Peace will come when...

Post-9/11 Era Forum

I just want your input. I'll give one statement (PLEASE don't turn this into some HUGE ranting that you could do an your own thread) And then you give one. Try to keep it brief so we can make a LIST! Even if it's only a list of opinions. It's ok for an idea to be based on a loose thought; this is a discussion board, any and all ideas are welcome! :-)

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Peace will come when the United States becomes self-sufficient by harnessing hydro/electric machines. Our own oil drilling companies would make a larger profit from their own oil, and the rest of the world would see our cars running on water and want to figure out a way to do that too!

Peace will come when everyone is converted to Islam and live under Islamic governed bodies.

We don't live in such extraodinary times. There is always someone who has something we want. If we're big enough we'll find a way of taking it. Such is the human psyche.

Ordinary people don't start wars. Leaders with egos the size of mountains hurd us around like sheep and tell us to fight for all sorts of stupid reasons. They do it because they can and we let them.

Water's just a commodity like any other.

Peace will come when mankind is extinct.

You got it ickle.....it's in our genetic makeup.

I think peace has little to do with America. You look all over the world and there's always someone at war. I'm not excusing America for all of its actions in the last 50 years, and furthermore, I think if the whole world was democratic, America wouldn't invade any countries. But as far as global peace goes, it will NEVER happen. The idea that if all people are free to think for themselves, they won't turn on each other is a myth. For example, as long as there are bars in the downtown area of a city, there will be bar fights - that is a mini-war. That's how wars get started. The difference between a war and a bar fight is that a war is escalated to involve a group of people fighting for the two people in the disagreement. How do we end the war or disagreement? remove one or both of the people involved, preferrably the guy who poses the most threat to everyone else or who started the fight.

What really staggers me is the vast number of countries who America has given money to who still hate the States. Had it not been for America, Saddam Hussein wouldn't have been in power. America helped Hussein chase the Russians out of Iraq in the late 1970s. So what's Hussein's response? Become a pain in the butt for America. People are like this in all walks of life: They choose to see the bad in people and nations, especially ones more prosperous than themselves. I doesn't matter how much money America has poured into countries like Afghanistan, Japan, Germany, France and England (which has contributed to their national debt), people will always see America as a bully. If America were the real bully they would have taken over Iraq, Afghanistan, and indeed, Germany in both world wars. The cold war wouldn't even have taken place if America had been aggressive and forced the USSR back across eastern europe. Heck, they could have used the remnants of the German army to do that at little cost to their own army. You can argue that Iraq has oil, but if it's really all about oil, why didn't America take out Hussein when they had the chance in 1991? People choose to hate America and call them the "big business" of the world out of jealousy. In case some people haven't noticed, America is capitalist. Business and government are separate. One thing Bush isn't is a pinko. You can't blame him every time some big american company gets involved in a scandal. Bush isn't a business man...he's a wealthy rancher who once owned a baseball team. Once again, half the population voted against Bush in 2001. This thread is simply a portion of those voters. If you think you speak for the whole country, check out CNN for a recent poll.