I would, in some cases.
Like I said, I get their point, absolutely! But using violence against civilians is terrorism, no matter how understandable the reasons may be. If the IRA had only attacked the police or the army, I might not call it terrorism (and I think, most people wonât), but they attacked people who were simply at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Same like the RAF in Germany. People who had nothing to do with the political problems those terrorist groups were adressing.
If they had been successfull, they would be called âfreedom fightersâ or something like that, now. True. Thatâs why I said that violence may be a possible (very) last resort in some cases. But that doesnât mean that this violence is something I approveâŠ
Yep. Exactly that.
This is a very good point, actually - people in fear are easier to control, and so, many political parties actually try to keep the population of their countries in a slight state of fear. Not enough to cause an uprising, but just enough they feel uncomfortable and are happy to let others decide whatâs best for them.
In western societies, itâs usually a combination of fear and consumption. People can and should consume, because itâs great for economy and taxes and makes them short-time-happy enough to prevent dissatisfaction. And they should be in slight fear, because people in fear dislike change even more than ânormalâ people, and so, whoever has the power might keep it a bit longer.
Still I think there is a difference between putting bombs in shopping malls and using misinformation, rhetorical means and such.
Also that a fearful population will gladly support any claims from a figure of power that âaddressesâ such fears. Thus adding pressure in favour of the figure of power.
That said, itâs funny (on a very sad kinda funny) to see how much these governments are the actual main beneficiaries of Terror tactics employed against them.
I canât think of a single moment in history where an organization begun employing terror tactics and then the population gave in to their demands.
But I can see hundreds of moments where the population gets together against them.
Terrorising someone into helping you is something that just does not exist. You can terrorise an individual into apathic submission. No more than that.
So when you terrorise a population, they will of course add pressure to their figure of authority to stop all that. (which is stage 1 of what a terrorist needs)âŠ
but then, unless the figure of authority replies with âoh, ok, letâs give them all my power and allow them to murder meâ⊠then any attempt at Terrorism can only backfire. because thatâs the stage 2 thatâs much needed for terrorist tactics to work, politically speaking, but that would absolutely never happen.
Realistically speaking, whatâs far more likely is that once the population starts adding pressure to the leader, they leader will reply along the lines of: âI will protect you. I want to protect you. but for that, you need to give me even more power over you!â⊠and then the frightened population will abide.
Add to that that many people instinctively fear things they do not know, this makes it sooo easy for governments to blame âthe othersâ. Whoever that might be, anything that is âdifferentâ can be used for thatâŠ
So true⊠The RAF actually had some backing in the studentâs protests in Germany, but they lost that backing more and more, the more violent they becameâŠ
For terrorism to actually âworkâ, it has to overthrow the government and replace it - thatâs what happens very rarely in civil wars, and usually it leads to an equally bad governmentâŠ
So there is just no point in that all.
What I like to think about, is, what would be the alternative way? Like, for example - some muslim countries were afraid that their way of life was threatened by the âwestâ. At the same time, due to global trade structures, both parts (islamic world and the âwestâ) were highly dependent on each other.
Easy way (for us) would be, hey, give up all those outdated ideas and make a step into present time - but that is just the âwesternâ point of view, and would do them no justiceâŠ
I just like to think that there must be a level-headed, calm, peaceful solution for something like thatâŠ
heh, your broken Quote block, @Atilla, ended up flipping who said what, there.
There is a big falacy there.
âThose who have too much, often convince themselves they never have enough.â
Theyâre but puppets, enslaved to their own rigid standards! even more of puppets than the ones with too little.
We sit and watch as a very rich person flies to 3 different countries in 2 days, and think: âoh, I wish I was that rich that I could fly anywhere we wantâ⊠but weâre gazing at a mask.
Meanwhile, that same person only wanted to be home. Itâs flying on a jet because it must, not because it wants to. All the while his family crumbles behind the weight of excess.
That angst is also part of the social reasoning behind the great divide between rich and poor. If the rich donât flock together, if they donât use that money to place themselves in an (illusory) position of power, then all that pressure. All the sacrifices they make just to get money, will have been in vain. Thus they will fall back into the void of their own existance.
Itâs purely Ego playing the puppeteer.
Meanwhile the masses allow them to be placed into such position, again, for a coup of their own Egos: by accepting there is someone âsuperiorâ, and attributing such superiority to something as âeasily obtainable (albeit hardly hoardable)â as money, we allow ourselves to no longer be âpoorâ. We see ourselves as simply ânot that rich yetâ.
We see ourselves as âspecial snowflakesâ that have not been acknowledged yet. So to accept that the rich are above us, we are both accepting that we are special (thus fulfilling our ego), and also freeing ourselves from the need to take responsibility.
Itâs basically a state of balanced sociological Enantiodromia, to keep up with @Atillaâs Jung references.
