The world's in a sad state. How's everybody feeling?

Welcome to Wondercafe2!

A community where we discuss, share, and have some fun together. Join today and become a part of it!

Register Log in
UnDefinitive said:
Just because chansen is calling me a Nobody because I chose to use the 'stupid made-up word' Mammon instead of the word Money does not negate the fact that money... man's invention ... is the ruler of war and peace, the power of powers, the one weapon superior to all other weapons, an enthroned abstraction which controls and manipulates most of our lives.
Click to expand...

I apologize. I wasn't calling you a nobody. Mammon just reads as an awkward word to use in conversation but it's not a big deal.

Money and arms are pretty much intertwined, but weapons of war - spears, arrows - were invented and used before money. I just think that now that they are intertwined that laying down arms has to come first for the distribution of resources to be handled fairly. Look what happens when economies collapse - when currency becomes worthless - all hell breaks loose, violence breaks out. Whereas, if peace and sustaining life were of primary value, money might lose it's power but that would not be a threat to peace.
 
Before the weapons will be laid down ... the funding for them has to stop ... like if the elite 'banksters' would stop funding Israel , ISIS, the Ukraine and the illegal invasion of millions of central americans into the US ... that's right ... it is no longer a far away threat ... it's getting very close to our own doorstep now ... and it's all about money ... getting rid of the middle class everywhere in the world ... having only the have's and the have's not ... the only way to stop it is to take away the power of mammon ... I am using it in the context of evil this time.
 
UnDefinitive said:
Before the weapons will be laid down ... the funding for them has to stop ... like if the elite 'banksters' would stop funding Israel , ISIS, the Ukraine and the illegal invasion of millions of central americans into the US ... that's right ... it is no longer a far away threat ... it's getting very close to our own doorstep now ... and it's all about money ... getting rid of the middle class everywhere in the world ... having only the have's and the have's not ... the only way to stop it is to take away the power of mammon ... I am using it in the context of evil this time.
Click to expand...
It's all about money...
 
I think disarmament has to be the priority goal worldwide- everywhere. It goes, the money to fund arms follows. Just like any industry that shuts down - the money to fund that defunct industry stops, too.
 
Interesting thread - wars and rumours of wars. And the question, how do we define war?
I notice in the map / chart above (Crazyheart and others)s, there is a major war going on in Mexico. This was news to me. Then I noticed that it is called a 'drug war'.
Why not also include the 'war' going on in the US right now? How many lives are lost through gun deaths? stand-your-ground? gang wars? defending 'rights'? self-defense? mass shootings? domestic violence? poverty and other forms of violence?

I find this just as disturbing (perhaps more so) as any report of an uprising on the other side of the world. Korea is considered at war, but the chart only shows one death in the last year and a half.
 
Seeler said:
Interesting thread - wars and rumours of wars. And the question, how do we define war?
I notice in the map / chart above (Crazyheart and others)s, there is a major war going on in Mexico. This was news to me. Then I noticed that it is called a 'drug war'.
Why not also include the 'war' going on in the US right now? How many lives are lost through gun deaths? stand-your-ground? gang wars? defending 'rights'? self-defense? mass shootings? domestic violence? poverty and other forms of violence?

I find this just as disturbing (perhaps more so) as any report of an uprising on the other side of the world. Korea is considered at war, but the chart only shows one death in the last year and a half.
Click to expand...
It's all wars. Not just rumors. Real people injured and dying.You haven't been hearing about Mexico? We get more news about it here, maybe. Tourists getting killed by drug gangs, and lots of murders down there. Some areas becoming quite violent. Not keen to visit.

I'm not sure we can just go, "ho hum", because the bible says not to pay attention to it. We are all connected in this world and just because we heard about it less years ago doesn't mean we should ignore suffering when we hear of it now. I can't help but feel like we need to discuss it and speak up. Did you read the Moderator's blog?
 
Last edited:
Sorry, Kimmio. Maybe the news is emphasized differently in different parts of Canada. I do know that my daughter and her friend vacationed in Mexico a few months ago - and they didn't see or experience any problems. The pictures I've seen didn't look like a war-torn country.

