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213758 Responseshttp://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/can-we-co-exist/Can+we+co-exist%3F2010-04-15+18%3A30%3A36Sam+Richards to Can we co-exist?
I think the question of coexistence is far from the reality and truth of what and how this world operates. It’s always a “dog eat dog world” and no country can shift that perception around. The United States’ determination to seek oil resources in the Middle East is just a mere fraction of what other “goods” we also take advantage of from other countries. Weather the class was centered around Christian crusades and the mentality that all American Christians are after the same goal in mind when it comes to war with the Middle East—oil. The issue is clear that we have made others suffered because we have made a product our priority and not the people. We have altered our views and the repercussions that may rise from war and destruction. Various videos and films in class have proven this point that coexistence is so far a reach, that it’s almost deemed impossible to achieve.
I felt Dr. Sam made several key points in class about war and peace, but I don’t think religion, whether Muslim or Christianity has an overbearing influence why we went to war. There are a lot of biases from his standpoint where he claims that almost all Christian Americans made the decision to go to war with Iran and decided the alterative motive was for their oil. How can fighting, killing, and destroying someone’s land and people be a wise way to win over a resource that is buried deep down in the ground? I just don’t think that makes any sense to me. I almost feel like questioning where are we going with this? What kind of conclusion is going to come out from these causalities? None—we can simply sugarcoat the ugliness and the truth of it all, because in reality we cannot coexist with another country unless they are defeated by the United States. Coexisting becomes “forced” where one side is basically pulled into submission, in this case, oil would be the biggest compromise. After all, we are a selfish country, but for that matter any country can be. When it comes to seeking something that we find valuable and profitable, why wouldn’t anyone try to take an advantage over it? It’s almost insane to think about someone else before yourself. Like what Dr. Sam mentioned earlier on this semester, when it comes time to saving your child or someone else’s, you would save your child first. So in this case, when the United States is considering the pros and the cons between war and peace, they are more likely to see the greater benefits and profits from war than peace. Coexisting is a question for the defeated ones, not a question that the United States of America should have to worry about.
Actually we don’t need their oil to survive. The truth of the matter is that we get the vast majority of our oil elsewhere (ie Canada), but we certainly (in politician’s minds) would like to have control over their oil for obvious income purposes. Anyway, do I think we can coexist? Probably not. Why? Because greed, stubbornness and pride are a handful of all too common yet unavoidable human characteristics that when they are at their best rise us to the top but when they are at their worst drag us right back down. It is what makes us human and is why we will continue to be as we are.
This is a great comment. The fact of the matter is that if not oil, than something else. As humans we strive to be better people but in the end we are always subject to our own worst qualities. We are selfish and money-driven, and as long as their is some "oil" in a place where we feel like we can have it we will continue to kill and plunder until we get what we want. It is sad and depressing but I mean if you look back at history it has always been that way. The only difference is we know have such a shift in power/money in some countries that technology is available to literally destroy or invade any country at our discretion. And as long as we continue to live in our own countries, sheltered from the realities that face most other nations, it will always be this way…
I agree, our country doesn't need their oil to survive. But still, oil plays a large role in creating conflict between the Middle East and the US. That's why so many politicians are trying to come up with ways to 'decrease our dependence on foreign oil', like McCain said in the video clip. Maybe in a perfect world we could be able to find a miracle solution to this whole energy mess and eventually stop using Middle Eastern oil completely. Hopefully that will happen sometime in the future. But even if that does happen, we're always gonna be at war with somebody. It seems that the US feels obliged to be the watchdog of the world and stick its nose in other countries' business. So, I guess to answer your question: no, I don't think we will ever be able to coexist with everyone.
I think it will always be difficult for so many cultures to coexist without conflict. I believe it is fundamental human nature to want to be in "first place". Therefore, if countries and cultures believe that they need to eradicate or conflict with others in order to achieve that goal, they will. There is always going to be competition for resources and when one group of people sees another group with something they want, they will find a way to get it. Maybe that’s through trade and economic cooperation or through conquest, but people find a way to get the things that they want.
I think the idea that we can all co-exist is always there and always desired, yet not necessarily attainable. I think with so many different cultures living together within the same continents, countries, or even states, one culture will always innately need to prove that they are better, stronger or more powerful and try to take control of other cultures to become an authority figure. Look at the U.S. for example. While we try to play mediator to the entire world because we seem to think we “know better,” how much does our assistance always pay off. Look at Iraq for example? We threw our weight around because we are an international superpower, but how much have we really bettered their country?
I'm not against using the military to effect change in countries that need help, but we need to do it for the right reasons. We could help countries that are starving, or do more things like we did in Haiti, but stay for the long term. If we chose to we could change the way the rest of the world sees us, we could actually help people and not because we have an agenda. I really don't know how much oil we get from Iraq, I read someones blog and they said that we get most of our oil from Canada. Even if we don't get our oil from Iraq it doesn't change the fact that we went to war for oil, if we aren't taking oil from Iraq we're probably controlling who does get it. If we want to co-exist we need to drop our agendas and help people just because they need help.
I truthfully feel that each and every person on this world possesses the ability to co-exist with one another. It is a matter of opening one’s eyes and perspective of the world to understand and respect the cultures of other people. Regardless of one’s faith or creed, this can be done for each and every person. The problem is that too many people in our world have an ethnocentric view of the world where they feel as though their culture is better than that of other cultures. This is a flawed view in our world and is something that must be corrected because they world is much bigger than we think and consists of a wide range of religions, people, and cultures that we all can learn a great deal from.
I think that “coexisting” is quite a tough thing to look at. I agree with a few of the comments that I think it is possible that we all have the ability to do it deep down inside of us. However, I think that it is really tough to accepting of other cultures, beliefs, religions, etc. whenever we have our own culture holding us back. It may be a “dog eat dog” world, but that is also a little about human nature. I feel like if we can teach younger generations to be accepting, then eventually people will start to change.
I don’t see why there should be a problem with coexisting. I mean I know there is one and there will always be one, but if everyone could just get along the world would be a much more peaceful place. Most cultures, religions, and beliefs between people are different so there will never be that time where everyone can feel and see the same thing. I don’t think that people understand the beauty in coexistence. For example, Sam would not have to discuss and make people afraid of Christian Invaders if all people were the same and got along. Maybe it would just be considered invaders. Who knows? And sadly, I don’t think we ever will.
I agree that it is crazy that we know nothing about most groups of people other than our own throughout the world. Despite this fact, we still continue to hate on other groups of people. You brought up a good point that people are discriminating against many groups of people and have hatred that is so deep for no apparent reason. We all have misconstrued conceptions about each other because we never gave other groups of people a fair chance to be represented when we learn about them and their cultures. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that it will be possible to coexist with other groups of people because people already have negative images of all types of people engrained in their mind.
I would like to say that we can co-exist, but if that is possible, I’m not quite sure. I think that the U.S. government needs to make some amends and really look at the way that they’re dealing with their international relations. Also, there needs to be some serious image changing of the United States to the people in the Middle East, because as we saw in class, they do not see us how I’m sure many of us would like to be seen. Unfortunately, the United States has historically acted for its own gain and in the process has manipulated and abused the good values that all of us Americans stand for. I am a huge optimist in the fact that peace is possible, so I’m going to answer this question by saying yes, but I do think there needs to be some serious change in order to bring this peacefulness about.
