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I tend to think the Taliban would tell you that's exactly what they were doing before the U.S. and its allies started messing with them.
The simplest part would be the physical aspect. Ensuring that everyone has access to food, shelter, and clothing. It is a sad reality that this is not the case for the entirety of the world's population.
Bettering humanity intellectually is much more difficult. Bettering humanity spiritually would probably be a foolish undertaking due to extreme cultural and religious biases. I think that better humanity morally is theoretically achievable, but not realistically possible.
It's simply a theory, highly implausible, and will probably never occur as humanity on a whole suffers greatly from a "us against them" mentality. Without an outside source to focus our aggression against we must either remove aggressive tendencies or accept the warlike world in which we have existed since the dawn of our species.
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
"History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous."
—Jean-Luc Picard
I don't know whether to put this in the thread with Rush and his comments about the day at Georgetown or its own thread. I decided here although it may get a topic al itself soon.
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so which of the superpowers in this world supporting Kony?
- US of A?
- E.U.
- China?
- Russia?
I don't group China and Russia together now because at some point they have dispuites too! in term of business. China and Russia may have common products and are actually competing each other rather than facilitate each.
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
got it! same as Zimbabwe.
make it another province directly ruled by Great Britain once again. the only solution I can think of.
and lets see how will rebellious Irish react to this?
Lone Cat wrote:got it! same as Zimbabwe.
make it another province directly ruled by Great Britain once again. the only solution I can think of.
and lets see how will rebellious Irish react to this?
they won't, since this is all just a way for a guy to make money, and the U.S. to get oil.
Automatically Appended Next Post: this is a user-made video, but I agree with what he says.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/03/11 08:28:53
captain fantastic wrote: Seems like this thread is all that's left of Remilia Scarlet (the poster).
Lone Cat wrote:got it! same as Zimbabwe.
make it another province directly ruled by Great Britain once again. the only solution I can think of.
and lets see how will rebellious Irish react to this?
Firstly that isn't an option.
Secondly why would Ireland care?
You're aware that Northern Ireland isn't rebellious?
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Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:Oh, I didn't say it was a greater offense than Pearl Harbour; you're right, that really would be ridiculous.
However, it could be argued that, with Germany's declaration of War, the USA had a valid reason to enter the European theatre, along with the perfectly adequate reasons presented to them to respond to Japan.
Sure thing, Hitler's declaration of war made it much easier for the US to pile into the European theatre first and foremost. It's just ultimately it was only a declaration of war, whereas there were bodies trapped in ships at the bottom of Pearl Harbour, so it's clear the US chose something other than revenge.
Having just noticed that quote, I spent the last two minutes laughing. How are these two even comparable, when their crimes aren't a bit alike?
It's like saying something like "Ah, that Genghis Khan, pfff. He's just a poor man's Fred West."
It's just bizarre, isn't it. It's like, "I want to be dismissive of this cause so I can sound worldly, but I don't actually know anything about it, so I'll just say this guy is nothing like this other guy I've heard of".
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Amaya wrote:Keep buying into the propaganda.
Thinking critically is not the same thing as thinking cynically. In fact, thinking cynically is generally an oxymoron, because taking a cynical view lets us off of the hard work of thinking critically about complex subjects, and removes any thought of responsibility for how we might aid the issue.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Amaya wrote:Eh, that's not really my point.
Every government is self serving and nationalistic.
Because the populations they reflect are self serving and nationalistic. Except that while that's broadly true, it is also a lot more complicated than that. People really do have a desire to do good.
The amount of aid given by any western government is a pittance done to convince bleeding hearts that the government actually cares.
There could always be more money spent. But you would realise that your idea that aid organisations are just there to quiet the bleeding hearts is completely wrong if you spent any time at all working with one the NGOs. Well, one of the good ones, not Invisible Children.
If the UN and the nations within it actually gave a damn, there would be an exponentially greater effort to improve Africa.
I think you're ignoring the complexity of the issues causing many of the problems. We can't just decide to solve these problems, sign a cheque and fix everything.
I know I am a radical, but I strongly believe that a form of benovelent Imperialism (which has never occurred in human history) is needed for a worldwide betterment of humanity and no nation possesses the willpower or moral fiber to commit to such an action because it would take at a minimum decades or possibly centuries to improve human existence on all continents. The strong will always seek to oppress the weak.
I think there's a lot of history showing that imposing order from far away is pretty much doomed to failure. If you don't understand the situation on the ground and can't adapt to it, then you're going to cause a lot of trouble no matter how well intentioned you are.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Iur_tae_mont wrote: "History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous."
—Jean-Luc Picard
And then they spent every other episode ignoring the Prime Directive, and everything working out because they did so.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2012/03/13 04:53:20
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
Roman, British, and American imperialism enjoyed great success in certain areas for certain time periods, but there has yet to exist a nation enlightened enough to actively pursue a pure form of benovelent Imperialism. Saying that it has occurred and failed is untrue because it has yet to ever occur.
