[Moiraine]

Originally posted by Nachtrafe: The problem is, we're not *just* talking about shouting. If people in other countries want to get angry with one another...that's fine. You dont see the US jumping into British elections, or even into Iraqi 'elections'(even though the latter are a joke). It's when it gets beyond just shouting and being loud and turns into armed conflict that it becomes a problem. And heck...sometimes we even let that go. Other sovreign countries are allowed to have their internal problems. And sometimes those problems even spill over into other sovreign nations. And again...we(the US) generally are even willing to let that go, unless we have a mutual assistance treaty with the attacked nation. But when another nation asks for help, or one group is being 'ethnically cleansed'...well, are we not honour bound, again, by simple compassion, to help? The U.S. spends more money on foreign aid than ANY OTHER NATION ON EARTH(I'm talking raw dollars, not percentages)! That's pure compassion. Are you going to denegrate us for being compassionate to our fellow human beings ? There are a great many of your fellow Europeans who are more than willing to do just that.

Nachtrafe, read my post again : I never said your (I mean, the 'US guy' as representative of the US common culture, as much as you as a person) point of view is wrong ! [img]smile.gif[/img] What I said is that both your perception and your solution may not be the only good ones. I do strongly believe that there is no one true way.

Now, in any discussion, I am telling you that your viewpoint is good, and my viewpoint is good too, and we should work together, and you reply to me that your viewpoint is the only good one, and you are going to implement it no matter what I think, is it a good basis for the discussion ? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Now, coming back to the matter we were discussing, I never told you compassion does not require action, I just told you you should take other considerations into account too !

Originally posted by Nachtrafe: Well...let me offer you an analogy. I'm no mechanic, but, I have owned several cars(and some of them were even those 'evil' 4 wheel drive types [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). And I *know* that it's a heck of a lot cheaper to practice preventative maintainence than to wait for the engine to seize up and replace it.

Nah, I don't like your analogy. Because in that case you own the car. I am all for prevention ! But, to come back to the previous analogy of the house, would you, for the sake of prevention, go to your neighbor's house, tell him "Oh, you look like someone who may cause trouble, so I'm just going to sit there and point my gun through your window, now go on with your life" ?

Originally posted by Nachtrafe: Now, I understand where you're coming from about culture differences Moraine, but, given the option, I'd much rather jump the gun and make a 'interfere'(and even be villified by the finger pointers of the world), rather than give a madman the chance to 'cleanse' millions. Just my opinion though.

Again, I never said your reaction is not a good one, I said maybe it is not the ONLY good one. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Originally posted by Nachtrafe: Erm...and dont even get me started on the UN. The only thing the UN is good at is sitting on it's collective thumb and flapping it's collective lips. Period.

Well, if the UN countries all try to enforce their viewpoint as the only valid one, then the UN is bound to be an arena of bickering with nothing much accomplished. While if they work together, conscious that we share a collective world and that the different views provided by the various cultures all add a positive light, then great things will happen ! [img]smile.gif[/img]

There is no one true way. Or as Yorick would say, Viva la difference ! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-31-2002, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: Moiraine ]