming from these acts of terrorism. Wait, let me rephrase that; I am unable to see anyone but myself changing for the better after these acts of terrorism.
The first sign of a police state or Big Brother is not fending for yourself and passivity. "Someone else will make my life better for me, I don't need to take action" seems to be the Global mind set of all but a very, very select few.
|
|
|
Post by Adkenpachi on Dec 23, 2012 12:42:53 GMT -5
I dont get this big brother cameras no privacy stuff that anarchists go on about.
I have nothing to hide, for all i care someone can put a camera in my house and watch me watch porn... Its not illegal.
The only people who care have something to hide and should probably be in prison for what their hiding.
/rant
|
|
|
Post by Ymmot (M.I.A) on Dec 23, 2012 12:57:56 GMT -5
Watching porn? Studies show pornography is linked to sexual violence. We'll just put that in your file, potential sex offender.
What's that, you want to move into a gated community, or maybe find a nice place next to a school? Hah, Think again Captain Hairy Palms.
It is a rare type of person who doesn't value privacy and personal space..and once we give that up, what other freedoms are you willing to part with?
|
|
|
Post by Kaikelx on Dec 23, 2012 14:02:38 GMT -5
The very nature of humanity is that we change, constantly. Over the course of history, there have been both golden and dark ages, eras of peace and eras of conflict. The way I see it, human progress (here I use progress to indicate the rate at which significant events occur) has simply been sped up by an exponential factor with technology. Humanity has its ups and downs, and I believe that a fundamental part of humanity is that it is flawed. To call humanity good or evil makes no sense to me, as we invented those concepts in the first place. Before the age of humans, there was simply survival or death. Your idea of MACE seems counter-productive to me (as perhaps I am interpreting it wrong), as another aspect of humanity I notice is our tendancy to band together, not species wide, but within groups. From our humblest beginnings we recognized that none can stand alone, and humanity wandered the world in tribes or groups. The idea that these groups can be run without a leader (I assume you use anarchy to mean "rulers should not exist", and not "all against all"), and be run collectively and voluntarily is nice (sorta like the paper definition of communisim), but there are always going to be those who lead and those follow, or at the very least those who tend to be more active in decisions and those who quietly go along. I would know, as I tend towards the "follower" part of the duo. Anyhow, back to the issues at hand, since I kinda went off on a tangent there. I believe the world is not ending, but merely changing. Much like how the actual Mayans viewed the end of their calendar as a new beginning, and not cessation of existence. I look at all those issues you present, and see problems I can help solve. But I don't think too big. I'm only one person, and one person can't save the world. But what I can do, is make my little part of the world a little bit better, and I guess I'll just be happy with that. And, if it makes you feel any better Rook, for all the labels my generation gets attached with, I'd honestly stand up and defend at least my little part of it, cause I don't think we're turning out that bad. At least we're slowly learning what not to be from the state of the world /rant that doesn't have much do with anything.
|
|
|
Post by ElegaicRequiem on Dec 23, 2012 14:06:41 GMT -5
The moral compass which informs you of our evil is a human construct. I'm going to disagree with that. If humanity can create its own moral compass for what is good and evil, then there is no such thing as either, since what some would perceive as one, some would perceive as the other. Right and wrong cannot be decided by some majority vote made by an elect few, nor by an anarchic democracy that takes everyone into account. And should one generation be held to the values of the previous ones? No. Good and evil must stand outside the realm of human shaping, else we should all be right in our own eyes at all times.
|
|
|
Post by Ymmot (M.I.A) on Dec 23, 2012 14:12:00 GMT -5
The world isn't going anywhere. Humanity is as it always has been...civilization teetering on the edge of barbarism. Only now we have cell phones and automatic weapons...still, as far as human nature is concerned I do not believe so much has changed.
The best thing we have going for us is information and knowledge gained from the experiances and toil of your ancestors...we have the tools to combat ignorance like never before.
