Making the news today....

[skyhuck]

15 hours ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

It's not just the obvious candidate countries either....

 

A large proportion of the countries that Brit's holiday in are desperate places to live, hence only the beech and hotel resort or an organised tour are generally seen by the visitor.  Downtown and up country are strictly undesirable, unsafe and unpleasant places (or to put it another way, poop piles!)  

 

Everyone knows it, it's an undeniable fact - should Trump have said it?  I can see both sides - politician tells truth shocker v what he says has greater implications than what us minions say...  

Are large parts of the USA not also like this?

[skyhuck]

22 hours ago, forestboy1978 said:

Those countries are "shit holes" fact. 

 

 

Which countries?

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

7 hours ago, WesD said:

What’s caused the problem?

 

 

Would never have happened under apartheid......

 

Just saying.....

 

No need (for those that might feel the need to) to get all sensitive, it wouldn't have happened that's all I'm saying...

 

Hey-Ho, can't stand in the way of progress.....  

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

6 minutes ago, skyhuck said:

Are large parts of the USA not also like this?

Yes, absolutely they are!  I started to think that just after I'd posted 

 

I remember thinking EXACTLY that last time I transmitted from LGA to Manhattan!  It's truly desperate in the Burb's and it appeared to slowly get slightly better (like peeling an onion) with each 0.5 km closer to NYC.

 

[the village idiot]

3 hours ago, matelot said:

If it was a white kid wearing a hoody that says "coolest monkey in the jungle" you wouldn't look twice. I thought black people wanted to be treated the same as whites?

 

Tbh, I think some ethnic groups feel inferior and that's why they are so touchy about anything that touches upon race.

 

Anyway, blacks in South Africa have trashed some stores due to this hoody. Some communities seem to riot for any possibly reason..

 

I posted exactly the same link Matelot. It is interesting to wonder why you didn't click on it.

 

I don't think it's overly relevant in this instance, but scientific research is showing that we are all intrinsically racist to some degree, even when we believe we absolutely aren't. It makes very good evolutionary sense to be suspicious of groups of people who look different from us.

 

I think we can only really make lasting progress if we accept this fact and work towards changing our behaviour in spite of it. 

 

As with all things, my philosophy is to always try to accept what we discover is true and work from there to create the kind of societies that we want to live in. 

 

We are not hopelessly constrained by our genetics, we have the wonderful ability to think our way around them. Living in a purely darwinian world would be highly unpleasant. This is not to say that we aren't the products of evolution, just that evolution has fortunately provided us with the ability to overide some of it's less desirable offerings.

 

Some people believe that racism and nationalism are desirable qualities. Their hardwiring is extremely rigid. They may be right if it is a good thing to only care about a certain subset of people. These thinkers are probably always going to exist. This is probably another truth that we are just going to have to accept, but the majority of us can carry on trying to develop in a more positive direction.

[kevinjohnsonmbe]

13 minutes ago, the village idiot said:

trying to develop in a more positive direction.

The obvious flaw in the great (theoretical) philosophy you seem to be presenting, is that for it to succeed, it would require ALL parties / nations / races to subscribe to it in order that all of humankind might proceed in a common beneficial direction - together.

 

It is doomed to fail, resulting in the dominance of one over the other, if only 1 or some parties subscribe to the philosophy where others don't.  It's an extinction event for those that are tolerant and a dominant end game for those aren't.

 

I wonder if there is any 1 single example of a cultural entity that might immediately spring to mind....  Shouldn't be too difficult, it is plainly written in their guiding doctrine....

Edited January 14, 2018 by kevinjohnsonmbe

[the village idiot]

3 minutes ago, kevinjohnsonmbe said:

The obvious flaw in the great (theoretical) philosophy seem to be presenting, is that for it to succeed, it would require ALL parties / nations / races to subscribe to it in order that all of humankind might proceed in a common beneficial direction - together.

 

It is doomed to fail, resulting in the dominance of one over the other, if only 1 or some parties subscribe to the philosophy where others don't.  It's an extinction event for those that are tolerant and a dominant end game for those aren't.

 

I wonder if there is any 1 single example of a cultural entity that might immediately spring to mind....  Shouldn't be too difficult, it is plainly written in their guiding doctrine....

I am not so sceptical. The world as a whole is becoming much less violent and much more tolerant. It doesn't feel like that sometimes because of our thirst for bad news, but it is a fact. Read 'The better angels of our nature' by Steven Pinker.

 

There is conclusive proof that we as a civilisation are moving towards a more civil global society. I agree that not ALL parties will come on board, but if enough do a tipping point will be reached and the 'problem parties' will become so marginalised that their influence will be insignificant.

 

We can't realise this world in years or even decades, but if enough people realise the necessary shift in perspective, in time I believe this goal is possible. Aiming for perfection though will always result in dissapointment.

[arbogrunt]

[Khriss]

Matelot - that was a truely ridiculous thing to say . - I dont work for the BBC and was relating a personal experience OPP to the often media-spun view of people in that region, nothing more than that . I was glad to and honoured to receive such hospitality to a total stranger. K

[Khriss]

( Seeing as Media  Hype or spin was the subject of the postings )