No. I think eventually we’ll be able to cooperate on a humane level with them, but there will always be misunderstandings, because we’re different cultures! We live our lives differently. Misunderstandings causes people to jump to conclusions, which causes chaos. People jump to conclusion in light of misunderstandings to create meaning and try and understand why the other side reacted the way they did. Unfortunately, the meanings that are created are biased and designed wearing the lenses of one’s own culture. If you don’t step outside your perspective to comprehend the reasons why people act the way they do there will always be turmoil.
I don't think this is no longer possible. We live in a world where survival of the fittest exists. We need oil in the United States. It is as simple as that. If we don't have oil, life will not be the same. Cars wouldn't have gas, houses wouldn't be heated, and factories wouldn't produce the goods we need to survive. Oil is a necessity. Before 9/11 and the world on terrorism, the oil could have been easily traded between us and the middle east. Now that we are at war, the only way to obtain the oil is to steal it. I'm not saying I think this is right, but I think the United States is going to do what they have to do in order to survive. It really has nothing to do with the Muslim people, we just need oil. In my opinion, we need to rebuild what we have destroyed in Iraq and attempt to work out some sort of deal with oil trade. Even if this does work, the Middle East would charge billions of dollars for the oil and our economy would suck even more. Co-existing is definitely not possible when we have a lack of oil.
I don’t think co-exist is a term in the word’s dictionary. Come to think about it, when has the world ever co-existed in peace (or even near peace)? Even the bible (the holy book) is chucked full of wars and look how long ago did that happened. I think at this point in society co-existing is out of reach for many reasons.
The first being that, as a planet I feel like it’s not so much that we don’t like each other. I’ve been alive for 19 years and I’ve met only a handful of racists/ overly patriotic people. Which leads me to believe that it’s not countries we hate, we as people just hate when people have more resources than us. For example, if the United States was not able to go into Iraq to get the oil, we get into a war and throw around terms like “Americans fighting terrorists” (which is the case at times) and “Religion” (Muslims/ Christians) so we make up this whole war surrounding religion, weapons of mass destruction, and whatever else we can think of but it’s really about oil. And as long as there is not enough oil for everyone (which is the case) then we will never be able to co-exist because every country will be fighting each other in order to get to the oil. And it’s not just oil, its everything-computers, televisions, cars, everyone from every country wants these things but it’s nearly impossible for every country to have the “American” lifestyle.
Which leads me to believe that there has to be some kind of alternative that we can come up with as a planet where everyone would have a chance to use resources fairly. Like as Americans, do we really need all this stuff that advertisers are constantly shoving down our throats? Of course, I wouldn’t be willing to give up all of my possessions, but a few things I can defiantly do without if it means other people having more in their life. And I’m sure there are other people from wealthy nations that have the same thinking. Besides, Sam Says that even the poorest American is richer than 2/3 of the world, so there is defiantly something that each and every one of us can do.
I think that second thing we need to do as a society is just be more exposed and informed about the issues. Before taking Sam’s class I knew about some of the topics he talked about but others I never even heard about or thought about and some issues were brought into a new light. If everyone could take a class like this some point in their education, preferably seniors in high school or college students then there would be more awareness about the issues and what needs to be done in order to help fix them for a more “co-existing” world.
First off, I can tell you right now, we don't NEED their oil. We don't need their oil any more or less than we need the Canadians' or Saudis' or Iraqis' or anyone else's oil. Our government and our society in general has made the collective decision to base our entire economies on oil. We could do with a whole lot less. Cutting our consumption in half or even three quarters is completely doable. For one, our zoning laws often require the separation of uses (retail must be segregated away from residential in most places) to the degree that we see today which has helped cause us having to drive miles for anything. State College is unique in this regard that you can get by without a car; international students on this forum take note of this, and realize that 80% of America's is NOT designed in this low energy intensity manner, and much of America that IS designed this way has been abandoned for the more "desirable" (a SUBJECTIVE term through and through) suburbs. You can see it in inner city Philadelphia for example, if you were to replace the poverty with middle class citizens with the same density, many people could get by just taking the bus or walking. That is a huge chunk of our consumption and in my opinion is a huge misallocation of resources.
A large chunk of our oil budget powers the U.S. Military. Yes, the same military that is there to defend the flow of oil to the U.S. is consuming a large chunk for themselves. Not only is it oppressive around the world but it is a huge drain on our AND the rest of the world's resources. If we didn't access foreign oil and instead relied on our own resources, our reserves would have been drained long ago (they are mostly gone anyway) and we would have no fuel to power our international military empire.
Perhaps I should mention the US trade deficit. Us Americans seem rich. But we really aren't. The average American has CLOSE TO ZERO or NEGATIVE household equity, correct me if I'm wrong. That is not called being rich. That is called living above your means. Half of the trade deficit is our oil imports. If we were forced to consume only what we produce, we'd all feel a heck of a lot poorer than we do now. We live in houses much too large for our needs. The average middle class family does not need 4000 square feet, or even 2500 for that matter. Just thought I'd throw that out there. But of course, we view our standard of living as the QUANTITY of things we have, not HAPPINESS and QUALITY of life.
People here hope for a co-existing world. I fear that it is impossible to achieve. I'm not saying this to be pessimistic, but it has been this way throughout human history and I hate to say this but it doesn't seem to me like we are moving towards global peace. In fact it seems the opposite. During 2008, when the recession was in full force, we still increased our military budget. I believe that this system will come crashing down at some point; I'm not going to put a time table on it because that is nearly impossible but it must occur eventually.
Honestly, no, I do not think that we can coexist, which is really a shame to say. I agree that it is human nature to want to be in first place. I also think the reason we cant coexist is because some people are too stubborn and extreme. Everyone has different beliefs about religion and the god they pray or do not pray to. People need to get their head out of the clouds and realize this. I really saw eye to eye with Sam when he said no god would tell you to destroy the lives of others.
Co-existing is possible, but not with the current world power structure. When one country thinks it has the power and role to maintain the rest of the world, conflict will always exist. In addition, when countries are focused on controlling resources and acquiring wealth, peace is highly unlikely. So if peace is truly the goal, power structures need to be dissolved and the world would need to develop equal global governance. Sure these things are highly unlikely, but I wouldn’t call them impossible. With the current violence the reality in much of the world, make power restructuring would need to occur.
