|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: Is 2016 the worst year in a long time?
|
Anglican_Brat
Shipmate
# 12349
|
Posted
Orlando, Turkey, Nice France, the shooting of police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, as well as the shootings of black men in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, plus the ongoing crisis in Syria, South Sudan, and Iraq.
Is it just me, or does 2016 seem to be turning into a very bad year in a long time? Except for World War I and II, is this year incredibly violent for peacetime?
I know of course, I'm speaking from a North American perspective, but I'm wondering if 2016 is turning out to be unique.
--------------------
It's Reformation Day! Do your part to promote Christian unity and brotherly love and hug a schismatic.
Posts: 4332 | From: Vancouver | Registered: Feb 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
We haven't seen 2017 yet...
We may just be seeing a lot of pots come to the boil that were put on the fire some time ago.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
|
Posted
Good grief, Firenze, I read that as 'Poms', not pots - momentarily baffled that you were from Down Under, despite my long-lasting impression to the contrary!
But speaking of coming to the boil: that Brexit thing, doesn't it just add to the 2016 weirdness? A break-up of the United Kingdom as a real possibility, and with it a probably still further weakenend Europe?
And then the reinforced steely grip of the Turkish pres-cum-quasi dictator on his opponents, with the attempted coup as a cheap excuse? Some commentator compared this to the Berlin Reichstag fire of 1933, which lead to Hitler's takeover...
So yes, you may be right - 2016 is a rather strange vintage so far!
--------------------
Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
|
Posted
...plus quite a lot of famous names in the Obituaries columns...
It's certainly a memorable year.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
|
Posted
It's a rather EU and US centric view that says 2016 is the worst year in a long time.
It is true that we're experiencing some turbulence (and of course that's absolutely terrible for those involved) but that's the daily experience for many people in other less stable parts of the world.
It wasn't so long ago that 100 civilians would die in bombings in Iraq on a daily basis. Just as an example.
--------------------
arse
Posts: 10697 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
It's a rather EU and US centric view that says 2016 is the worst year in a long time.
Not just. I think the poor sods in Syria would tell you they are having a pretty miserable time of it as well.
--------------------
Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
Not just. I think the poor sods in Syria would tell you they are having a pretty miserable time of it as well.
That's true. My main point is that the bad things we're experiencing is a reflection of things that others have been putting up with for a long time. Including Syrian civilians throughout their long and bloody civil war.
--------------------
arse
Posts: 10697 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
It's a rather EU and US centric view that says 2016 is the worst year in a long time.
Not just. I think the poor sods in Syria would tell you they are having a pretty miserable time of it as well.
Syria has been having a miserable time for several years. With the ceasefire mostly holding, 2016 may turn out to be a lot better for Syrians than 2015 and 2014.
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
It's a rather EU and US centric view that says 2016 is the worst year in a long time.
It is true that we're experiencing some turbulence (and of course that's absolutely terrible for those involved) but that's the daily experience for many people in other less stable parts of the world.
It wasn't so long ago that 100 civilians would die in bombings in Iraq on a daily basis. Just as an example.
So change the question to, "Is 2016 the worst year the US and EU have seen in a long time?"
Just because Syria has always had a rough time of it doesn't mean that this year isn't worse than last year in the US or in the EU. "My leg just got blown off so you don't have a toothache" doesn't make my tooth stop hurting.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
|
Posted
In the spirit of MT's rephrasing, the year I keep hearing comparisons to is 1968. Now this happens every four years, because the Democratic convention in 1968 was a major event in the American baby boomer political consciousness, or so I have been told (I was born in 1981, so I have to go on reports). But there seem to be some parallels. Racial tensions are pretty high right now, as they were in 1968. There is also the kind of dissatisfaction with the political process that (at least I think) lead to Chicago in 1968, although if one of the convention sights turns violent, I would bet on the GOP convention this year.
1968 was before the mass shooting era, so there are things that make 2016 look worse. That said, 1968 also included some of the really bad moments for American forces in Vietnam, and two major assassinations (MLK and RFK). Just as a time traveler from 1968 might not be able to comprehend a mass shooting, I can't really relate to assassinations, as it hasn't happened that often in my lifetime (I was 25 days old when Hinckley shot Reagan).
So it's definitely hard to compare year to year. Not a fun parlor game to have to play, at any rate.
(Our Rector went on sabbatical this summer, leaving our poor associate to have to deal with Sunday after Sunday of reflecting on the latest shooting or attack. If I'm ready for a Sunday when we can just relax and give thanks for the good earth, I can't imagine how ready she must be.)
