RE: [VIDEO] 99.9% of People Are Good; Violent Conflict is Almost Always Avoidable.
I think it's extremely important to point this out - and remember that in pretty much any war today (especially true in Syria) that the MAJORITY of people are non-combatants - they'd really just rather get on with their lives than fight.
Unfortunately these are the same people who also put up with an oppressive state, turning a blind eye to all sorts of state-abuses in 'peace time' while knowing they're going on.
The challenge in the future is to get people more engaged in politics (as in with a local anarchist 'P'), talking to people not-like-them more (a white working class friend of mine took his son to a mosque recently just so he could hang out with a few Muslims, that sort of thing) so we can all learn to work through minor-conflicts with people not like us from a ground up level, rather than us all retreating into our homes, siloing ourselves in bubbles of clones and letting the fucking state deal with 'the others', hence maybe why conflict persists?
Can I ask what leads you to believe that Syrians were oppressed? If by oppressed you mean that Syria was the only secular, nonsectarian and united country in the Near East, and civilians had free healthcare, free education all the way through a doctorate degree, no GMO's allowed in the country, no debt to the IMF, equality in education and the workplace for men and women. Religious tolerance and appreciation. A country where Christians did not feel persecuted, their church's were not desecrated, you probably didn't know if your neighbor was Shi'a or Sunni. Where Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, etc all lived peacefully. If that's oppressive to you.. then we have different definitions of the word.
Of course, this was all until a CIA staged uprising took place, and before Syria was invaded, raped, killed, destroyed by foreign countries led by the US. Before over 350k foreign mercenaries came into Syria to fight in this imposed war from over 80 countries. Before Syria was punished for not agreeing to a gas pipeline deal, and not bending over backwards to please it's neighbor "Israel". This is all before 2011, when Syria was one of the safest countries in the world.. yes.. Syria.. was safe, it was beautiful, it was inclusive, it was self sufficient, it was growing, it was prospering all in it's own way.. maybe not to Western standards but it sure as hell was what the majority of Syrians wanted.
Absolutely fair points - just bad paragraph construction on my part - when I used the Syria example I meant that referring to 'most people are not combatants'.
The next para is supposed to be more general, and you're right I guess technically this wouldn't apply to Syrians.
Apologies - I'll do better next comment (assuming I think posting anything here on Steemit is worth it) thanks for actually reading the comment!
It's okay, I write pretty extensively about Syria and like to correct misconceptions. Thank you for understanding.
Well said. Thanks for this. I agree, it is within the microcosm that the macrocosm can be changed. The state throws macro-level "problems" at us to make us feel powerless.
I can't solve world hunger!!
Right. But I can loan my neighbor 20 bucks when he needs something to eat.
That grassroots action on a massive scale, individual by individual, changes things.
Well said, or better yet, lend him yer chickens!