Yes Alex, it’s true that the masses can organize and protest, and in
many cases actually make a difference. This has been done in the past,
but it’s no where near as effective as direct diplomacy applied where it
is most effective. In fact, usually by the time the masses are involved
with protest it’s usually only after they have been fed up with terrible
atrocities after the fact.

Moreover, it’s not easy to organize the masses. Unlike the wolves
you’ve mentioned whose common goal would be to save their food, humans
often have many different agendas.

For example, like in Iraq, some people simply want to pull out and walk
away. Others would like to see even more power implemented. (neither
of those mindsets represent diplomacy I might add).

Pulling out and walking away is not diplomacy. That’s just giving up.
Going in with more brutal force is also not diplomacy, that’s just
wanting to clobber the problem into submission.

Unfortunately, the fact is that George W. Bush in particular has been so
anti-diplomatic over the past 6 years that any attempt to implement
diplomacy at this stage is going to require an extreme effort to heal
the wounds.

The problem was in the very early going when George W. Bush thumbed the
nose of America at the rest of the world by saying “You’re either with
us or against us!”, and he completely refused to be diplomatic even with
our very own allies!

He has actually driven many countries away from us. Countries that USED
to want to be our allies!

He even refuses to be diplomatic with his own congress. He simply tells
them what he will or will not accept and he won’t budge. Some people
say that he’s being ‘firm in his convictions’. Personally I believe
that he is being anti-democratic.

He claims to want to spread democracy but he refuses to participate in
one. He has run America like a dictator from day one. He only has a
30% approval rating today. I’m surprised that it’s even that high. But
what does that say about a democracy if 60% of the people disagree with
his policies?

In any case, yes people can rebel and protest, and even make a
difference. But that’s not ‘diplomacy’, that’s just an act of
desperation after the leaders have clearly failed to implement
diplomacy.

I am sorry you were shot. That truly is tragic. May your recovery be
quick!!!

i have recovered all i need to do now is be able to run and a basic
obstacle course which is more for me than required...and i'm not there
yet.
in all the 25+ years it was the first time i had ever been shot which
is pretty good so my odds were up and anyway it is an occupational
hazzard now.

thanks for the kind words...they call me the c0ckroack

i had a vest on and alot of gear, only broke a couple of ribs, could
have been way worse...
but thanks.

but that's not what got me here , it was this wish...what would i wish
and what if it could come true, i thought about wishing for no more
poverty
but with guns around it wouldn't matter but without guns we would be
forced to figure out something else



i do hear alot of talk these days of our genetic predisposition, the
idea of the Noble Savage is losing ground, which makes sense to me in
one way, but i am sure there were some that were indigenously pacifist
amoungst our ancient prehistoric ancestors..

oops..lol

c0ckroach...heh heh

Nah Alex you ain't a ****roach, your an Alex TANK! Its either go with
her, or get run over

Alex, quick question.

Many people wear weapons because they are afraid, so if you take away
the guns, does the fear go away as well?

Because I think the solution is different when they are still
afraid to when they can live without fear.

then i have to ask myself, what am i afraid of? am i afraid that someone
can then come into my house and harm me or my loved ones?..am i living
in an urban ghetto where drive by gang initiations are a regular
occurance? and would it even make a difference if at any moment a shot
can come from anywhere? am i safe in a community, are there social
services in lace that actively enforce a shelter and management of it's
homeless and those with a history of crime

a redistribution of funds for human resources within the social services
would ease alot of urban violence and make communities safer

but we would have to be more social as well , we are afraid of what we
don't fully understand and some things we do.

i guess if we are unable to conquor our fears we have to find other ways
to be invisible , to not attract violence to watch our backs, to be
street wise, to use common sense.

i don't have answers i have ideas....i think this topic has rich
possibilities for investigating ...what we do in terms of defense, from
so many perspectives

it's good to think about these things, it makes ya stop sometimes a
little longet to commit random kindness and senseless acts of beauty

I know what you mean.
I have grown up in the City of Hamburg, spent my youth near the redlight
district, in a part with a lot of violence.
Then my married life near the harbour where foreign gangbangers
had their headquarters. One of them was blown up in his car, just 5
minutes after I had passed it.
If I had been afraid I would never have had a chance to live,
to go out.
I was more afraid of the thought what I could do if I had a weapon.

Alex, you speak of wishes, as long as you are wishing, why not wish for
something that would make guns basically ineffective. Why not wish that
every human living today and from this point on inexplicably and
irrivocably have absolute respect for life.

I mean as long as you're wishing this would seem to be the answer, as it
would not only solve the gun issue, but there would suddenly be a world
of people with so much respect for the life of others, what else could
we do, but reach out to those in need?

On another note:

In the United States, after WWII a welfare system was put into affect.
It was meant to be short term, it goes on today many generations later.
It became apparent that many who were raisen within the welfare system,
had little if any chance of being in any better condition than their
parents.

Now, maybe, only maybe, if the world united, we might be able to feed
the hungry of this world, and give them fresh water (though I can not
say for how long the water would hold out), and maybe fill some basic
medical needs.

Once around is one thing, but how many generations would we be able to
support that way. Many in this state of poverty, can not ever provide
for themselves in the environment they are in. Now we must move them
and feed, cloth, house them. Now, if we move them, we must at least
re-educate them, to be able to provede for themselves, and to attain
some level of modernism. Again we would have to do this all the while
were feeding, housing, clothing etc.

Then, there are those who would refuse to move, who might refuse to be
educated, and those who would stay behind because they will not leave
those who refused. Do we continue to care for them when we ask everyone
in our own countries to work and provide for themselves?

