Rumsfeld's at it again!

[ZeeGerman]

Ok, mabey. I dont want to speak for evilyeti. But why is thinking you are better than everyone else a bad thing? If he is wrong you should be able to demonstrate why.

1. I never said it was a bad thing.

2. But I believe it's a dangerous thing.

If one individual says " I'm better than everybody else" I wouldn't call him a supremacists but an Idiot.

Now if a group characterized by a single property e.g. nationality says "We are better than any other group (again based on that property)" I see some problems due to a vast over-generalization.

A statement like Yeti's would make ANY US citizen better (quality wise) than ANY non US citizen. Now what qualities would those be? There are some - like military strength - where the statement is true. There are others - like ecological behavior - where it's not true and there are a LOT where the decision is open to debate.

Apparently, a generalization like the above is not likely to be correct and even less likely to be accepted by all compared groups.

Thus, I find it's a bad idea to base one's actions on supremacist ideas or to even use them in a discussion.

Zee

 

[Tony]

1. I never said it was a bad thing.

2. But I believe it's a dangerous thing.

It can be.


If one individual says " I'm better than everybody else" I wouldn't call him a supremacists but an Idiot.

Now if a group characterized by a single property e.g. nationality says "We are better than any other group (again based on that property)" I see some problems due to a vast over-generalization.

A statement like Yeti's would make ANY US citizen better (quality wise) than ANY non US citizen. Now what qualities would those be? There are some - like military strength - where the statement is true. There are others - like ecological behavior - where it's not true and there are a LOT where the decision is open to debate.

Apparently, a generalization like the above is not likely to be correct and even less likely to be accepted by all compared groups.

Thus, I find it's a bad idea to base one's actions on supremacist ideas or to even use them in a discussion.

Im not gonna argue with this, I guess it boils down to what you think is superior.

Nothing is stopping you germans from joining us in our arrogance. Then we can say "WE" are better than everyone else.

 

[hammegk]

.....Nothing is stopping you germans from joining us in our arrogance. Then we can say "WE" are better than everyone else.

The Germans already took 2 bites at the apple of world domination, and many Germanic individuals later assisted diligently in building the current US military capabilities.

The USSR also had a bunch of nibbles at the apple.

What do we want? Sitting in circle singing Kum-Ba-Yah has not worked to date. Does anyone actually think human nature has changed for the better? I don't, and political power with all that entails still comes from the barrel of a gun held by boots on the ground.

And yup, I am all for the boots being controlled by USA personnel.

 

[DrChinese]

Does anyone actually think human nature has changed for the better? I don't, and political power with all that entails still comes from the barrel of a gun held by boots on the ground.

And yup, I am all for the boots being controlled by USA personnel.

The purpose of civilization is to "raise the bar" with respect to human nature. Human nature itself may not be changing, it is our behavior which is changing as we become more "civilized" (don't laugh, cynics). Our behavior is a reflection of the choices we make. I - and you - and others in the world - can make better choices. That leads to a better civilization - or not, as the case may be.

Democracy allows power to be shared across a wider base. In my book, democracy is the civilized expression of politics and power.