soalbundy

Yes the world is complicated. Although greed is an overriding common factor in humanity I wouldn't say it stands alone as a basis for cruelty and oppression. Ignorance and the desire to follow societal norms, the need for a strong leader, a father figure syndrome, all play a part, patriotism being perhaps a crime in itself, how many bestial acts of savagery by all nations can be excused by patriotism, someone once said patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. The vast majority would rather remain silent than be accused of being unpatriotic. All societies, even a small village needs a leader. To become a leader one must be charismatic, courageous, hard working and have a goal in mind (not just wealth and power generally speaking). Unfortunately power unchecked leads to megalomania and corruption, even in a democracy there are paths to absolute power, Hitler was voted in as fuehrer by a democratic parliament. Most people are not courageous enough to stand up and be counted as an opponent. I do believe that most politicians start off with good intentions, even coup leaders have great aspirations in the beginning but human nature is as it is and the average working man doesn't dare make waves, then of course there is the flag, the national anthem and God is on our side. Religions are the perfect tool for suppression and war mongering, one can always find some text or other in a scripture to further your ambitions no matter how cruel or as in the case of Islam make one up (I believe that nowhere in the Koran is it stipulated that a woman must cover her face and hair).

The Islamic golden era was between the 8th and 11th centuries with the principle seats of learning in Bagdad and Cordoba. The academic elite were interested in assimilating knowledge from where ever they could, they even translated the works of Aristotle from Greek into Arabic. A Persian mathematician has been described as the father of algebra while Omar Khayyam, also Persian, laid the foundation for analytical geometry, much of his work found its way to Europe. During this time a form of calculus was also discovered. They played a great role in optics, chemistry and physics during this era and were precursors to Darwins 'origin of the species' (Al-Jahiz, 'struggle for existence). The Emerald tablet came into existence at this time which alchemists, including Isaac Newton, regarded as a basis for their work in chemistry. Enormous advances were also made in medicine and surgery when Arabians translated the Greek Works on surgery and evolved and improved them.

I admit I can be flippant on occasion. Of course if I saw something of the sort happening I would attempt to help. Impotent anger at farmers who cut and burn is the cause, laws aren't adhered to, there is nothing people can do. My wife doesn't have her extensive fields burnt, much of the straw is collected for the neighbours cows and buffaloes the rest is plowed back into the ground at next years planting. My village is surrounded by rice fields and yet I see no burning. I used to live in Chiang Mai and although the burning didn't affect me I knew people who did suffer and the smog was horrendous seen from Doi Suthep. One doesn't see farmers in Europe burning after a wheat harvest, there is obviously no real need to do it, perhaps the ash is a fertilizer or it's done out of tradition.

He wasn't growing fish and chips was he, a hamburger, Spaghetti, roast pork?

Well I'll give you a thumbs up but I think you need to consider your post more deeply. Money isn't a religion although the desire for it resembles a salvation because in a way it is, it is a tool for existence. In a modern society there is no existence without money and so it becomes primary. There is no philosophy, religion, desire or experience without existence and so by convergence; money. There are many ways to get money, usually it is through work, you sell your skill or labour to someone who has large amounts of money. The gathering of large amounts of money is, in a primitive way, an exaggerated insurance of existence. Yes, Gods are man made tools but not just (but also) of control. A common religion is also a societal stabilizing and unifying factor (which a dictator will also believe in) certainly it helps the elite control and gain wealth as long as the sheep recognize the power of the shepherd otherwise all bets are off and chaos ensues. In the end on their deathbeds even the elite will see that they were only conscious awareness that needed a physical existence for phenomenal experience but until then money and power will become a means to an end and the misuse of religion will help them in their endevours as long as they are careful enough to cloak greed with ceremony, pantomime and tradition.

Of course there won't be a reunification, the Chinese would never allow it for the reasons I explained and the South doesn't want the cost after seeing what the German reunification cost and is still costing. All governments are pragmatic with an eye to economics, the milk of human kindness doesn't come into the calculation, peace is a luxury but sooner or later it will become a necessity, just not in my children's lifetime but perhaps in their children's lifetime.