Wishing is one thing, but it is ineffective. Calling for action is
another thing, but without a plan or a view of a bigger picture, it like
wishing.

What you do Alex, more should do, because this is all we can do in a
world whose natural conflicts(earth changes and weather) will never
allow us to see a time when there are no poor, when there is no
suffering.

You are certainly a special person, to do what you do, see what you
have, and still find reason to see light in dreams and wishes.

If each of us extended a hand, a single hand to one that is a stranger
to us as though they were family.

We would in fact all become family.

For we live in a small world. It would take but a short time.

Is this possible?

ONLY YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Sorry ppl but utopia is never going to happen.
Can you name a single time in history when every person thought the
same way or worshipped the same gods.
Heck,ppl in the same families can't even agree on things and you're
expecting a whole world to?

You should meet my neighbors. LMAO
No thanks......

AB, you make the same mistake that most dreamers make. Start with some
society in some distant country that has no means to survive, either
because of drought or recent war or some earth change. You would extend
a hand to help one. What if that one will not come, and leave a family
of 30 or more behind?

Now what if you find that ONE who will take your hand. What if they
come to you , into your home and you find they have a long terminal
illness. Who will pay for thier extended care, who will pay for their
medical treatments, who will watch over them and be there for them,
while you work?

There is so much more of reality that never appears in our dreams.

communism didnt work- aint that right Russia?

fascism didnt work- aint that right Germany?

Socialism isnt working- or is it France (USE TO BE a powerhouse)

monarchy has gone by the way side- long live the queen.

survivalist are crazy.

fundamentalist extemist arent living in reality.

capitalism promotes greed.

hell even atlantis fell into the sea.

greek democracy was destroyed. of course it took an overwelming army to
do it.

roman democracy was destroyed, it took thr greedy to burn it down.

the village idiot stole my daughter.

and all the while we look to the weak to save the day.

'F' it might as well push the button, we're all doomed.

a utopian world will never exhist, not unless you start messing with
peoples head, putting little behavior modifiers in there and turning up
the shock treatments, and hey with only 6.7 billion people on the planet
it will only take the better part of a thousand years to get everybody
plugged in. global socialism- hee haw.

communism didnt work- aint that right Russia?
- Yes but ask China (it works there)

fascism didnt work- aint that right Germany?
- yes but ask Italy (It works there)

Socialism isnt working- or is it France (USE TO BE a powerhouse)
- it does work for the French & the Belgians

monarchy has gone by the way side- long live the queen.
- True in Europe (although Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and the UK
might disagree) .. but try telling that to the Thai people .. 25 years
in jail do you?

survivalist are crazy.
- They have to be to live on bugs and millet

fundamentalist extemist arent living in reality.
- this isnt an ideology that people pick, it is a labe that is thrust
upon them. One man's terrorist, is another man's freedom fighter.

capitalism promotes greed.
- Capitalism IS greed. Acquisition when not needed is greed. But again,
it is relative. You are a capitalist. You desire more than you
currently have. (Its human nature)

hell even atlantis fell into the sea.
It didnt have a great deal of choice .. a bloody great volcano blew half
of it away

greek democracy was destroyed. of course it took an overwelming army to
do it.
Nope .. Greek democracy lives on. The Ancient greeks' society
degenerated into splitting up the factions, like splitting the states of
the US.

roman democracy was destroyed, it took the greedy to burn it down.
- Sorry .. the roman's never had democracy. They had a dictatorship ...
the senate ruled over passing the laws, but the Caesers and other
emperors actually ruled

the village idiot stole my daughter.
- No I didnt ... she was the one with the sweeties

and all the while we look to the weak to save the day.
- We dont look to the weak. We look to the morally strong. The problem
is that morals are in place, but we dont know how to make our
representatives actually do what we want them to do.
And we couldnt all agree on one thing even if we tried!

'F' it might as well push the button, we're all doomed.
Well, Im pushing, and all I get is The Bold & the Beautiful, The Way the
World turns, and reruns of Dallas.

You are right on the last point ... we are doomed!

Red..i thought about asking that all people have a respect for life....


but the boss of my wishes ( lol ) said i couldn't change the nature of
things only the way in which they were carried out...

it is the nature of mankind to have the extreme polarities of
personality..it's part of the system for natural selection(prolly)

i'm playing with the idea everything is perfectly as it should be
...except for the weapons...i don't think we need to arm every american
because it is their constitutional right... i think there should be a
ban on hand guns.

ok ok ok !!! coffeeeeee

good idea ... Ill make it ...

Well, there I went again, being the serious one. Sorry Bl8ant, you are
quite right and to your wishful thinking, I am in agreement.

You have no idea the flack I took all the years I was raising my son
because I would no allow him to 'play' with toy weapons.

So for the purpose of your exercise, I would agree.

sorry I was so intense about it.

No weapons. poof!!! Guns gone.

So the sense of 'security' is gone.

Do we herd together into clans, as wolves do in packs...to feel more
secure? Does it become safety in numbers?

Safety from what? From potential human violence?

Introverted behaviour become more prevalent, a more pronounced
separation from others?

More seclusion and suspicion, or more social, for protection?

Work together as a team? Or separate and barbaric?

Hmmm... this feels like where the polarity of personalities come into
play...and morality, and adherance to some form of organised order..

Whilst others become more fragmented and insular. As there is less
support, 'protection' and contribution, when a separate individual.

hmmm...I have pondered this all day...coming back to it..

And the only ancient culture I can think of that existed in reasonable
harmony, (as my experiences with other cultures is restricted to
secondhand knowledge) are Indigenous Australians...pre guns and
pre-european settlers.