“Demagoguery is a discourse that promises stability, certainty, and escape from the responsibilities of rhetoric through framing public policy in terms of the degree to which and means by which (not whether) the outgroup should be punished for the current problems of the ingroup.”
Before you shut out the Syrian refugees and support right wing politicians’ efforts to legislate safety with impossible-to-implement bills, read this.
I really wish we could have a world where love and justice prevailed and innocent people would not have to lose their lives unexpectedly causing so much pain to their loved ones.
Absolutely. It is unfortunate that there are people – monsters, really – who value others so little they have no problem hurting or killing them.
I like your comment. We pray that their hearts may be touched to convert from such evil ways to love.
I don’t know where in Africa you live, but there are horrific events happening there all the time that rarely get the media coverage lesser events in the US or Europe get. I hope you are not close to those places!
Not that I want to hear terrible things, but I think it is important to have perspective and an appreciation for the travails of others.
I especially like the positivity of your blog, and wish the bad people of the world could live by the words you post. It would be a far better world for all!
Thank you friend, for your comment. I hail from, and live in, Cameroon. This is a close neighbor to Africa’s largest nation, Nigeria. At the moment our two countries are being rocked by the acts of a group called Boko Haram. We have lost quite a good number of people from suicide bombings. Many of us feel sad about it. What I have often said in my reflections on radio is it is important to look at the evil happenings in the world more deeply. Why are they happening? What are the concerned looking for? How did they come to cultivate that anger or courage that leads them to do their atrocious acts. If we look closely we will find that they are searching for something. Is it their due? Are they being deprived of their due and they are fighting for it. If it is, why should they be deprived of their due.Is it greed that is pushing them to want what is not theirs? If it is greed, how was greed sown in them? I believe the world continues to sink deeper and deeper into evil because we do not ask the tough questions; we do not seek the right answers to the tough questions; we gloss over them and portion blame here and there. We have to ask the questions that take us to the roots of all the evil in the world; and only then can we come up with solutions that work. Again, as I say repeatedly, injustice anywhere in the world is a time-bomb. As long as there is injustice people will continue to fight for justice. I have prescribed and continue to prescribe education as the best solution to the world’s problems. I have expressed this quite much on my site. If you like me to go further into this, I can always do. It’s long isn’t it? Thanks for your patience.
You are an amazing person! I find your blogs inspiring. I hope you and I see the day people like Boko Haram are seen by all as bogus, dead end organizations. It is a tricky and difficult problem.
Indeed! Some leaders cause some of this violence through unscrupulous leadership. Hence, it is not an easy thing to know who to blame. People sometimes fight for survival and in the course of it they go to extremes. My deeply rooted belief is that a long term solution is for the United Nations to start promoting an education that places great emphasis on values – love, justice, compassion etc. If this is effectively done, one day, thousands of years, maybe there will be more love in the world. Kindly search on my site My vision for an excellent world.
I will do that. I go there to get a “dose” of positivity in a negative world.It is a perfect example of the “light one candle instead of cursing the darkness” process.
You are so nice to say this. Of course, like most people, I feel really happy having my work validated by some one I have much respect for and that is you. Thank you for this. Many blessings to you.
My pleasure!
And that’s exactly why I think the 2nd amendement (the right to bear arms) shouldn’t be tampered with. Instead, we should have heart control. 🙂
If we approach problems that way, the biggest paybacks are possible. Though I’m not fan of guns, they are less of a problem than other things that can be improved, too. Car safety if a big area where major advances have been made in the past half century, and more safety advances are in the works. It used to be over 50,000 people a year died on American roads. It’s still in the 30,000s, but that’s a major improvement.
It always amazed me that no one was calling for a ban on cars, yet cars are a deadly weapon when in the wrong hands.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have 9 lives and all we had to worry about was being fed, petted and cozy? 🙂
Remember the hysterical response to Ebola? I blame the media for exaggerating the risks and, by repeating the same stories over and over, creating a sense that the world is in immediate peril.
You are right but Do not you think terrorisem is not the main cause of death but he brings FEAR!