This was a real eye opening lecture, I agree. But, there are many things this lecture did not mention. It is very interesting to look at the war terror and the war in Iraq from this perspective. This is not the first time I though that the war in Iraq had a lot to do with American’s dependency on oil. It actually is obvious. Look at the Bush administration. The number one flashing evidence of the war in Iraq’s motives for oil is Bush himself. Bush made all of his money from the oil industry, what could be more obvious? Next in line, Dick Cheney. CEO of Halliburton, the second largest oilfield services corporation. I think it was quite obvious to the educated public that the Bush administration had a vested interest in something in Iraq beside Saddam Hussein and his alleged weapons of mass destruction. I also think it is important to bring up the early 1990’s Gulf War with Iraq. I think it is important to take into consideration that George H.W. Bush was in office during this war and could it be possible that his son George W. Bush wanted to settle Daddy’s unfinished business with Saddam Hussein and finally take him out of power in Iraq. Now, seven years later, we know that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction which makes our preemptive military strike even more obvious that we were interested in Iraqi oil. I consider myself a fairly liberal person. I generally am opposed to war, but I cannot say that I am opposed to the war in Iraq. I think it is unfair to say that we do not co-exist. We do co-exist in many places across the planet. But we also have found much conflict throughout the world. There are many reasons why I still do support the war in Iraq. No one can say that Saddam Hussein was not an evil dictator who bestowed years of terror and brutality on the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein might not have been the immediate threat to the United States but he absolutely was a threat to international security and peace. We did the right thing by removing Saddam Hussein from power. Bu the primary reason I support the war in Iraq because I support Israel. Saddam Hussein was a threat to Israel. If he had had the capabilities to destroy Israel, I think he definitely would have. Personally, I believe it is the right thing to do to remove someone from power who wants to maliciously destroy another country. While I hope that in the near future all people, all religions and races can co-exist, at this point in time I can confidentially say that I would not want to co-exist with a man like Saddam Hussein.
You made a good point that we live our entire lives over “here” without knowing a single thing about everyone else “over there.” What even sadder is that we are okay with it, too. Yes, we need oil from the Middle East, but we also get a good portion of our oil from Canada and South America, as well as other places. I think it goes deeper than that. I began to wonder to myself what would happen if political leaders were sitting in the lecture yesterday. What kind of impact would it have on them and their idea of the war. Clealry, the lecture had a huge effect on the class and really got people thinking.
I want to think that people are truly able to co-exist even if they must share power and resources. Take a look at the people who live within any town or compare any of the chapters in Crossing the Boulevard. They may be worlds apart in their experience and their heritage, but nearly all of them voice the same concerns including the well-being of their families and freedom from wrongful persecution. Isn't that something that all people want and deserve?
What I'm saying is that if these people who "shouldn't" be friends can get along and live within the same community together, why can't the leaders of a nation who are trained to cooperate with each other? It's because of our unwillingness to let go of our prejudices. A good relationship can not exist without communication and understanding. There ARE ways for United States and the Middle East to not only co-exist and work together, but they have to be willing to get to know each other's perspectives first.
After watching this video, I personally don't think that we can coexist. Like you said, this world is a "dog eat dog" world. Everyone strives and competes to be the best at whatever they do. Everyone wants to possess as much as they can and have more than everyone. I don't think it will be possible for our countries to coexist. We have too many differences and views on topics and we will never come to terms with each other. Our country is too greedy and too egotistic. Other countries may be able to coexist with us but I don't think we can coexist with another country because greed, pride, and power are all too strong of things for our country to give up.
I think that we can only hope to be able to coexist in the (hopefully) near future, but if it were possible then why wouldn’t we have done that so many centuries ago? I think something like that would require someone to “be the bigger man” and step down, hopefully creating a domino effect that will show other, more hostile nations, that it really is possible for us to coexist and not need to kill people for trivial reasons like materials, or religion. But something like this sounds too much like a fairy tale, so I doubt it will ever happen.
I think peaceful coexistence is a possibility but maybe its my naiveness talking. I want to think we can one day understand each other as a world population instead of just national ones. But just as families want the best for their children, Citizens want the best for their country's citizens. This idea of nepotism can stretch globally. We will always favor the ones closest to us and some people will do extreme things in order for them and those close to them to remain in power.
Wow, that’s a really good question. Well, I’m not sure if we can coexist because if feel like both sides really don’t understand what other completely. How do we even try attempt to achieve some kind of peace between us? I mean, if I’m not mistaken, terrorists will only be happy when we’re dead.
I think that there are people on both sides that are trying to sympathetic and/or understanding. Because not every one in America or in the Middle East is so hot headed and angry. I feel like the Muslim religion has been horribly transformed into something just purely awful. It’s sad that not all Americans realize that not all Muslims are terrorists and the Muslim religion was actually incredible during the times of the Christian crusades. Though they did fight for Jerusalem, they spared Christian lives and accepted the Christian and Jewish prophets and holy books. This causes so much confusion, that terrorist would completely ignore this idea or maybe it is just Americans is who they hate, but why. I’m not totally sure but I believe that the people that are the terrorists in those regions, we brain washed when they were young and then grow up angry. But I can’t really say what has happened to “some” of Muslims that now believe that everyone is an “infidel” and should be murdered. There is really a lot of animosity and its spreading like wild fire. I feel like it is clear to them that we need oil but I don’t feel like they care, but then again I would have no idea of the lies that have been feed by their leaders.
I think that because there is so much oppression in some regions, brainwashing, or people who just want to follow their faith and are scared of the unknown Americans running around with guns. I highly doubt that every one there knows the real exact reason why we occupy those areas or even the reason we claim to be why we are there. I think its pretty obvious to us that we are there for oil and we are running out and/or trying to bring democracy…. Which is pretty coincidental since we weren’t paying all the much attention to them all this time.
Also, I feel like in a rural area, where people don’t speak our language would be frightened of some strange soldier walking around with a gun. We seem like the unwelcome invaders to them.
This looks like a seriously confusing mess to me. I can’t really comprehend how we got to this point on either side. Both have really peaceful people and people fueled by hatred that has a very shaky foundation. I understand if a loved was murdered but I don’t see how you can hate an entire country, but the person and maybe the group that thinks like that person, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be coexisting any time soon.
I think that a peaceful coexistence is not possible. I think there will always be powerful countries trying to overcome less powerful ones either for natural resources or some other benefit. For example the United States has NOT been at war for 30 something years of its history since the birth of our nation. Don't get me wrong i'd like to see a peaceful co-existence, but as long as a country can sustain itself by itself I think there will always be military engagements. Our nation was built on us not being able to peacefully co-existence with England or any other nation that had created colonies in America.
Can we coexist/ man that is a deep question and a hard one to answer. With the attitudes of American being the Supreme Beings I honestly do not believe we can. I mean I am optimistic person and in my heart I believe we can; however, it may be too late. I mean yes I am a Christian but I do not support the attack on Muslim Arabs for oil. This notion of a dog eat world is true among our American culture, and it is sad. I guess the way the Europeans came over here and stole the land from the Native Americans is reinventing its self in to the crusade for oil in the Middle East. I hate that we live in a world like this, I really do. It is like I feel like a traitor because I understand how Arab Muslims feel. You know with all the America is great and we are the best and all the pride and other things. I feel bad to be an American. I mean I always say that you should always do your research before you believe everything you see and hear, but this is crazy really crazy. I mean that is how I feel about Arab Muslims but we as Americans too should do it also, I mean our government said out loud that there was a war for oil, oil! I mean where they do that at. Sorry to be so blunt but that is BULLSHIT! Everyone else may think that what Sam says is bullshit but not this. This is the truth and I hope everyone shall see it. It is the realest thing I’ve ever heard. I just hope everyone takes it to heart. And as for changing the place of Arab Muslims eye opening, because what if it were the other way around how would we feel about us coming in over some bullshit. It almost makes me want to be on their side, I mean not in the extermination of Americans but, how they feel Americans not all but the ones who are on this crusade. And I guess us as Americans got this feeling of us being the supreme beings from gaining our independence from England, and building our army and being the world’s super power. I think we need to get our act together before something really really bad happens, because if we are the world’s role models we need to start acting like it. This is more than just like over whelming it is hurtful that I am apart or viewed by people I do not even know as one of these ignorant Americans that do know anything about anything who wants to take over there people for my own ill means
I think we can, but at a cost. We have a lot of conveniences in modern American society that we could not have if it weren't at the expense of other people. We can get oil from different sources but there are costs in labor, processing time, quality and environmental and ecological safety. We can get cheap clothes and mass produced goods but its at the cost of cheap labor somewhere in the world that comes at the cost of quality of life for those people. We can get food that takes a lot of resources to produce but if everyone in the world ate like we did the earth would not be able to sustain it.