--------------------
"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
I think there is a factor of things coming to a boil, rather like the explanation for so many celebrity deaths. The problem is, this should occur over 5 years or so, so focussing on one year (6 months so far) seems to be particularly bad.
And yes, the west is having a really bad and difficult time. That is also the results of political developments since John Major (in the UK). We are reaping what Maggie sowed. Sadly.
But this does have an impact across the world. When the west shivers, the whole world suffers, because we are in a global village. Some places have had worse years and worse times, but from a global perspective, this does seem to be a bad year.
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
|
Posted
I think we are getting a tangible, (irrational), feeling around now that we are on a tipping point, a point at which things are set to get worse. Even though there is no hard evidence suggesting the future holds a return to the hardships of our ancestors, there are however a group of factors, from climate change to radicalised barbarity to civil unrest to growing populations, which are all combining to produce this feeling.
I personally don't feel that 2016, (minding it isn't over yet), has been any better or worse than any other year. Remembering of course that as 1916 drew to a close Europe was engaged conflict so intractable that many thought it couldn't end until every European lay dead or exhausted.
Those surreal times passed over as will these.
--------------------
Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by rolyn:
I think we are getting a tangible, (irrational), feeling around now that we are on a tipping point, a point at which things are set to get worse. Even though there is no hard evidence suggesting the future holds a return to the hardships of our ancestors, there are however a group of factors, from climate change to radicalised barbarity to civil unrest to growing populations, which are all combining to produce this feeling.
To the rise of multi-drug-resistant bacteria.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
|
Posted
Yep, and that MT. A list that could easily be added to, with the net result being the same -- an exaggerated sense of vulnerability.
Something odd seems to have happened over the last 15 years or more. The Out of control thing on which Brexit and Trump have capitalised has grown into a force.
Volumes could be written about it, some might cite the pre and post 9/11 factor. I happen to believe there is a lot more going on yet often we seek historical landmarks, a means of assurance and navigation as we travel inexorably on our way into the future.
--------------------
Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
|
Posted
I'm trying not to research this because I'm a lazy sod, but what year in the 1990's was Rwanda's genocide, and did it co-incide with the attempts at genocide in the former Yugoslavia?
--------------------
Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
Rwandan genocide: 1994
Kosovo unpleasantness: 1998-99
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
|
Posted
Parliament votes to spent Ł31 billion on Trident replacement.
--------------------
"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged
|
|
betjemaniac
Shipmate
# 17618
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Rwandan genocide: 1994
Kosovo unpleasantness: 1998-99
yes, but Bosnian war 1992-95
1994 was a particularly nasty year in the Balkans, although obviously Srebrenica came the following year.
--------------------
And is it true? For if it is....
Posts: 1481 | From: behind the dreaming spires | Registered: Mar 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
I remember being woken up in the middle of the night in 1973 when the Arab countries attacked Israel. About the same year America was defeated in Vietnam, all shortly after Munich Olympic terrorism murders. The same years had jet hijackings so frequently we lost track. The the Khymer Rouge killing fields. We had the FLQ terror in Canada in 1970 which seemed pretty terrible as well. I would thus say just about ant year in the 1970s was worse, plus the soundtrack was disco.
I don't think local English or American idiocy in the half-over 2016 year qualifies worldwide. It is a fine year in Canada.
[ 20. July 2016, 19:11: Message edited by: no prophet's flag is set so... ]
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
|
Posted
Idiocy which will allow your Country to trade freely with ours.
The 70s, remember them well NPsFS.. Here we had the Northern Ireland problem aswell. Oh, and then there was that thing of enough destructive power to kill each of us four times waiting to be unleashed at the push of a few buttons. OK I was a teenager then but it just didn't seem to worry folk so much the generally.
Is it that we have become more sensitised, and therefore more appalled by present day horrible happenings and the brutality seems somehow different? Or is it simply down to pace of change and collective secular anxiety towards our long term future?
--------------------
Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
Leorning Cniht
Shipmate
# 17564
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Anglican_Brat:
Except for World War I and II, is this year incredibly violent for peacetime?
For Western Europe, even if we restrict "violence" to terrorism, the answer seems to be "no" from here.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013
| IP: Logged
|
|
molopata
The Ship's jack
# 9933
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by rolyn:
Volumes could be written about it, some might cite the pre and post 9/11 factor. I happen to believe there is a lot more going on yet often we seek historical landmarks, a means of assurance and navigation as we travel inexorably on our way into the future.
