Why Have We Not Risen Above Violence?

[essence]

Originally Posted by joe bloe

The founding fathers were, for the most part, wise men, but they were only human. Their beliefs about foreign policy, in some ways, do not make sense today. If the founders were alive today, I believe they would hold different views, on foreign policy, that were consistant with a different set of circumstances. Two hundred years ago, if a country decided to wage war against America, it would take months for the invasion to take place. Today, missiles can be launched from thousands of miles away and blow up American cities hours later.

America was relatively isolationist in the thirties and early forties, before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many Americans believed that Europe's problems were none of our business. We watched as Hitler invaded one country after another, because after all it, wasn't our problem. Had America entered the war earlier, much of the carnage of World War II might have been avoided.

Because of advances in transportation and communication, our world is a dramatically different place than the founders lived in. The world has effectively grown smaller.

It was probably wise to practice an isolationist strategy in the eighteenth century; it does not make sense today. Our national security requires a policy of engagement; we have no choice.

Amazing Joe!

You go from one post where every sentence is nonsense, to this post which I tend to agree with every sentence.

Well done, hope for you yet.

Actually, on re reading and reading other comments, maybe i misunderstand what you mean by 'engagement'. I mean discourse, trade, the things Jefferson was talking about. Maybe you mean military engagement? In which case i disagree strongly, in general, but not necessarily on specific.

[joe bloe]

Originally Posted by essence

The quote is often misquoted, and i need to look it up.....

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." Lord Action 1887.

'Men' was used here because of course women had no political power in those days.

But we can assume nowadays it refers to both genders. i see no evidence that women are morally superior, they simply have different ways of performing.

My thoughts? Is it that power tends to corrupt, or that those who tend to be corruptible seek power? Anybody seeking absolute power must surely have the seeds of corruption already well bedded? Anybody seeking to be POTUS must surely be a bit weird?

I was about to get into religious discussion about sin, forgiveness, psalms of david, and penitential prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, but y'all will be thankful that I am holding back for the moment.

I think everyone is a little corrupt because we humans are imperfect. Having power just allows the corruption to manifest itself. Before unions existed, the company owners had all the power and they treated the worker like dirt. Then the workers organized and gained power. Now we see unions becoming corrupt and abusing their power.

[I B Hankering]

Originally Posted by HoustonMilfDebbie

It would seem that the human race would have risen above the violence we see every day in this world. I was watching CNN today and was appalled to see the massacre of women and children in Syria. Are we still animals? I just can't believe that with the intelligence we possess, we are still unable to solve conflicts peacefully. We really do need a woman president!

That was the same argument women made for adopting the 19th Amendment!?! Things really changed after its adoption in 1920. The U.S. has only been involved in the WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Panama, First Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia, Sudan, Kosovo, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, etc.

[Doove]

Originally Posted by joe bloe

America's military is almost always portrayed unsympathically in books, movies and television.

Your perception of reality is sometimes pretty frightening.

[CuteOldGuy]

Talk about seeing only what you want to see. The clear truth is not demonization. If revealing the truth about a matter, any matter, reveals a demon, then that's just the way it is.

If we could see the reality behind these wars, there would be demons aplenty.