Can we coexist? I don’t know. I think it is very optimistic to think so. I think our cultures are so different and that coexisting would risk changing one or the other or both. Personally I would hope that some day we could live together in peace, but sometimes war is the answer. I understand why the Arab people are angry, but now that we have placed ourselves in this problem, acting like it is over would be insulting. We should try and understand each other, but understanding is difficult when money (aka oil) is at stake. In the end money, or the opportunity for advancement is really the dividing factor.
I think that at some point in the very distant future yes it is possible for us to coexist but I think it will take a lot and it will not come easy. Getting along is another story completely I don’t think that it will ever happen. There will always be people that hate others for whatever reason they decide is the right and just reason. And there will always be people that just want to start trouble. And there will also be the people that want what someone else has and try to take it by whatever means necessary.
So, I believe that this is the question: Given the new found information (at least for many people) that Sam's class brought to light the other day, can we coexist with Muslims in a way that our economy can still thrive? And I'd say, just based off that question, no. Very plainly your question implies that there is an "Us" vs. "Them" and we want to protect us, not caring about what it does to them. It's unfortunate but that the world we live in. We can never coexist in the world peacefully because there are too few people who put the interests of others before themselves. I am like you in the sense that I do not support crusades either. In fact, being a Christian, and believing in the Bible as the word of God I'm still confused as to how to interpret the mass amount of violence condoned in the Old Testament. It's all one book, but there is a difference in the time frame, and I'd like to believe that there is a time and place for everything and God had a reason for everything he commanded. Still, when plans are created to deploy men to engage in a battle similar to the things that happened during previous times, I don't see their relevance now. That's even from my side. Now yesterday's class was very eye opening because in spite of what I want to believe about myself, I'm in an environment where we judge people we don't even know, people so far away from us that, like you said, "have a whole entire life we know nothing about" but we think we know them and their motives and they must have an unjustified dislike for us as Americans. And as Americans, we have the power right now. So we can get more for ourselves to sustain our images or thoughts of better safe than sorry and we do it with very little backlash or pushback, because the people (us!) who are most powerful are not complaining. Honestly, I would have to say that I don’t know another way of life and wouldn’t know what to change even if I wanted to. Still, I inherently know that it’s not ok to kill someone as long as our livelihood is intact. But we do it every day. And most of the time, it's not even related to oil. In fact, yes maybe this war may be over oil, but a lot of the torture we inflict upon countries everyday deal with things that we use and take advantage of not even knowing the background of where we get these things. We consistently rape countries of its beautiful qualities and possessions and claim it as ours and we care less about how they are left in the wreckage. I want to feel guilty, but I also know that as hard as I try, I haven't tried hard enough to let go of some of the liberties I indulge in as an American. So it has nothing to do with them being Muslim, it has to do with them being different, and no we can't coexist when we put ourselves before another human being. Period.
I am not sure if coexistence is the big issue. I think that we need to put religion aside in order to “coexist” I guess or just not judge people unless we really know them. However, I do know that we stereotype and generalize groups of people because it helps us simplify the world. Otherwise, our minds would be overwhelmed. This makes me think of religion and how it is good and bad at the same time. It is good because it helps keep a sort of social order in the world. It is bad, though, because it brings about stereotypes and hatred and competition between groups of people as seen with these crusaders.
I believe that what people want is to co-exist, and that is everyone’s overall goal. However, I don’t believe that the people will ever achieve the goal of co-existence without violence. I believe that people are just too afraid of things they don’t fully comprehend and they won’t be able to live with that fear inside themselves. If the people don’t learn how to understand other people and have that fear go away than I can’t see people co-existing. I don’t necessarily believe it’s about the oil that the United States is getting from the middle east as I believe it’s about us not understanding other cultures.
Does a bear shit in the woods? Yes. Does a bear wish he could shit on a toilet? Yes, more and more each day. These are my thoughts on the possibilities of co-existing in a world with people of the Muslim religion. It is highly likely that we could co-exist, on Mars. I believe this because the one thing separating the Middle East and us is an ocean. Are there oceans on Mars? No. That is why to survive on Mars we would need to band together to fight the evilness of an oxygen-less world. One can only hope that one day we will co-exist with Muslims on the Red Planet. But can we co-exist on this world, being Earth, no. We can’t exist because our cultures are too different and too far apart to ever mesh together smoothly. Sure a little bit of our culture is able to stick together. Such as Muslims in America or Americans in the Middle East.
Coexistence would require a lower quality of life for every American. Leveling the playing field so that every human being’s quality of life was equal would mean that every human being would be poor by today’s American standards. In order to have the immense prosperity that we have in this country, those in other countries must suffer. Our massive military doesn’t protect the US as much as it protects US “interests”. This means protecting our economic supremacy. We invaded Iraq because Saddam was threatening to trade oil in another currency. A decade ago, oil in the Middle East was almost exclusively traded in the US dollar. This means that in order for any country to buy oil from the Middle East, they first had to buy US treasury notes in order to purchase the oil. Saddam began making moves towards trading oil in Japanese Yen, 9/11 conveniently took place shortly after giving us the premise to invade Afghanistan, and with Iraq only a stones throw away and harboring an immense stockpile of WMDs we invaded Iraq. Guess who doesn’t trade oil in the US dollar anymore. Iran.
It is a dog eat dog world. The US is the biggest, meanest dog on the planet. If you poke it with a stick, you are going to get mauled. Don’t be fooled by our charity, it is a masquerade used to maintain power and hide our global dictatorial authority. We may not necessarily need oil from the Middle East right now, but we may need it in the future, so we have taken the necessary steps to protect that “interest”.
Coexistence could occur in the future if Obama’s agenda persists. He would like to pass Cap and Trade. This is the invention of the Carbon Tax. Basically, each nation has industry that pumps out so much greenhouse gasses into the air each year. Cap and Trade would require those nations that pumped out more carbon than smaller nations to pay the smaller nations a fee for pumping out excess carbon. Essentially, this policy would link the economies of the world in an unprecedented manner. All manufacturing would be directly linked. This is one crucial step toward world government, and only with a world government could war be eliminated.
Mortimer Adler, a philosopher, has said that one world government is absolutely necessary. He has made the observation that the larger societies have become, the fewer wars have occurred. This is because societies protect themselves, and seek to conquer others. By this logic, the fewer the number of societies, the fewer the wars, until there is only one society remaining. Here is a question: if there were just one society, what would replace national pride?
I feel like no matter where you go in the world there will be people judging others. From high school to jobs to traveling abroad, there will be people to judge others. We have been coexisting for a very long time so I don’t know why we would not coexist now. I understand that the world would be a better place with no judgment but the realistic view is that it isn’t going to happen so why bother. Americans/ Christians judge other countries and religions just as other religions judge them. Everyone judges, it is a way of life… unfortunately.