Rather like the Jews in Europe, the only occupation left to them was as money lenders to the powerful which on the one side made them wealthy but made them vulnerabel (a pogrom could get rid of ones debt). The Templers found that out when the French king decided his debt was too large and they had a lot of land and cash. The Arabs certainly had astronomers, how else do you navigate through the desert if not by the stars. Their doctors, unlike the Europeans, had no qualms about dissecting dead bodies which increased their knowledge of the human body, many European doctors traveled there to learn from them. They also had good craftsmen and even traded with the Vikings (who they found to be dirty and violent). They had philosophers and writers, a famous one would be a Persian tent maker Omar Kyem who wrote the Rubaiyat of Omar Kyem, most people know the first line of one of his verses even today :- 'The moving hand doth write and having writ moves on nor all your piety nor wit shall cancel half a line nor all your tears wash out one word of it' He rebutted regret or the use of repentance, what's done is done, in fact he was rather scathing of religion in general, a wonder he survived.

Yes indeed, violence isn't reserved to one region or one religion (although Buddhism is an outlier because firstly it is a philosophy [a spiritual one without a God] not a religion as such and secondly violent episodes involving Buddhism as a movement is rare). Religious violence is always emotional among the sheep which can be often used by powerful entities for wealth and power, even a dictator needs a moral excuse for a land grab. Having said that religions are a powerful unifying factor in a society which gives it stability, which is why it was invented and why non believers are burnt at the stake or beheaded, non believers threaten society's stability

Yes but that flavour of violence was world wide, man is a very violent animal, one would have to go back as far as the era of the hunter gatherers, before land possession, to find relative peace among humans. peaceful coexistence as exhibited in some Arab nations at that time was quite rare and didn't last long, the one overarching similarity among human beings is greed, it is even apparent in small children, it isn't taught, unlike religion or racism which isn't inherent in children.

Christianity was dragged screaming and kicking into the modern world by the light of reason and science and even then it took hundreds of years (and deaths). In America there are still many places where the reformation and the age of reason hasn't yet arrived. You say reformed....an interesting quote by Sri Nisargadatta a 20th century Indian spiritual teacher, "That which is real doesn't change, that which changes isn't real". He wasn't referring to religion which becomes apparent when another of his quotes is read, "You are not the body nor are you the mind...there is no body".

Before or at the beginning of the middle ages the Arab world was THE seat of learning and progress, Christians, Muslims and Jews all lived peacefully together. Great progress was made there in physiology, astronomy, mathematics and philosophy.....unfortunately much has changed, politics and religion are great hindrances to peace and knowledge....oil hasn't helped much either.

Whatever he is he is an extremist, luckily he only harmed himself. Through arrogance he thought he could make a difference by self immolation, he won't and he didn't.....I've already forgotten his name.

Why? Christians have shed a lot of blood in the middle east especially during the crusades when it was sanctified by the pope. Buddhists and Hindus don't try converting others so no chance there. There has always been violence in the middle east since the middle ages, why should it stop now?

Strange girl, takes her Vibrator to the beach.....as one does.

Are you talking about America?

poetic justice.

555555555555555 let the maga moron fill his boots, one less idiot at the polling booth.

Most are staying home, in case you hadn't noticed the UK is in a financial bad place. Inflation throughout the West is taking a toll on discretionary spending so holidays at home are cheaper, especially when the air fares are taken into consideration.

Kidnapping a small child is a horrendous crime,, just imagine the terror that the child must suffer let alone the parents, so yes if she is found guilty it should be a very long incarceration.

While working in Germany I applied for A British passport at the then Embassy in Düsseldorf (many years ago) on the form I gave my office number in case I needed to be reached. I got my passport but a week later I received 4 phone calls from the UK trying to sell me insurance, stocks and shares etc. Obviously someone at the embassy had sold my details. I rang up the embassy to complain but that was a case of "we don't do that sort of thing" so I told them I was giving the matter over to BMW security (a big department) which I did, they took it seriously, after that the calls stopped.

Yes, a bit of Scottish genetics must have crept in somewhere.

Good governance....come now, we aren't in kindergarten. All world governments are pragmatic, China is no different from the USA. Take NK for instance, if it ever rejoined with the South that would mean American troops on China's border, so fat boy can do what he wants, the US would never threaten a country with nukes anyway, especially not one close to China. Every power now uses proxies to fight wars that stops a WW3 scenario.

500 billion Baht ! If the system aint broken don't fix it.

He had to get it from somewhere, it wasn't through eating porridge.

"He's alright, he'll perk up when you give him the money"