[Gangrell]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: quote: Originally posted by Gangrell: An appealing outlook Hiero, but change won't happen.

My good man, say not such things! [img]smile.gif[/img] You defeat yourself before you even try.

It's just the way people are that prevents them from taking that step forward in bettering themselves or thinking in a more positive way. The best we can do is just work at it as individuals, but when involved in the masses, people are still idiots.

Exactly! Cultural progress stems from the individual and the individual alone. 'The masses' are, afterall, merely a collection of individuals joined in mutual mentality. All it takes is one catalyst, one voice of dissent within the ranks of the mob, spoken loudly and clearly enough, and the direction of an entire society can change. Of course there will be frustrations, of course there will be vastly contrasting views among individuals as to how the world should and shouldn't be, but so what? More power to diversity!
Decide what your morals are, and put them into practice. If you stand firm by your own code you have nothing to fear in the pressure and persecution from others. In the end, when all is said and done and you're looking back on your life from its twilight moments, you'll be all the happier for knowing that you lived as you thought you should have.

Never say never! You have more power than that! Give yourself some credit! [img]smile.gif[/img] [/QUOTE]Alright, let me rephrase that a little bit. Yes, I believe people can change, but I also believe it will be many years into the future before it does. When it does happen, it would have required a lot of time and effort being put into it. Trust me Hiero, like you, I try to live life as best as I can, push aside any negative aspect of it, but when it comes down to it, I can't deny what I see. So, I'm going to tell you how I see it, so please keep in mind I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm right or vis versa and I'm not trying to be an asshole about it but this is my arguement.

Hiero, you said all it takes is that one person to stand out and speak their mind and with their influence, that idealogy can also spread through the masses. I agree with that, but then again I don't. I think the only way a person will ever change is if they have the will power and motivation to take a step back and see how bad their lives really are. But most of the time, you cannot just roll a few words off your tongue to change the way a person has lived for so many years.

Bill Cosby said that rap music, in essense, influences how children act until they reach adulthood and it even influences how adults act. I know people like this, these people are influenced by rap music, a bank robbery with lyrics that has only three things in it; sex, violence, and drugs. Now this has been around for over 15 years and following along with what it has said, a person is really not likely to look at what they're doing with regret and drop this as if it were a bad habit.

If nothing else, people are just outrageously stubborn Hiero. You look at people today, and they cry and moan about something in the constitution, that their children are supposedly having a gun put to their head to sing about Santa Claus because their parents don't believe in God. These are the people that I know, people I've read about and I don't know how things are in New Zealand, but over here, just a bit harder to get through a person's skull.

I think there is only one way to influence a mob or whole groups of people, and it's not through the groups themselves, it's through the people one by one. Not by the masses because there's too much confusion, influence individuals, then when enough are, then they become the masses.

I do not take away credit where it is due, I give myself credit and I do give all my friends credit, but it's just that somethings can and can't happen, it's just the way it is. But if Bill Cosby is that motivational speaker that can change lives with his words, I will admit that I am wrong and will appreciate what he's doing for the community.