Short Memories

Thanks for your insight. In my opinion, we should put an end to wars as those killed are the innocents who do not benefit from them - like a regime change in a faraway country. It is the culture they grow in and why should others poke their nose in it? The main reason, in my opinion, is the arms industry that calls the shots and even bankrolls elections. The media is also under the thumb of vested interests and have an agenda to pursue their own interests. One example is the soft stand against a powerful country as business interests are involved and no one dares to upset the apple cart. Ultimately, it is money that calls the shots with human lives easily dispensable! Yes, we have also become immune to deaths as they become digits and only the immediate family suffers but they have to run for their lives soon after just to survive in a fast-changing world. Sadly, we carry on with the same platitudes without trying to cure the underlying ills in society. And then a take - humans are bound to sin but I know many who don't but it is taken they are impractical to live in a real world.

@dgobucks226 I agree appeasement will not work, but the world has changed from the days before the Second WW. Now it is clear from social media that 99% have a similar outlook - want to be left alone and yearn for peace. This site is also a microcosm of the real world. And more than ever in our past, we have people moving around the world and the world is our oyster. I know brothers and sisters are citizens of different countries even and that is an increasing trend. I find the young will not fall into a trap easily and fight for ideological reasons. The US withdrawal especially from Afghanistan is a case in point. I visited Vietnam a few years ago. The communist influence is palpable but my guide was willing to talk and explain their experiences of the war. I found they are keen to look ahead than carry baggage from the past. I recall Yasser Arafat telling "I cannot jump out of my skin, body" - we have to accept the physical differences but the common yearnings are the same. When people meet one to one they get along very well but our past is a hangover. We can't change it but we need to take care not to repeat mistakes. I had quoted in another response but worth repeating here: From the ongoing Olympics, I quote: "Later, when the US coach, Gregg Popovich, was asked about the significance of the US and Iran sharing a court together, and why sport gets it right when politics and diplomacy often gets it so wrong, he hit the nail on the head. “I am not the secretary of state so I am not sure what you are looking for,” he replied. “But, in general, I think people from different countries get along better than their governments. People appreciate each other, no matter what country you are talking about. I really believe that. And this is a time where sport transcends all that petty crap you get from governments.” We need to take it forward than fall into a trap of endless hatred. Maybe, The United Nations should do what it was intended for when it was formed. It should not be like the League of Nations after the First WW, the UN after the second, and then the powerful do what they want - no one should be above the law. Yes, we need to keep to the basics - treat others we like to be treated. The majority should make it clear - leave us alone and let the status quo prevail than another trying to prove their system is better. If so, imitation is the best form of flattery.

@Shiva49 I agree that wars in the end only kill a lot of innocent people. But how do we put a stop to one countries aggression against another country? Appeasement and dialogue are not always effective as Chamberlain found out with Hitler. Should we just let bad actors invade? What can we do to stop them? Yes, money and business interests and acquiring wealth definitely pull the strings, but how do we stop their behind the scenes influence? It seems a tall order to kill the ills of society as not all think and act as the same? How do we change the attitude of those with bad motives?

Yeah, thanks. We need to keep pressing on and the tide should turn in favor of the good before long. This planet is meant to live and love and not for us to destroy.

@Shiva49 So true.

Maybe due to our short memories and also a thinking another world war is never on and that we will stop at the brink. I hope it does not end up like in the Aesop fable - The Boy who Cried Wolf

And we are still immature despite our advancement in technology.

@Shiva49 It is the sad reality, humans fight instead of helping each other. The powerful men who initiate the wars never are on the front, they stay behind their expensive desks and let the others be killed. We should change the course of our existence.

We are against each other for any reason or for no reason too. Threatening, spoiling for a fight, is childish but it is the innocents that pay the price while those who initiate wars stay far away. Time to change the narrative of our existence.

Yes, it is our intentions that matter, and when in doubt check what they are. As a species, our actions destroy mother nature. Our actions should benefit the creative process but ours are selfish and we know it!

@Shiva49 yes

Though there is no hatred among the common folks, except some petty jealousies, they are made to be at each other's throats against their will. That is minority hegemony over the vast majority. That chokehold has to be broken. We need to unchain ourselves from past baggage. There is only one creator and he can never be partial - God is love unparalleled.

My take is even in democracies the agenda of the people is not what matters. There is a minority that decides whoever be in power. The warmongering is kept alive and well 24/7. Weapons are sold to all and sundry and then we lament it has fallen to the "wrong hands" as if there is a right hand for them! The amount spent on arms is a blot on our collective conscience. Are they of any use when the unseen virus is all over the place bringing us down to our knees?

@Shiva49 Yes, all governing bodies are only in it for their pound of flesh on the day. They do not care how much blood they let flow to get it. Only the common folk know the real value of blood, sweat, and tears.

@innertalks Well said.

Thank you - apa kabar?