Tourists getting killed by drug gangs? I don't doubt it's happening in Mexico. So is it happening in other parts of the world, including the US. I understand there are parts of Hawaii that are considered unsafe for tourists. And I would be nervous in many American cities (more so if I were black or Arabic looking, I think). But I don't call that a war.

My point was that if you are going to call the Mexican drug wars "wars" or a par with Iran or Afghanistan, or some African countries, you should also take into consideration the number of people being killed by violence in the US as well. When I think about it I am appalled by the casual attitude many Americans have about gun deaths, and about the culture of violence in some parts of the US. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an armed uprising or civil war happening there in the near future. It's a hot spot.

Yes, I am aware that for too many this world is a hostile place, and yes, it makes me sad, and worried. I try to do what I can to live in the kingdom of God, treating each individual as a child of God, showing concern where I can, making a small difference when I choose not to buy products from Occupied Palestine for instance. But generally, for my own peace of mind, I go on living my life knowing that I can't fix it.
 
Seeler said:
Sorry, Kimmio. Maybe the news is emphasized differently in different parts of Canada. I do know that my daughter and her friend vacationed in Mexico a few months ago - and they didn't see or experience any problems. The pictures I've seen didn't look like a war-torn country.

Tourists getting killed by drug gangs? I don't doubt it's happening in Mexico. So is it happening in other parts of the world, including the US. I understand there are parts of Hawaii that are considered unsafe for tourists. And I would be nervous in many American cities (more so if I were black or Arabic looking, I think). But I don't call that a war.

My point was that if you are going to call the Mexican drug wars "wars" or a par with Iran or Afghanistan, or some African countries, you should also take into consideration the number of people being killed by violence in the US as well. When I think about it I am appalled by the casual attitude many Americans have about gun deaths, and about the culture of violence in some parts of the US. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an armed uprising or civil war happening there in the near future. It's a hot spot.

Yes, I am aware that for too many this world is a hostile place, and yes, it makes me sad, and worried. I try to do what I can to live in the kingdom of God, treating each individual as a child of God, showing concern where I can, making a small difference when I choose not to buy products from Occupied Palestine for instance. But generally, for my own peace of mind, I go on living my life knowing that I can't fix it.
Click to expand...
My mom and her friends went last year, to Mexico, to a little west coastal town somewhere on the outskirts of a main tourist destination (can't remember the name. She's been to a few different places over the years) - these women have travelled quite a bit - but still my step dad and I were worried. My mom was obviously okay with it. They likely researched the place well. The only thing that happened was she got a stomach bug and had to stay at their cabin/ house they rented and miss out on some of the sightseeing (and one of her friends stayed behind to tend to her). ...but I'm a worry-wart.
 
Last edited:
I think one thing is that because of the Internet bringing people around the world together instantaneously, these events no longer just feel to me like something happening in far away places. It used to be that I'd read the paper and watch the news and the events seemed remote, and so I suppose it was easier to just not think about it.
 
The poor will be with you always. There will be wars and rumours of wars.

Not really a garden path or rose-coloured glasses outlook in either of those statements.

I think the trick is to know which end of the telescope we are looking through and whether we need the telescope at all.

I certainly don't need one in the office right now.

The minute I turn to the news there is the awareness that I'm being offered somebody else's telescope and I can only use it to look at what they insist I look at.

During my stay in NL my access to the multiplicity of telescopes is diminished. While there I get some CBC and most of that is regional to NL. When what is happening to the shrimp quotas in 4J leads the news the world loses the doom and gloom pallour and life takes on a cheerier vibrancy. Even if the news on shrimp out of 4J isn't the best.

I knew, in my head, that the world hadn't stopped its spinning. A plate of pan-fried fish with friends was much more pressing and at the end of the day, far more satisfying.

I know that others went to bed starving or frightened of dying in horrible ways. Regrettably that is always going to be the case. When I have the opportunity to make some change no matter how slight I will take it. If the opportunity doesn't present today then I look for it tomorrow.

Changing the face of the earth takes thousands of years of concentrated effort by the forces of nature.

Why would changing the heart of humanity be accomplished overnight?
 
Ah revjohn - I missed your writing whilst you were away. Thanks for this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top