Can We As A Society Ever Get Along?

[JohnnyBoy]

Going by what happened today at Las Vegas, but it has been building up for years with the police shootings, the race riots, the rebirth of racism, and the whole fight over Ghostbusers 2016, I feel that this world is falling apart. I really want to start another hippie movement or at least another Woodstock just to get people to start loving each other. What can I do to keep my sanity in this world that seems to be getting worse and worse.

*Sigh* John Lennon, where are you when we need you?

[Emerald]

1 hour ago, Mad Max said:

@JohnnyBoy yup. divide and conquer. find two groups where there's potential for disparity. exploit that disparity by selling one of both sides a victim narrative, and see it rebel against the other side. then sit back, and watch both groups tear each other apart. reap the benefits (resources/power) from the fallout. concretely:

• pit women against men by selling them a victim narrative and turning men into evil oppressors/sexists/patriarchs/rapists. pose as the hero that's going to save women from those evil men. get the female vote.
• pit blacks against whites by selling them a victim narrative and turning whites into evil white supremacists/racists. pose as the hero that's going to save blacks from those evil white people. get the african-american vote.

careful with divisive buzzwords, like "racism" and "sexism". it's part of the gaslighting. it's all manipulation. problem is that these groups actually fall for it, and create self-fulfilling prophecies;

• women actually believe that they're victims of an evil patriarchy, because that's what they're being told repeatedly by the media. they turn against men. men turn against women in self-defense. end up looking like sexists, and confirming the initial premise (men are sexists).
• blacks actually believe that they're victims of evil white supremacists, because that's what they're being told repeatedly by the media. they turn against whites. whites turn against blacks in self-defense. end up looking like racists, and confirming the initial premise (whites are racists).

it's all manipulation, and it's working. most people are gulliable and will fall for it. nothing you can do about it.

I feel like you're probably unaware of the irony of your post.

[Damir Elezi]

I often get the feeling that society couldn't possibly work without problems. I used to be a socialist and still like with some of their concepts (nationalization of banks, a strong welfare state, a central government etc.) however as I got into self actualization more, I just thought that people are kinda not made to live in big groups. The origins of human society were family-like tribes. Maybe living in such huge societies as we do isn't optimal for us. Problems will always exist and people will probably always kill each other, as long as they're unconscious. 

But notice that the world is in fact not 'getting worse' But that we are in the most peaceful, most prosperous age in history. A few terror attacks and shootings here and there (don't mean to belittle them) are nothing compared to the wars humanity has fought against itself every few years for ages, not even to mention the world wars and not even to mention all the violence on the street, that I believe occured much more often in former times. People are on higher consciousness level than they used to be. The media likes to emphasize such things and make a disaster out of it. Of course it is a disaster for the people involved but I think It's a wrong approach to scare a whole nation with that. 

[Heart of Space]

If you thought Ghost Busters 2016 was a good movie, no we cannot get along.  We just can't.  Sorry.  

[JohnnyBoy]

@Heart of Space I don't care for the movie myself, but I think both sides handled it inappropriately.

[Heart of Space]

5 minutes ago, JohnnyBoy said:

@Heart of Space I don't care for the movie myself, but I think both sides handled it inappropriately.

Only a playful joke, friend.  No need to be concerned though, I assure you the cries of sexism was just marketing damage control when the movie trailers were receiving (very valid) heavy criticism.  The response was to poison the well of the critics by saying they were biased due to their sexism.  There was no such actual sexism (no more than normal at least).

[Joseph Maynor]

You can't stop every loonie with a deathwish who wants to take a few others out with them.  The greatest threat to security is the lone accountant who goes apeshit.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[Leo Gura]

This is why studying history is so important. You gotta keep things in historical context.

Go read about how the Mongol hordes butchered up to 1 million people in a single city, then you'll see Vegas and even Hiroshima in another light.

The viciousness of humanity used to be a lot worse. The progress isn't fast enough for our liking, but it's still rather fast. In 2000 years we've come a long way.

In classic antiquity, if a Greco-Roman city was sacked, all the men were killed and all the children and women were sold into slavery. It was standard operating procedure and everyone in the city knew the stakes.

30-40% of the entire population in Italy were slaves in the 1st century BC.

In ancient Rome, punishment for a woman's adultery was that the husband gets to kill his wife with his own hands.

Saudi Arabia just this week gave women the right to drive.

Slow, but progress.

[Guest username]

@Leo Gura Here's a relevant book by Steven Pinker.

[starsofclay]

We probably just need a few more thousand years of evolution. In other words, don't hold your current incarnation's breath

Edited October 4, 2017 by starsofclay