I kind of always thought that the financial crisis of 2008 was the watershed moment. Not that the groundwork for today's problems wasn't being laid beforehand, but it was the point in recent history when it became evident that we can't go on kidding ourselves that things can get better for everyone at least a bit thanks to a system built on unlimited growth. I think it was in 2008 that most normal people realised that the growth game was up, at least in Western countries, and that the future would not automatically be better for their children.
--------------------
... The Respectable
Posts: 1718 | From: the abode of my w@ndering mind | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Hedgehog
Ship's Shortstop
# 14125
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
I don't think local English or American idiocy in the half-over 2016 year qualifies worldwide. It is a fine year in Canada.
But perhaps not so fine in Venezuela. Or in Brazil, for that matter.
--------------------
"We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it."--Pope Francis, Laudato Si'
Posts: 2740 | From: Delaware, USA | Registered: Sep 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
Bad governance where cronyism, lack of rule of law, clientelism, rent seeking elites etc are nothing new. We don't have the American-Soviet support for them in Latin America the same way. But it is still lies wrapped in fibs shrouded in falsehoods about democracy, prosperity and freedom, which we have never truly been interested in propagating.
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
|
Posted
There are several ways to look at what is happening.
It does seem American anxiety is retched up every four years, eight years if it looks like a regime change (personally I don't think it will happen. The new president will be Hillary from my perspective).
Then too, world events seem to go on pendulum swings about every 20 years. Yes we have been going though more turbulent times now.
There is also a circular view of history which the writer of Revelations seems to endorse, s/he still saw some progression to where God finally reestablishes his kingship on the world.
But I also see social media contributing to the turbulence this time too. ISIL is very good at using social media to promote itself. Again this is not new. The printing press brought about the Reformation and the 100 years war. The telegraph caused the world to shrink and contributed to the brutality of the American Civil War. And I dare say Europe was embroiled in a number of wars which saw impacts from the printing press. Then came the advancement in war machines. Radar. The nuclear age. The fall of the Soviet Empire. and things are still unraveling.
Still I pray Thy Kingdom Come; and I believe, ultimately God's Kingdom will come. I know I will have had maybe a very small part in the actualization of the kingdom, but it is coming.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
la vie en rouge
Parisienne
# 10688
|
Posted
I don’t know if things are really getting worse. I think we hear about the misery more often.
I remember plenty of IRA atrocities happening when I was a teenager, but the terror attacks of last November in Paris felt very different to me, because people were following all the horror in real time on their smart phones. I think it made it much more traumatic for people.
Back in the day, we turned on the TV or radio news a couple of times a day and that was all we used to hear. These days we’re far more connected.
--------------------
Rent my holiday home in the South of France
Posts: 3696 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
Back in the day, we turned on the TV or radio news a couple of times a day and that was all we used to hear. These days we’re far more connected.
I still do this, it keeps me sane.
I listen to the radio news once in the morning and watch the TV headlines at 6pm. That's it and that's enough imo.
--------------------
Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
In my nighttime uptime re insomnia, a Syrian woman reminded us that ISIL is responsible for 5% of causualities in the area. She also discussed how cheering about good massacres occurs when the international community decides who has done the killing.
This was followed by a Bosnian who recounted how he, his parents and siblings walked to the Dutch compound in Srebrenica in 1992, and how they were turned over to Bosnian Serbs the next day. Who killed 8,000 of them in short order. He was reunited with the burnt body of his mother nearly 20 years later. I don't recall how many died in this genocide in the 1990s. There were a number of similar mass murders.
I think the point is that there is no worst year ever. That there is no limit on human capacity for violence. That murder, war, genocide is a friend to all. Notwithstanding the nicer parts of the bible, koran, or any poetry written by Thoreau.
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
|
Posted
There are places in the world that are a hellhole right now. For them, this year will be remembered
However
Kids are being born right now
People are falling in love
Birds are being watched
Jokes are being made
Orgasms together are happening
Friendships are being created
Music is being played
Pet fur is being ruffled
Art is being created
Flowers are being tended
Books are being written and read
Games are occurring
This is what it means to live for the moment. There will be people who will remember this year as one of the greatest years of their lives. There will be people who will remember this year as one of the worst in their lives. I for one will not judge this year for all based on world events. 2016 will stand or be forgotten based on what occurs for me.
Judging 2016 communally is something I simply can not do.
--------------------
I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
WearyPilgrim
Shipmate
# 14593
|
Posted
![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
Beautifully written, Og my friend. Thank you.
Posts: 383 | From: Sedgwick, Maine USA | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og: Thread Killer:
Judging 2016 communally is something I simply can not do.
