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| |  Today's World is no fairer.
An excellent opinion piece. What role does the United States play in making the world a fairer place? Today's world is no fairer For many millions of people around the globe, the world has not become a safer place.
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| | No. 1 | 
Nov 02, 2009, 07:23 PM
Updated
Nov 02, 2009 at 08:26 PM by Kyrshamarks
Re: Today's World is no fairer.
No one ever promised the world is a fair place (including God, Allah or Bhudda). If you are not happy with your place YOU try to change it. That is world wide, humanity wide. Life is not fair.
Furthermore peace has never been won with words. It has always been won with the business end of a weapon, Prosperity has never been won from government, it is won from individual hard work. Harmony is not won from multicultralism, but rather from homegeny of all cultures joining together into a common culture.
| | No. 2 |
Nov 02, 2009, 07:42 PM
Re: Today's World is no fairer. Originally Posted by Kyrshamarks  No one ever promised the world is a fair place (including God, Allah or Bhudda). If you are not happy with your place YOU try to change it. That is world wide, humanity wide. Life is not fair.
Indeed, the world is not a fair place. Does that mean we should simply accept it and continue on with the status quo? Change often comes from unhappiness and recognizing unhappiness. Furthermore peacer has never been won woth words. It has always been won with the businbess end of a weeapon, Prosperity has never been won from government, it is won from individual hard work. Harmony is not won from multicultralism, but rather from homegeny of all cultures joing together into a common culture.
I beg to differ. Peace and social justice have certainy been attained using non-violent means. Mahatma Gandhi never raised a hand in anger, yet he rallied a people behind him and helped pave the way for the end of British rule in India.
Hard work isn't always enough. It's a myth that if one works hard enough, they will be prosperous. Some of the worlds hardest workers live on less than a dollar a day.
I think harmony can exist in a diverse culture that holds onto it's unique facets and sub-cultures. It's been said often, for example, that the US (for example) is a melting pot. I think more appropriately it should be characterized as a "mixed salad". We are a people of immigrants that often hold onto our ancestry.
The problem with cultural homogeny is, the stronger cultural elements in a nation/state/place will often force the weaker to conform through a process of forced assimilation or even genocide, as we have seen in our history (via 19th Great Plains Indians attrocities).
I think cultural uniformity can indeed lead to harmony, but, whose culture are we talking about?
| | No. 4 |
Nov 02, 2009, 08:48 PM
Updated
Nov 02, 2009 at 08:54 PM by Elvish
Re: Today's World is no fairer.
Written by Mikhail Gorbachev, no less.  peace has never been won with words.
If peace has never been achieved by words, then how exactly does one describe how the Cold War was ended?? Thank GOD it didn't end at the business end of a nuclear bomb.
Pacifism is not the same as inaction; the assumption that it is is part of why pacifists so often get mistaken for pansies. 
More to the point, though, I think the bread and butter of the whole article is this: There was an ingrained belief that the Western model of democracy could be spread mechanically to other societies with different historical experience and cultural traditions.
This sounds pretty libertarian, frankly.
Yes, there is oppression worldwide, and the world is not exactly a kind place to be for so many. If our only criterion for invading countries and starting wars was cruel oppressive regimes, we'd be in at least half the countries on the planet, including some we call our 'allies.' I'm not sure that that was the point of Gorbachev's piece, but it's at least semi-related IMO.
| | No. 5 |
Nov 02, 2009, 09:20 PM
Re: Today's World is no fairer.
What is wrong with Libertarianism? Altruistic-sounding the way you wrote that.
"Hard work isn't always enough. It's a myth that if one works hard enough, they will be prosperous. Some of the worlds hardest workers live on less than a dollar a day."
And those that live on a dollar a day live under what kind of government? People don't get rich by not working hard, even if they are selling illegal drugs. Some are born into it, but the initial development usually occurs with hard work. Working hard and earning things makes people feel happier, and more fulfilled. So, to have the opportunity to work, and be rewarded for hard work, is a freedom some don't enjoy.
It is a privilege to live in this country where we have the freedom to try, the freedom to buy, the freedom to sell, the freedom to fail, and the freedom to do it all over again.
| | No. 6 |
Nov 02, 2009, 10:05 PM
Re: Today's World is no fairer.
The cold war was won with a combination of words and bullets. I was a participant to many of those battles that you will never hear of in this life time and bled from wounds and saw friends die from those battles. It was not a peaceful war. It was a war fought on fields far from the media's attention and in places that would probably had been vetter off with a small nuclear bomb gpoing off.
| | No. 7 |
Nov 03, 2009, 05:34 AM
Updated
Nov 03, 2009 at 05:44 AM by Tweety
Re: Today's World is no fairer.
I think the point of the article is that at the end of the cold war, aparteid, communism and all the other wonderful things of those times 20 years ago we were full of such hope that the world would become a better and safe place and that peace on earth wasn't just a pipe dream. Now looking back after 20 years, we can say "boy were we naive" because life isn't fair, the world isn't safe and war happens, even in those places that we thought were going to be peaceful.
| | No. 8 |
Nov 03, 2009, 07:12 AM
Updated
Nov 03, 2009 at 07:21 AM by Elvish
Re: Today's World is no fairer. What is wrong with Libertarianism? Altruistic-sounding the way you wrote that.
Ummm....nothing.  I like the libertarian (lowercase l) way of thought on a LOT of issues. 'Twas meant as a compliment.
| | No. 9 |
Nov 03, 2009, 08:33 AM
Re: Today's World is no fairer. Originally Posted by Tweety I think the point of the article is that at the end of the cold war, aparteid, communism and all the other wonderful things of those times 20 years ago we were full of such hope that the world would become a better and safe place and that peace on earth wasn't just a pipe dream. Now looking back after 20 years, we can say "boy were we naive" because life isn't fair, the world isn't safe and war happens, even in those places that we thought were going to be peaceful.
Agreed. That's basically where Gorbachev is coming from in his opinion piece.
I agree with him also, that "blind faith" in the market can be a destructive force. I think Americans need to take a long hard look at our economic policy and make adjustments (like maybe Fair Trade instead of Free Trade, and cuts in defense spending).
Ultimately he is urging us to take an objective look at how we do business in the world, does it hurt more or help more?
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