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Old 04-01-2012, 03:17 AM   #126
Kevin Leavitt
 
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Re: Martial Ineffectiveness

Quote:
Lars Beyer wrote: View Post
I get your point, and I want to add that paramilitary training and uncontrolled spread of firearms leads to conflict and civil war.
We only need to look to those countries that Nato and UN have decided to engage.
It is my belief that Aikido can help change the world for the better, maybe not in a giant leap but inch by inch and it starts on the individual level.

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Groucho Marx
I disagree that the firearms are the problem. They are tools which empower. The root problem is what needs to be addressed which is greed, imbalance of power, corruption etc. As it becomes institutionalized those in power want to take this away from those that don't have it.

In the countries that we are in as NATO and UN, the problems are much more complex than the weapons. Sure we are there because the weapons have empowered what ever cause or conflict is being fought, but they are not the root problem.

The ones you don't here much about where the people don't have any means or the willingness to fight back, well the attrotcities are there, just because we are not there does not mean they are not occurring. Yes, I think we do tend to get involved in areas where the people are armed.

I think there is probably a correlation most definitely to them being armed. We tend to go where people and governments have hope to make positive change. Without this willingness of the people to fight for themselves, then you really are wasting your time as eventually they will be subjugated again by the few.

Unfortunately in today's world possessing the means to fight back with force is a reality in most places. One day maybe this will change. Of course in the west, we do have the luxury of being able to do much of this with civil means. However, I think it is important for us to not lose sight of the fragile nature of this.

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