Canadian privilege. If Trump gets elected, those of us south of you will have a completely different reaction to the communality of judging years.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
|
Posted
Percentage wise, and considering the number of people on our planet is well past double that of 1960, it's occurred to me that the actual proportion of those who meet a violent death is probably at an all time low.
[ 23. July 2016, 15:54: Message edited by: rolyn ]
--------------------
Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
|
Posted
I'd go for the 1970s as worse. In Europe at least.
- Baader-Meinhof/Red Army Faction in Germany
- Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) in Spain and France.
- The Northern Ireland troubles...
But... - The Red Army Faction dissolved in 1998
- ETA's ceasefire is holding since 2011
- The Northern Ireland troubles have been much abated since the Good Friday agreement of 1998.
We are having a bad year, but I would put the 30 years from 1998 as being a worse time.
The big difference now is that we can point the finger of blame on someone else, "It's Islaam wot did it."* Then it was our own German, French, Spanish and British people. It is uncomfortable to point the finger at ourselves.
What we need is a bit of introspection, asking ourselves why these people hate us.
......
* I do not believe that Islam is the reason for recent terror, I am parodying some of the Twitter/Facebook posts I see.
--------------------
Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
I don’t know if things are really getting worse. I think we hear about the misery more often.
I remember plenty of IRA atrocities happening when I was a teenager, but the terror attacks of last November in Paris felt very different to me, because people were following all the horror in real time on their smart phones. I think it made it much more traumatic for people.
True, we are more connected (and sometimes I have to make a conscious effort to stop following the news and remember there is a world outside it) but I don't remember the 1960s being like this. You could go into an airport and book a standby flight somewhere at, say, 20 minutes' notice and just go. Getting around wasn't a problem and most of the world seemed peaceful and fairly relaxed, at least on the surface. Terrorism wasn't a feature of life or something you had to worry about. The real evil of the day was Communism, and that was mostly tucked away behind the Iron Curtain.
Terrorism started to become part of life in the 70s and that has got steadily worse. The IRA campaign was bad enough but they never used suicide bombers, and we never imagined some of the twisted methods of execution that Daesh have taken to using for the shock value. In the 70s there were still plenty of places you could go that were deemed safe: now nowhere is. We've seen shocking incidents in most major European countries, or indeed the West, in the past decade, as well as the Middle East, Africa, Japan and the Indian subcontinent.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
|
Posted
Climate change is definitely the most dangerous threat we are facing these days. I admit, it does not help when one of the largest industrial powers refuses to even consider it (at least on one side) it is hard to see how that can change.
That said, I am hopeful in November we will see a change of direction when it comes to CC. We have a lot of potential to solve the problem. We just need to recognize it for what it is.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
rolyn
Shipmate
# 16840
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Net Spinster:
2016 is well on the way to being the hottest year recorded. This June was the hottest June recorded, as was the May the hottest May, and so on for the last 14 months (and the records date back to the 1880s).
The Day the World caught Fire was one of that genre of 50s science fiction films where the planet was being drawn towards the sun. It was getting hotter and hotter and everyone believed there was no escape. Consequently people began to behave strangely. Behaviour that was riotous, cavalier and self -destructive.
We have not suffered overly from excess heat in these parts, 1976 still remaining the hottest summer in my memory. Lately though the World has, for various reasons, gradually begun to feel like a pressure cooker, I am therefore reminded of this film and the moral tale which lay behind it, namely that of our inherent frailty.
--------------------
Change is the only certainty of existence
Posts: 3206 | From: U.K. | Registered: Dec 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Og: Thread Killer:
Judging 2016 communally is something I simply can not do.
Canadian privilege. If Trump gets elected, those of us south of you will have a completely different reaction to the communality of judging years.
Nothwithstanding that we'd note that the specifics of locaation pertain to Toronto, a place we love to hate when we're not mocking the Maple Leafs, several of my professors on graduate school were ex-Americans, the ones who come immediately to mind are the Wisconsin draft dodger, post 1970 Kent State massacre, Watts riot refugee. We got the cream of well-educated, community-minded progressives from the USA who enriched our communities and country. So, you are very welcome to come here. We liked you then, we like you now.
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Cedd007
Shipmate
# 16180
|
Posted
Rwanda 1994 set a kind of standard, especially because the rest of the world stood by. It began with cries of “This country is too crowded and has too many people” and quickly became “Let's get rid of the cochroaches”.