I think South Korea is an excellent example of a 3rd world country successfully rehabilitated into a civilized and moral nation. The problem is even now, it is still far behind Western standards for living and it took 30-40 years to transform that country. However, if it can be done in a country that was a backwater state dominated by foreign powers and ravaged by war it can also be done in Africa. It simply requires commitment and no one wants to actually commit to doing so.
Amaya wrote:Roman, British, and American imperialism enjoyed great success in certain areas for certain time periods, but there has yet to exist a nation enlightened enough to actively pursue a pure form of benovelent Imperialism.
Arguably, there is no such thing. The British were probably the closest in that they basically told (most) of their colonies that they could do whatever they wanted, so long as they stuck to British notions of governance. Its why the Caribbean has so many democracies, but so few developed nations.
Well, that, and island nations tend to be democratic.
Amaya wrote:
However, if it can be done in a country that was a backwater state dominated by foreign powers and ravaged by war it can also be done in Africa. It simply requires commitment and no one wants to actually commit to doing so.
That's true, but the situation is still different on a cultural level.
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
Amaya wrote:Roman, British, and American imperialism enjoyed great success in certain areas for certain time periods, but there has yet to exist a nation enlightened enough to actively pursue a pure form of benovelent Imperialism.
Arguably, there is no such thing. The British were probably the closest in that they basically told (most) of their colonies that they could do whatever they wanted, so long as they stuck to British notions of governance. Its why the Caribbean has so many democracies, but so few developed nations.
Well, that, and island nations tend to be democratic.
Amaya wrote:
However, if it can be done in a country that was a backwater state dominated by foreign powers and ravaged by war it can also be done in Africa. It simply requires commitment and no one wants to actually commit to doing so.
That's true, but the situation is still different on a cultural level.
Well, there has never a true benovelent empire. It's strictly theoretical.
That is very true. Koreans had a great appreciation for scholars and were a unified people. One of the great problems with Africa is that a significant portion of the continent still operates under a tribal mentality. It is possible to force a people out of that, but doing so would require brutal methods and complete domination of a people for generations. Not morally acceptable for most people.
That and because it requires a unified state with clear goals and unshakable will. Such a nation must not allow itself to be moved by religious motives and must be tolerant (more importantly, accepting) of foreign cultures and religions There's not a nation on Earth right now that comes near those requirements.
Amaya wrote:Roman, British, and American imperialism enjoyed great success in certain areas for certain time periods, but there has yet to exist a nation enlightened enough to actively pursue a pure form of benovelent Imperialism. Saying that it has occurred and failed is untrue because it has yet to ever occur.
There were many well meaning components to colonialism. All kinds of people headed over there with bibles and aid programs, all intended to fix what's wrong. Problem being that actually learning what's wrong involves treating the people living not as stupid idiots who don't know how to fix their own problems, but as intelligent people who happen to have very complex,
I think South Korea is an excellent example of a 3rd world country successfully rehabilitated into a civilized and moral nation. The problem is even now, it is still far behind Western standards for living and it took 30-40 years to transform that country. However, if it can be done in a country that was a backwater state dominated by foreign powers and ravaged by war it can also be done in Africa. It simply requires commitment and no one wants to actually commit to doing so.
But what we did with South Korea was continue open trade, help them develop their own industries, and then stand there looking shocked as an impoverished dictatorship turned into a reasonably affluent democracy.
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
Lone Cat wrote:so which of the superpowers in this world supporting Kony?
- US of A?
- E.U.
- China?
- Russia?
I don't group China and Russia together now because at some point they have dispuites too! in term of business. China and Russia may have common products and are actually competing each other rather than facilitate each.
chances are that kony is dead, so none of the above are most likely. besides, most of the world has turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the warlords of africa, with the exception of a greedy handfull. ever see lord of war?
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2012/03/13 09:08:33
captain fantastic wrote: Seems like this thread is all that's left of Remilia Scarlet (the poster).
Amaya wrote:Roman, British, and American imperialism enjoyed great success in certain areas for certain time periods, but there has yet to exist a nation enlightened enough to actively pursue a pure form of benovelent Imperialism.
Arguably, there is no such thing. The British were probably the closest in that they basically told (most) of their colonies that they could do whatever they wanted, so long as they stuck to British notions of governance. Its why the Caribbean has so many democracies, but so few developed nations.
/golf clap
Well said.
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Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
Powder Burns wrote:what they need to make is a fullsize leatherman, like 14" long folded, with a bone saw, notches for bowstring, signaling flare, electrical hand crank generator, bolt cutters..
KONY 2012 is pointless. Only 36% of the money goes to charity, Kony hasn't been sighted for at least 5 years and the Ugandan army are just as bad as Kony's.
Kony wanted to bring democracy to his country using the only way he could: violence. However, because he isn't "pro west" we can't have him in control. That's all it boils down to.
Besides, shouldn't we sort out our own problems before we start policing the world? Who are we to go into other countries and enforce our laws. Let the Africans deal with it, it's their problem.
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