In friendship
Michel
I don’t know how newspapers and television in France handle events, but there has been 24 hour coverage on cable television of events in France since last week. Over and over, the same video clips of death and destruction! It’s bound to create fear. Also, politicians running for the presidency of the US have turned it into a political opportunity to bash Obama and how he’s handled things in Syria. Not helpful at all! Lies, distortions, political agendas, and a disregard for the actual level of threat that these people pose for Americans.
I will worry about things that CAN happen, not things that might happen. I’ve known or been related to several people killed by guns, for example, more than one should ever know: A cousin, a neighbor, another neighbor, the son of a family friend, a kid I went to school with, the grandson and son of people I worked with, the father of a classmate. Is a terrorist anything to fear? I haven’t known a single victim of terrorism, but look how many people – Americans! – I knew or was related to who died by guns. If I fear anything, it should be my neighbors and relatives who keep guns in the home. I don’t, however, and I don’t have any guns of my own because I know accidental shootings are a bigger threat to me than some mythical house intruder with a gun.
I am not sure about anything except acceptance of all is th only way to stop this crap and that will not happen til mankind has done himself in and become extinct.
I kind of see that as the final answer, too. We never learn how to live with each other, and there always are people who agitate against others. It’s almost as if Jesus never walked on earth, the lack of improvement in the human race!
Well if we go to wat it will*!
For sure. I don’;t stress myself with issues of my mortality because I’ve had near death experiences, know it isn’t so bad, that when you are at that point, your mind and body prepare you for the moment. I felt calm.
Save journey. No stress, what will happen will happen. Blessings Solitaire.
Exactly! Love one another as oneself.
When fear is the motivator of thought, reason is rarely visited. Most folks almost expect the top 10 list to occur eventually to themselves or someone they know. Terrorism is sudden and terror infusing. I understand that is an obvious statement but after the two nuclear weapons were dropped in WWII, the bay of pigs fiasco , and 9/11 you tend to have three prominent modes of thought. First you have those radical survivalists type folks who are readying themselves for WWIII. Then you have the middle group who usually have a pretty good handle on their mental health, insist on discovering the nearest version of the truth through investigation that doesn’t include social media and then make regularly updated assessments of threat. Then you have the last group, which is largely comprised with the “Pollyannas” in society who refuse to believe true evil exists in any form, do not investigate beyond what they are told through social media and yellow journalism, then finally find themselves victims of the very people they were rallying to get into their communities, neighborhoods and homes. Of course, you have variable levels within those three major groups. My philosophy resides in the middle group with the overused adage, “Hope for the best and prepare for the worst” then research everything.
I live for today and don’t worry about those things that haven’t happened. I realize there is a possibility of death by some tragic circumstance, and take reasonable precautions to minimize my exposure to those risks (“Don’t stick screwdrivers in the light socket!” “Drive the speed limit and maintain the car in good repair!” “Don’t let the cable news define your life!”)
Agreed. We folks living with chronic illnesses tend to have unique perspectives of our lives, mortality, and what really causes us fear. I have no fear of death and once you reach that point terrorists have no power.
Exactly!
The media hype is doing exactly what the terrorists want. They, the media, are helping to split our society in half.
Doing a damn good job of it, too. I just responded to a comment from someone who supports the bill the Congress just passed to make it virtually impossible gor Syrians to come in.
Trump’s comments about registering Muslims in the USA and requiring them to have special IDs is the most egregious manifestation of the hysteria. I mean, they did that in Germany and Europe in the 30’s an 40’s, and the end was not good.
Yeah, We are in a lot of trouble if we aren’t careful. Don’t know if you read my repost of a bit I did last year on the problem in the MEast.
http://wp.me/p5rgVm-OT
Actually, I tried to follow your blog awhiole back and got a message about it beiong a private blog, that I needed to ask permission or something. Anyway, I did go to the link, read it, and now follow you. What a great story! That’s where it has to start, with the children, and we adults are the problem if we put restrictions on the children about making friends with people who aren’t members of the same race, religion, etc.