I think we do look at things from an American-European standpoint. It's very deeply embedded in our culture that we do so. Clearly there have been things happening this century which make watching television news disturbing. For the first time I can remember I turned the news off today. I'm ashamed to say it wasn't a disturbing report from a Syrian city, but just some very irritating political story from nearer home, irritating for its triviality. When I look at the news, or read it, I like to see signs of progress, that things are getting better. Instead, more and more things appear to be going wrong.
However I believe that looking at the world purely from a Western standpoint has always given us a distorted view of the world. Ironically it is now those parts of the world that we have ignored that are biting back and beginning to threaten more than just our peace of mind.
As a student of world history I find one or the ways of attempting to organise a multitude of facts is the idea of 'Progress'. In Western political thought (and nowadays in global political thought) this idea stems I think from the ideas of Possessive Individualism which emerged in the 17th Century. Perhaps it's because I've just started reading Ezekiel - but is it too wild a suggestion that maybe we have built our civilization on sand, or perhaps rather that we built our civilization on the Christian faith and now it has become something else?
For trying to put megadeaths into perspective this article is interesting:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-decline-of-violence/
In terms of 'bad years' 1348 comes out pretty bad.
Posts: 58 | From: Essex, United Kingdom | Registered: Jan 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
|
Posted
Everything is really relative
After all, we are not having to deal with Black Death, zika virus notwithstanding.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
Og: Thread Killer
Ship's token CN Mennonite
# 3200
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Og: Thread Killer:
Judging 2016 communally is something I simply can not do.
Canadian privilege. If Trump gets elected, those of us south of you will have a completely different reaction to the communality of judging years.
Will the people married this year have a mark beside them forever? Or the kids born?
There are things about this year that are not enjoyable for anybody. But there are things that will be glorious for some.
My twitter feed would have me think otherwise, but a time period is more then the zeitgeist.
--------------------
I wish I was seeking justice loving mercy and walking humbly but... "Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, And study help for that which thou lament'st."
Posts: 5025 | From: Toronto | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
cornflower
Shipmate
# 13349
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Cedd007:
Rwanda 1994 set a kind of standard, especially because the rest of the world stood by. It began with cries of “This country is too crowded and has too many people” and quickly became “Let's get rid of the cochroaches”.
I think we do look at things from an American-European standpoint. It's very deeply embedded in our culture that we do so. Clearly there have been things happening this century which make watching television news disturbing. For the first time I can remember I turned the news off today. I'm ashamed to say it wasn't a disturbing report from a Syrian city, but just some very irritating political story from nearer home, irritating for its triviality. When I look at the news, or read it, I like to see signs of progress, that things are getting better. Instead, more and more things appear to be going wrong.
However I believe that looking at the world purely from a Western standpoint has always given us a distorted view of the world. Ironically it is now those parts of the world that we have ignored that are biting back and beginning to threaten more than just our peace of mind.
As a student of world history I find one or the ways of attempting to organise a multitude of facts is the idea of 'Progress'. In Western political thought (and nowadays in global political thought) this idea stems I think from the ideas of Possessive Individualism which emerged in the 17th Century. Perhaps it's because I've just started reading Ezekiel - but is it too wild a suggestion that maybe we have built our civilization on sand, or perhaps rather that we built our civilization on the Christian faith and now it has become something else?
For trying to put megadeaths into perspective this article is interesting:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-decline-of-violence/
In terms of 'bad years' 1348 comes out pretty bad.
Posts: 111 | From: uk | Registered: Jan 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Gramps49
Shipmate
# 16378
|
Posted
The Democratic National Convention has just ended. The contrast with the Republican National convention is stark. In the RNC all one heard was doom and gloom. They kept saying, in effect, 2016 has been the worst year ever. On the other hand the DNC speakers kept saying things are going great and will get even better.
Some time ago I read a book about the different minds of a conservative and a liberal. Conservatives continue to fear the present and want to back to the past. Liberals embrace the present and want to move forward.
Is 2016 the worst year ever. For the US, no. Employment is up. Wall Street is at an all time high. Our manufacturing opportunities are improving. Crime is at a 20 year low. Violence against police, in spite of the recent shootings, is also lower.
Now as to the rest of the world, there are highs and lows world wide. AIDS is not as much of a threat Malaria is decreasing, poverty is diminishing. Unemployment in Spain is decreasing.
Yet there are threats world wide. China wants to bully the neighbors in the Pacific. North Korea continues to be unstable. Russia creates a lot of problems.
When all is said and done I am reminded of Matthew 24:6
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Guess you can't tell which mind I have.
Posts: 2193 | From: Pullman WA | Registered: Apr 2011
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view