Yes, I believe there should be a way of co-existing, in other words, living with harmony. Even though the harmony might not be perfect mainly because of cultural difference, we should try to minimize the cultural conflict (or gap). It was Missouri compromise which reduced bad noise of North vs. South in U.S. history. By the way, I am not implying such compromise was a great deal, I am just seeing it from the conflict resolution perspective. But it seems like it will be very hard to achieve such thing. Yes, easier to say, harder to be done. Just one thought though – what if radical religious people are kind of reduced and the religious exchange is going between Christianity and Islam? I mean many leaders use the religion as the biggest reason for propaganda purpose.
I think that we could coexist but first we need to realize the Muslim world is different and we know too little of their culture. we need to remember that our policies have been heavily geared toward getting the oil and not in garnering good relations. after world war 2 the British divided up the middle east according to the oil surveys they had conducted before and during the war. that is how Israel and other countries were formed. this is the way our country has dealt with that region of the world for decades and people see us as bad for changing the culture and the priorities of the people there. I think we could coexist if we just decided to find alternate methods of fuel as this would make the middle east an area that doesn't matter to us as a resource but as another region of the world we deal with as equals.
This is actually funny because I had this conversation with my friend while we were at lunch together today. We were just wondering how the world became the way it is. Like, this whole thing is over something so stupid. I mean, we know people have their differences, but if we were all put on this world together, it means we were supposed to coexist in the first place. And the whole oil thing? It doesn’t even have to be oil. It could be something even smaller than that and everyone would still be blowing up places and hunting people down. My friend and I were discussing how selfish people really are. We don’t know if it is because we are naïve, but really—why can’t we all just get along? It is frustrating to know that these wars are over some kind of materialistic entity such as oil. At one point, we were taught in kindergarten (yes, I said it—KINDERGARTEN) to share. My friend told me at one point, our country did have good relations with the countries that we go to war with today, but sometime during that relationship, “shady shit” went down. How can you ruin a relationship so fast by something like wanting more oil or something along those lines? I mean, just trade because you care about the well-being of the world—not because we want more than someone can give. Are we not taught that giving is better than taking anyway? This concept does not just apply to Christmas and it does not apply just to the United States. It is a worldly concept and should be recognized. We both just discussed how much easier if people were not as selfish as they are right now. It would also be easier for the rest of the world if there were not any desires to want something more and more. For example, power can turn someone who was good into someone who becomes hungry for more that it harms the people they did good to in the first place. Leaders would not exist without their people, so why drive them away by being like that? Coexistence is a concept everyone is taught all their lives. Accept other people’s differences and to do good for other people. We are taught this simple concept when we were toddlers. Now, why don’t we just apply that concept now and keep it instead of think of it as a concept we learned when we were that young? If we are talking about these kinds of subjects, ones that children do not understand, then why don’t we act likes adults and apply that concept if these children who don’t understand can do it so easily.
I think that we could coexist if we as humans were not selfish in some of our ways. We are much different from other countries and cultures as Americans and because we have so many luxuries that many people in other countries dont they consider Americans to be spoiled. America uses alot of oil and fuel which they get from other countries. I dont know if we can coexist with others because no matter how much you may try there will be violence somewhere between someone over anything. It would be nice to see everyone live in peace and harmony, is it possible? maybe, will it happen? most likely it never will. The ignorance of man can sometimes be a downfall, we all judge others and other races day by day.
I do not really understand what the girl in the video means by "can we co-exist?" seeing as I think it is obvious that we can just by the simple fact that both worlds or whatever you want to call them have been on this earth together for centuries. Saying "I don't want to be in a crusade" doesn't really adhere to anything resembling an understanding of what's going on overseas or what Sam talked about in lecture. The crusades is a reference to the holy war that went on between Christians and Muslims centuries ago, it is not applicable to today's conflict from the perspective of Americans and other developed nation. The reason the crusade reference works is because from the perspective of the Muslim world these series of US initiated conflicts are the result of the desire of the Christian world annihilating the Muslim people for the sake of their desire for oil. Sam's point is that when you look at it from that perspective it allows you to understand why people would unite and attempt to kill U.S. soldiers or even citizens. Of course when you look at things from another perspective in almost every sect or group opinion or historical conflict, it makes sense from that perspective, but it does not really justify it anymore. The fact that the Muslim world thinks this is some kind of attempted religious extermination is absurd; all it does is show how skewed their perspective of how the world works actually is. These are third world countries for a reason. However Sam's insinuation that this is a war about taking your Oil is much more reasonable and probably not far from the truth. I never quite bought the perspective that Bush in his infinite wisdom organized this assault on Muslim nations in order to gain control of the worlds oil supplies because these are the same people who were calling Bush an incompetent daddy's boy; so I don't know how you could think someone so "unintelligent" could pull off such an elaborate con on the American people. There is much to say about our continued spread into the Muslim world and I for one have never really understood any of our attempted liberations of these people. I think the United States would be better off in times of struggle domestically not throwing billions of dollars at some war that really wouldn't exist if not for us and has absolutely nothing to do with us. We are separated by thousands of miles of ocean but yet we keep giving the Muslim world more and more reason to hate us. Whether they're justified in hating us or having some perspective of a new crusade initiative it doesn't matter we are putting ourselves and our troops in increasingly unnecessary danger. The best way to coexist with a culture that is so different and seemingly in conflict with ours is to stay the the hell out of it.
I think that as of right now we cannot coexist because too much has happened, and I think both sides are afraid to let their guard down for fear of what might happen. The United States is in their country right now killing their people for oil; many of them are standing by as their friends and family die. Until we resolve this issue of oil, and stop invading their countries we will not be able, to coexist. After all, it is human nature to have that get him before he gets me mentality. If we continue to think way neither one of us will exist for much longer.
This is definitely a great topic. I think the idea that we can all co-exist is always there and always desired, yet not necessarily manageable. I think it will always be difficult for so many cultures to coexist without conflict. As humans we strive to be better people but in the end we are always subject to our own worst qualities. We are never satisfied and always want more or to be better than our opponents or even our allies. It’s very shameful indeed, but pride, greed and stubbornness are a handful of all too common yet inevitable human characteristics. It is what makes human act the way they do and it’s sad. I don’t think that people understand the beauty of coexistence. It is a matter of opening one’s eyes and perspective of the world to understand and respect the cultures of other people. Regardless of one’s faith or belief, this can be done for each and every person. I come from different countries in Africa and I know exactly what it’s like to have strangers come from the other side of the world to take the sources, the treasure and the wealth of other people’s land. Unfortunately, all the countries in Africa have faced and are still facing these horrible actions. You would think or believe that people or countries are supposed to love, respect and help each other, but that is not the case on this earth. Everyone is thinking of themselves. From my knowledge the United States has been one of the main countries that goes around to different countries to fight for something that does not belong to them. Just for the Hell of it or just because they want to have more of what they have, and if at first the country they are trying to invade does not compromise with them, they end up using force, in other words; weapons and it starts a war…all that for “POWER” everytime I think about it, it makes me sick. I am sure that the United States isn’t the only country doing that, but again it’s the main one that’s been doing it forever and it’s pathetic. The U.S. government needs to make some amends and really look at the way that they’re dealing with their international relations. Misunderstandings causes people to jump to conclusions, which causes chaos. We live in a world where survival of the fittest exists. I believe that either way this world will never change, peoples’s minset is made up already. The United States, has lots of things to work on just like some other countires. They need to be more aware of their surroundings and more caring and less Selfish because it will bring nothing but Hatred amongs each other.