Ignorance is at the heart of much of the evil in this world, few are really truely evil for the sake of being evil...but a staggering percetage of the population on this planet live in ignorance.
|
|
|
Post by Rook on Dec 23, 2012 15:55:29 GMT -5
Your idea of MACE seems counter-productive to me (as perhaps I am interpreting it wrong) MACE is the bullnuts that happens when you least expect it. It's tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, riots, car problems leaving you stranded, chaos. I am not an Anarchist. Not by a long stretch. I have a concrete core of unwavering beliefs and believe in rule by the majority yet with guaranteed rights of the individual. Constitutional Republic.
|
|
|
Post by Rook on Dec 23, 2012 16:09:28 GMT -5
I dont get this big brother cameras no privacy stuff that anarchists go on about. I have nothing to hide, for all i care someone can put a camera in my house and watch me watch porn... Its not illegal. The only people who care have something to hide and should probably be in prison for what their hiding. /rant I find your mindset a huge part of the problem. Would you welcome chains around your ankles also? How about the government going through your mail? Or worse yet Coca Cola going through your belongings searching for Pepsi products? Where would you draw the line Adkenpachi? "Law-abiding citizens value privacy. Terrorists require invisibility. The two are not the same, and they should not be confused." ~ Richard Perle "The real danger is the gradual erosion of individual liberties through automation, integration, and interconnection of many small, separate record-keeping systems, each of which alone may seem innocuous, even benevolent, and wholly justifiable." -Anon., U. S. Privacy Study Commission, 1977
|
|
|
Post by Julian Sharps on Dec 23, 2012 16:15:01 GMT -5
According to the Natural Law school of thought, we human beings (indeed, all living things) have the right to do anything that we are capable of doing simply because we are capable of doing them. Usually, this argument is taken to the extreme position that because we have the right to do something, we must do so.
I disagree with the argument that we must do that which we have the right to do, simply on the basis that if we have the right to do something, it only stands to reason that we also have the right to refrain from doing so. In my experience, the mark of maturity is restraint. Unfortunately, we as a civilization have not yet learned to become mature, as opposed to the childish attitude that we should do whatever we want, no matter the consequences.
The way I see it, either we will eventually outgrow this needlessly destructive phase of our existence, or we will destroy ourselves. Personally, I'm hoping for the former.
|
|
|
Post by Rook on Dec 23, 2012 16:20:16 GMT -5
I'm hoping for the former. Agreed.
|
|
|
Post by Adkenpachi on Dec 23, 2012 16:46:43 GMT -5
I dont get this big brother cameras no privacy stuff that anarchists go on about. I have nothing to hide, for all i care someone can put a camera in my house and watch me watch porn... Its not illegal. The only people who care have something to hide and should probably be in prison for what their hiding. /rant I find your mindset a huge part of the problem. Would you welcome chains around your ankles also? How about the government going through your mail? Or worse yet Coca Cola going through your belongings searching for Pepsi products? Its not quite the same as those examples, i mean i dont care if im being watched doing my shopping cause im not shoplifting and i dont care if im being watched in a car park cause im not stealing a car. But if my car was stolen or a store i owned robbed i would be pissed off if we wernt allowed cctv due to 'civil liberties'. Bugger all to do with chains and searching belongings. Oh and why would i care about anyone going through my mail? Worst thing their gonna see if my credit card balance... Dont care if they read my birthday cards.
|
|
|
Post by Rolling Thunder on Dec 24, 2012 1:52:26 GMT -5
According to the Natural Law school of thought, we human beings (indeed, all living things) have the right to do anything that we are capable of doing simply because we are capable of doing them. Usually, this argument is taken to the extreme position that because we have the right to do something, we must do so. I disagree with the argument that we must do that which we have the right to do, simply on the basis that if we have the right to do something, it only stands to reason that we also have the right to refrain from doing so. In my experience, the mark of maturity is restraint. Unfortunately, we as a civilization have not yet learned to become mature, as opposed to the childish attitude that we should do whatever we want, no matter the consequences. The way I see it, either we will eventually outgrow this needlessly destructive phase of our existence, or we will destroy ourselves. Personally, I'm hoping for the former. I would disagree. Restraint is what keeps people - at the individual level - from fulfilling their true potential, whether it be in love, business or art. Restraint, on a personal level, is nothing more than the fear of consequences, fears which people permit to rule their lives, makes them timid, makes them weak, and turns living into mere existence. To me, the mark of maturity is not the mindless restraint of the Victorians or the Wahhabists, but rather, responsibility. To be responsible for oneself - to know one's own feelings, desires and thoughts. And to act on them, in both full knowledge of and responsibility for the consequences of one's actions. Knowledge, and responsibility.
|
|
|
Post by cheminhaler on Dec 24, 2012 13:27:21 GMT -5
Stop thinking about the bad things that happen. Think the news is depressing in the West?
Really?
Go to some obscure, poor, fringe country and watch the news there....
|
|