Oh, boy⊠guess I went deep into that derail, huh? XD
Interesting bit of conversation at work today: during the coffee break, my boss asked me if he could touch my doNExT. Heâs been intrigued by that particular implant since he saw me with the stitches and asked what had happened. I obliged of course, why not. Then during the entire coffee break the conversation revolved around implants and transhumanism.
At some point I mentioned Neil Harbisson and my boss revealed that he was color-blind. Nobody knew. And suddenly he seemed very taken with the idea. He said he always wanted to know what green was like.
Heâs the technical type, and when he latches onto something, he usually sees it through. I sure hope he gets to experiment with colors. Thatâd be really interesting.
Iâll mention it to him. He really only mentioned he was color-blind. Itâs not like he explained all he tried to see colors better. Not to mention, people here arenât exactly known to be talkative, and tend to keep things to themselves
I have considered getting them because Iâm also colour-blind but from the test I took on their website they donât even have a pair that could fully correct mine and damn theyâre expensive
Thats a shame, that would be an amazing experience to have after years of not having that âcapabilityâ
Tough thing justify, especially if you donât know what you are missing out on.
Imagine if you will, you had no idea about RFID implants, then one day you found out they existed and also what they could do for you, and THEN you took a leap of faith, got a bunch and realised how long you had lived with out them and wished you had done it soonerâŠ
Imagine if you will, you had no idea about Colourblind corrective glasses, then one day you found out they existed and also what they could do for you, and THEN you took a leap of faith, got a pair and realised how long you had lived with out them and wished you had done it soonerâŠ
Just saying
PLUS
There are probably cheaper versions to be found out in the www.
I guess I donât get the point, if you lack the rod / cone structures in your eye related to specific colours, how would filtered glasses replace that?
I guess I can see how you might could shift shades of missing blue-green into red-yellow making them perceivable, but youâre still not seeing green.
Also if a person was both blue-green and red-yellow colour blind, itâd be pointless, right?
Or maybe this is for people who arenât completely color blind? Mask out the dominant colours and the barely perceivable colours would stand out more?
By definition, people who were born without something donât miss that feature, since they never had it. Theyâre probably annoyed that society isnât always well suited for them, but they donât long for something they never had.
I have a friend who was born without arms. We were discussing protheses one day: he told me his parents and the hospital tried to fit him with prosthetic arms during his entire childhood, until he was finally old enough to sternly tell them to quit torturing him with those devices and leave him be.
I asked him why he didnât want the prosthetic arms, and he told me: âWhat would I do with them? Iâve never had arms. I donât know what to do with them. You were born with two arms. Imagine if your own parents insisted that you wore a third artificial arm to âbe normalâ: would you try to use it? Of course not: you brain was never wired to make use of 3 arms in the first place!â
Yes, and a great mindset; however that is not how I would feel, If I could have a third arm, I would take it, there has been many occasions where that would have come in handy [Pun]
Although it would be hard to buy clothes.
Also, If I was blind, I know I would long for sight, ( all the while accepting my âfateâ) why wouldnât I want an âextra senseâ, Who would not want to experience something new and something that the majority of other people can?
If I could have the ability to unlock a door with a swipe of my hand, why wouldnât I?
I guess it is a matter of perspective and comes down to the individual.
But thatâs where youâre wrong: congenital blind people long for the convenience of sight, but they donât feel like theyâre missing anything. And they most certainly donât âaccept their fateâ.
I worked with a lot of blind people over the years as a voluntary worker (even learned Braille with them - donât ask⊠) and I can tell you theyâre perfectly comfortable being who they are.
People with acquired blindness however, thatâs a different story: they lost something and had to come to terms with the loss.
Yeah but you didnât miss it before you got it.
Actually, hereâs something thatâs been lingering in my mind lately, oddly enough: I havenât had an implant go dead on me yet (fingers crossed) but I kind of feel mild distress at the mere thought. If I were to be âdowngradedâ, I donât think I would take it too well⊠Especially the doNExT that required quite a few weeks to settle down: if I were to lose that one, replacement would take time and a lot of trouble.
For others maybe, But I know myself well enough, to KNOW that I would want/long for the ability / sense of sight.
I would treat it as the same as a superpower, I have never had one ( unfortunately ), but if I was offered the ability of a superpower, I would take it ( Full well knowing, it would come with great responsibility )
I truly long for an actual superpower, well many actually, but I am not greedy, I would be happy with one.
Funnily enough, I have been meaning to make a superpower poll ( 2 actually ) for a few months now. I even have my list(s) ready to go
I long for a real intimate human-machine interface personally. I really want that upgrade
Being that itâs still far in the future, Iâm not a researcher with access to tech and medical facilities and Iâm realistic, I would settle for my hare-brained muscle movement-based schemes. I could do it tomorrow if I finally decided to go see that Russian doctor, or that fearless body modder who said they could perform the mini-surgery I have in mind on me, but Iâm too scared
Me: âThe product fails the test at distance slot 919. One slot represents 1.3 meters. So thatâs like⊠Hmm letâs see⊠Roughly 1,200 meters.â
Him: âWith all your implants, there isnât even one that does calculator?â