I think peaceful coexistence is a possibility but maybe its my naiveness talking. I want to think we can one day understand each other as a world population instead of just national ones. But just as families want the best for their children, Citizens want the best for their country's citizens. This idea of nepotism can stretch globally. We will always favor the ones closest to us and some people will do extreme things in order for them and those close to them to remain in power.
I can answer how we can judge other people we don't even know. It's because we don't know them. We fear the unknown. I highly reccomend watching the documentary "The Anatomy of Hate" it does a pretty good job of explaining why humans hate one another. I was always baffled by this topic as well. The unknown is scary. Hard to deny it. Honestly though with the flow of technology nowadays that shouldn't be the case. Our reach is endless and yet we are still scared of those we don't understand and don't take the time to learn. Which is ridiculous. But people can end up set in their ways. I'm sure psychology has studied how long it takes for humans to learn habits. Once those are set, what else are we to do? Not to sound like I want to brainwas children but acceptance should be taught early on. Yes parents will be against it for awhile but that's how it has to start. Start with your children and your family and let it grow and blossom out. Pay it forward. Then we can coexist.
I think that it is almost impossible for us to co-exist in this world. Every country is striving and working for their own good. Most of the time we do not stop to think about how our actions are affecting others around us because we are happy and getting what we need. We are human and we will always be striving for perfection and we will pretty much do whatever we can to get it. We are killing people in Afghanistan because we want their oil, well we are killing and enslaving so many other people in this world because we want their goods too. So I do not think it is possible for us to all co-exist because we are too greedy and stubborn to compromise.
I’m going to go back to a very old saying that I have known since I can remember which is “Anything is possible” because truly we can figure out a way it’s just a matter if we want to conform or go through the efforts to change. The problem is we, as Americans; don’t really feel like changing the way we do things unless it is progressive. The new industries being developed for green energy is actually really helping America right now because we are creating a lot of research and therefore the research is then sold to other countries. The problem is we became so dependent on oil and we are having trouble coming off of it. Also we have plenty of oil in the United States specifically in Alaska that we are barely even touching just in case we can’t get the oil from here anymore. It is allowing us to have some leverage and not allowing other countries to shut us down by not selling us oil. It is possible for us to co-exist because I believe we are going to become less and less dependent on oil the problem is there is a rumor it’s not even about oil for the war but the watershed located there because in the near future water suppose to be the scarce resource.
I do not know if we can co exist with Muslims. I believe that we do not need their oil if we would keep implementing better energy policies. The more energy efficient we become, the less oil we need and the less oil they sell. They need our money as much as we need our oil. Although it is hard to imagine if we just pulled out all of our troops from the Middle East, and get rid of the embassies and military bases, would the Middle East still hate Americans? I still feel like they would, even if we like put up a wall between us and didn’t try to wrong the Middle East in any way.
This was my favorite class of the year so far. It completely opened my mind to the Muslim world and our relations with them. I will admit that before class, I was all about Americans and our presence in Iraq. After 9/11, it was hard for me to look at a Muslim and not feel some kind of hatred for what “their people” did to this country. I was not educated and felt this way because of American pride and biased opinions. I realize now that I can have pride, but I need to be educated and I need to be open minded when dealing with these issues. This class completely blew my mind as to how I could be so one sided without knowing the other side and where they were coming from. Sam made me realize that this war is two sided and I now understand why people could be so “crazy” to want to kill themselves for their country in retaliation against another. As for my opinions about war, I think we should have bombed them in search of missiles and Osama Bin Laden. However, after we did not find any weapons of mass destruction, I think we should have got out. It is not our place to invade foreign land and tell them how to run their country. When Sam had us pretend to be in their shoes, I felt mad at Americans for invading Iraq, “my country”. They were taking my oil for their own benefit. How is that fair? As a hypothetical citizen of Iraq, I was mad. I can now see where this hatred comes from. When Sam told us about the Chinese coming into America and taking Pennsylvania’s coal, I was very mad. That was not fair and how could I not feel some kind of hatred towards them, they were coming into my country and taking my resources for their benefit. If I was an American back then, I would have to say I would fight back. Fast forward to present day, putting myself in their shoes, I think the Muslims have every right to fight back. Of course being an American citizen I would not want them to, but that would be hypocritical. How can I sit here being a United States citizen and get mad at the people of Iraq when I would have been mad in the same situation against the Chinese years ago. I think that in order to co-exist, we need to remove military from Iraq. That would be my first step. There is no need to put our soldiers in danger anymore. I think this would ease tensions between the countries. This would only be the first step of many. In the future, we might be able to co-exist, but for now, no I don’t think we can.
Unfortunately, I do not think that we can coexist. Although I wish it could be possible, I do not think it is realistic. I think there are two main reasons why we can never coexist. One, is competition—competition for money, power, resources. The second reason is religion.
Each religion has their own God, and each religion believes their God is the greatest one. Coexistence cannot happen unless people understand other people’s religions. They do not necessarily have to agree with them, but just understand and accept them. So many wars have been fought, and religion in some way or another has been involved. People justify violence and war by saying that God is telling them to fight. I am not saying that religion is the only factor—but it is definitely one of them.
Up above one of the comments started off as, I don't know if co-exist is in the worlds dictionary. I agree with that statement. As much as I wish and hope and would like to believe it is, is it really? Will there every come a day that we will get a long with everyone, and we won't be killing people to take their oil to operate our own country? I highly doubt it. I feel as if as individuals in American we can not get past our own ways mindset. Coexisting would be a great achievement for myself and for our country. If everyone could get on the right track and at least start realizing people have other religions but yeah were still the same in multiple ways. We do not all have to be best friend with each other but at least understand them and realize the good they are doing instead of focusing on the harm they could potentially be causing. I think this is just a dream that we wish would come true, but it would be a great dream if it did come true!
The sad truth is that it seems like it is a dog eat dog world we live into today. We say we are there for weapons of mass destruction, but the longer we stay in the war it seems we might just be there for oil. Are killing off Muslims because we need oil? If that is the case then we must be sick. How can we go to a whole nation start killing off their people all in the name of oil or religion or whatever the real reason we are still in Middle East killing people? So can we co-exist? I don’t think so.
I think the question of coexistence is far from the reality and truth of what and how this world operates. It’s always a “dog eat dog world” and no country can shift that perception around. The United States’ determination to seek oil resources in the Middle East is just a mere fraction of what other “goods” we also take advantage of from other countries. Weather the class was centered around Christian crusades and the mentality that all American Christians are after the same goal in mind when it comes to war with the Middle East—oil. The issue is clear that we have made others suffered because we have made a product our priority and not the people. We have altered our views and the repercussions that may rise from war and destruction. Various videos and films in class have proven this point that coexistence is so far a reach, that it’s almost deemed impossible to achieve.
I felt Dr. Sam made several key points in class about war and peace, but I don’t think religion, whether Muslim or Christianity has an overbearing influence why we went to war. There are a lot of biases from his standpoint where he claims that almost all Christian Americans made the decision to go to war with Iran and decided the alterative motive was for their oil. How can fighting, killing, and destroying someone’s land and people be a wise way to win over a resource that is buried deep down in the ground? I just don’t think that makes any sense to me. I almost feel like questioning where are we going with this? What kind of conclusion is going to come out from these causalities? None—we can simply sugarcoat the ugliness and the truth of it all, because in reality we cannot coexist with another country unless they are defeated by the United States. Coexisting becomes “forced” where one side is basically pulled into submission, in this case, oil would be the biggest compromise. After all, we are a selfish country, but for that matter any country can be. When it comes to seeking something that we find valuable and profitable, why wouldn’t anyone try to take an advantage over it? It’s almost insane to think about someone else before yourself. Like what Dr. Sam mentioned earlier on this semester, when it comes time to saving your child or someone else’s, you would save your child first. So in this case, when the United States is considering the pros and the cons between war and peace, they are more likely to see the greater benefits and profits from war than peace. Coexisting is a question for the defeated ones, not a question that the United States of America should have to worry about.
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Actually we don’t need their oil to survive. The truth of the matter is that we get the vast majority of our oil elsewhere (ie Canada), but we certainly (in politician’s minds) would like to have control over their oil for obvious income purposes. Anyway, do I think we can coexist? Probably not. Why? Because greed, stubbornness and pride are a handful of all too common yet unavoidable human characteristics that when they are at their best rise us to the top but when they are at their worst drag us right back down. It is what makes us human and is why we will continue to be as we are.
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slimshady62 Reply:
April 16th, 2010 at 11:40 pm
This is a great comment. The fact of the matter is that if not oil, than something else. As humans we strive to be better people but in the end we are always subject to our own worst qualities. We are selfish and money-driven, and as long as their is some "oil" in a place where we feel like we can have it we will continue to kill and plunder until we get what we want. It is sad and depressing but I mean if you look back at history it has always been that way. The only difference is we know have such a shift in power/money in some countries that technology is available to literally destroy or invade any country at our discretion. And as long as we continue to live in our own countries, sheltered from the realities that face most other nations, it will always be this way…
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flippyfloppies Reply:
April 20th, 2010 at 4:57 am
I agree, our country doesn't need their oil to survive. But still, oil plays a large role in creating conflict between the Middle East and the US. That's why so many politicians are trying to come up with ways to 'decrease our dependence on foreign oil', like McCain said in the video clip. Maybe in a perfect world we could be able to find a miracle solution to this whole energy mess and eventually stop using Middle Eastern oil completely. Hopefully that will happen sometime in the future. But even if that does happen, we're always gonna be at war with somebody. It seems that the US feels obliged to be the watchdog of the world and stick its nose in other countries' business. So, I guess to answer your question: no, I don't think we will ever be able to coexist with everyone.
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I think it will always be difficult for so many cultures to coexist without conflict. I believe it is fundamental human nature to want to be in "first place". Therefore, if countries and cultures believe that they need to eradicate or conflict with others in order to achieve that goal, they will. There is always going to be competition for resources and when one group of people sees another group with something they want, they will find a way to get it. Maybe that’s through trade and economic cooperation or through conquest, but people find a way to get the things that they want.
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I think the idea that we can all co-exist is always there and always desired, yet not necessarily attainable. I think with so many different cultures living together within the same continents, countries, or even states, one culture will always innately need to prove that they are better, stronger or more powerful and try to take control of other cultures to become an authority figure. Look at the U.S. for example. While we try to play mediator to the entire world because we seem to think we “know better,” how much does our assistance always pay off. Look at Iraq for example? We threw our weight around because we are an international superpower, but how much have we really bettered their country?
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I'm not against using the military to effect change in countries that need help, but we need to do it for the right reasons. We could help countries that are starving, or do more things like we did in Haiti, but stay for the long term. If we chose to we could change the way the rest of the world sees us, we could actually help people and not because we have an agenda. I really don't know how much oil we get from Iraq, I read someones blog and they said that we get most of our oil from Canada. Even if we don't get our oil from Iraq it doesn't change the fact that we went to war for oil, if we aren't taking oil from Iraq we're probably controlling who does get it. If we want to co-exist we need to drop our agendas and help people just because they need help.
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I truthfully feel that each and every person on this world possesses the ability to co-exist with one another. It is a matter of opening one’s eyes and perspective of the world to understand and respect the cultures of other people. Regardless of one’s faith or creed, this can be done for each and every person. The problem is that too many people in our world have an ethnocentric view of the world where they feel as though their culture is better than that of other cultures. This is a flawed view in our world and is something that must be corrected because they world is much bigger than we think and consists of a wide range of religions, people, and cultures that we all can learn a great deal from.
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I think that “coexisting” is quite a tough thing to look at. I agree with a few of the comments that I think it is possible that we all have the ability to do it deep down inside of us. However, I think that it is really tough to accepting of other cultures, beliefs, religions, etc. whenever we have our own culture holding us back. It may be a “dog eat dog” world, but that is also a little about human nature. I feel like if we can teach younger generations to be accepting, then eventually people will start to change.
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I don’t see why there should be a problem with coexisting. I mean I know there is one and there will always be one, but if everyone could just get along the world would be a much more peaceful place. Most cultures, religions, and beliefs between people are different so there will never be that time where everyone can feel and see the same thing. I don’t think that people understand the beauty in coexistence. For example, Sam would not have to discuss and make people afraid of Christian Invaders if all people were the same and got along. Maybe it would just be considered invaders. Who knows? And sadly, I don’t think we ever will.
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I agree that it is crazy that we know nothing about most groups of people other than our own throughout the world. Despite this fact, we still continue to hate on other groups of people. You brought up a good point that people are discriminating against many groups of people and have hatred that is so deep for no apparent reason. We all have misconstrued conceptions about each other because we never gave other groups of people a fair chance to be represented when we learn about them and their cultures. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that it will be possible to coexist with other groups of people because people already have negative images of all types of people engrained in their mind.
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I would like to say that we can co-exist, but if that is possible, I’m not quite sure. I think that the U.S. government needs to make some amends and really look at the way that they’re dealing with their international relations. Also, there needs to be some serious image changing of the United States to the people in the Middle East, because as we saw in class, they do not see us how I’m sure many of us would like to be seen. Unfortunately, the United States has historically acted for its own gain and in the process has manipulated and abused the good values that all of us Americans stand for. I am a huge optimist in the fact that peace is possible, so I’m going to answer this question by saying yes, but I do think there needs to be some serious change in order to bring this peacefulness about.
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No. I think eventually we’ll be able to cooperate on a humane level with them, but there will always be misunderstandings, because we’re different cultures! We live our lives differently. Misunderstandings causes people to jump to conclusions, which causes chaos. People jump to conclusion in light of misunderstandings to create meaning and try and understand why the other side reacted the way they did. Unfortunately, the meanings that are created are biased and designed wearing the lenses of one’s own culture. If you don’t step outside your perspective to comprehend the reasons why people act the way they do there will always be turmoil.
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I don't think this is no longer possible. We live in a world where survival of the fittest exists. We need oil in the United States. It is as simple as that. If we don't have oil, life will not be the same. Cars wouldn't have gas, houses wouldn't be heated, and factories wouldn't produce the goods we need to survive. Oil is a necessity. Before 9/11 and the world on terrorism, the oil could have been easily traded between us and the middle east. Now that we are at war, the only way to obtain the oil is to steal it. I'm not saying I think this is right, but I think the United States is going to do what they have to do in order to survive. It really has nothing to do with the Muslim people, we just need oil. In my opinion, we need to rebuild what we have destroyed in Iraq and attempt to work out some sort of deal with oil trade. Even if this does work, the Middle East would charge billions of dollars for the oil and our economy would suck even more. Co-existing is definitely not possible when we have a lack of oil.
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yesec9 Reply:
April 16th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
i disagree completely, see my post below
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I don’t think co-exist is a term in the word’s dictionary. Come to think about it, when has the world ever co-existed in peace (or even near peace)? Even the bible (the holy book) is chucked full of wars and look how long ago did that happened. I think at this point in society co-existing is out of reach for many reasons.
The first being that, as a planet I feel like it’s not so much that we don’t like each other. I’ve been alive for 19 years and I’ve met only a handful of racists/ overly patriotic people. Which leads me to believe that it’s not countries we hate, we as people just hate when people have more resources than us. For example, if the United States was not able to go into Iraq to get the oil, we get into a war and throw around terms like “Americans fighting terrorists” (which is the case at times) and “Religion” (Muslims/ Christians) so we make up this whole war surrounding religion, weapons of mass destruction, and whatever else we can think of but it’s really about oil. And as long as there is not enough oil for everyone (which is the case) then we will never be able to co-exist because every country will be fighting each other in order to get to the oil. And it’s not just oil, its everything-computers, televisions, cars, everyone from every country wants these things but it’s nearly impossible for every country to have the “American” lifestyle.
Which leads me to believe that there has to be some kind of alternative that we can come up with as a planet where everyone would have a chance to use resources fairly. Like as Americans, do we really need all this stuff that advertisers are constantly shoving down our throats? Of course, I wouldn’t be willing to give up all of my possessions, but a few things I can defiantly do without if it means other people having more in their life. And I’m sure there are other people from wealthy nations that have the same thinking. Besides, Sam Says that even the poorest American is richer than 2/3 of the world, so there is defiantly something that each and every one of us can do.
I think that second thing we need to do as a society is just be more exposed and informed about the issues. Before taking Sam’s class I knew about some of the topics he talked about but others I never even heard about or thought about and some issues were brought into a new light. If everyone could take a class like this some point in their education, preferably seniors in high school or college students then there would be more awareness about the issues and what needs to be done in order to help fix them for a more “co-existing” world.
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First off, I can tell you right now, we don't NEED their oil. We don't need their oil any more or less than we need the Canadians' or Saudis' or Iraqis' or anyone else's oil. Our government and our society in general has made the collective decision to base our entire economies on oil. We could do with a whole lot less. Cutting our consumption in half or even three quarters is completely doable. For one, our zoning laws often require the separation of uses (retail must be segregated away from residential in most places) to the degree that we see today which has helped cause us having to drive miles for anything. State College is unique in this regard that you can get by without a car; international students on this forum take note of this, and realize that 80% of America's is NOT designed in this low energy intensity manner, and much of America that IS designed this way has been abandoned for the more "desirable" (a SUBJECTIVE term through and through) suburbs. You can see it in inner city Philadelphia for example, if you were to replace the poverty with middle class citizens with the same density, many people could get by just taking the bus or walking. That is a huge chunk of our consumption and in my opinion is a huge misallocation of resources.
A large chunk of our oil budget powers the U.S. Military. Yes, the same military that is there to defend the flow of oil to the U.S. is consuming a large chunk for themselves. Not only is it oppressive around the world but it is a huge drain on our AND the rest of the world's resources. If we didn't access foreign oil and instead relied on our own resources, our reserves would have been drained long ago (they are mostly gone anyway) and we would have no fuel to power our international military empire.
Perhaps I should mention the US trade deficit. Us Americans seem rich. But we really aren't. The average American has CLOSE TO ZERO or NEGATIVE household equity, correct me if I'm wrong. That is not called being rich. That is called living above your means. Half of the trade deficit is our oil imports. If we were forced to consume only what we produce, we'd all feel a heck of a lot poorer than we do now. We live in houses much too large for our needs. The average middle class family does not need 4000 square feet, or even 2500 for that matter. Just thought I'd throw that out there. But of course, we view our standard of living as the QUANTITY of things we have, not HAPPINESS and QUALITY of life.
People here hope for a co-existing world. I fear that it is impossible to achieve. I'm not saying this to be pessimistic, but it has been this way throughout human history and I hate to say this but it doesn't seem to me like we are moving towards global peace. In fact it seems the opposite. During 2008, when the recession was in full force, we still increased our military budget. I believe that this system will come crashing down at some point; I'm not going to put a time table on it because that is nearly impossible but it must occur eventually.
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Honestly, no, I do not think that we can coexist, which is really a shame to say. I agree that it is human nature to want to be in first place. I also think the reason we cant coexist is because some people are too stubborn and extreme. Everyone has different beliefs about religion and the god they pray or do not pray to. People need to get their head out of the clouds and realize this. I really saw eye to eye with Sam when he said no god would tell you to destroy the lives of others.
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Co-existing is possible, but not with the current world power structure. When one country thinks it has the power and role to maintain the rest of the world, conflict will always exist. In addition, when countries are focused on controlling resources and acquiring wealth, peace is highly unlikely. So if peace is truly the goal, power structures need to be dissolved and the world would need to develop equal global governance. Sure these things are highly unlikely, but I wouldn’t call them impossible. With the current violence the reality in much of the world, make power restructuring would need to occur.
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This was a real eye opening lecture, I agree. But, there are many things this lecture did not mention. It is very interesting to look at the war terror and the war in Iraq from this perspective. This is not the first time I though that the war in Iraq had a lot to do with American’s dependency on oil. It actually is obvious. Look at the Bush administration. The number one flashing evidence of the war in Iraq’s motives for oil is Bush himself. Bush made all of his money from the oil industry, what could be more obvious? Next in line, Dick Cheney. CEO of Halliburton, the second largest oilfield services corporation. I think it was quite obvious to the educated public that the Bush administration had a vested interest in something in Iraq beside Saddam Hussein and his alleged weapons of mass destruction. I also think it is important to bring up the early 1990’s Gulf War with Iraq. I think it is important to take into consideration that George H.W. Bush was in office during this war and could it be possible that his son George W. Bush wanted to settle Daddy’s unfinished business with Saddam Hussein and finally take him out of power in Iraq. Now, seven years later, we know that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction which makes our preemptive military strike even more obvious that we were interested in Iraqi oil. I consider myself a fairly liberal person. I generally am opposed to war, but I cannot say that I am opposed to the war in Iraq. I think it is unfair to say that we do not co-exist. We do co-exist in many places across the planet. But we also have found much conflict throughout the world. There are many reasons why I still do support the war in Iraq. No one can say that Saddam Hussein was not an evil dictator who bestowed years of terror and brutality on the Iraqi people. Saddam Hussein might not have been the immediate threat to the United States but he absolutely was a threat to international security and peace. We did the right thing by removing Saddam Hussein from power. Bu the primary reason I support the war in Iraq because I support Israel. Saddam Hussein was a threat to Israel. If he had had the capabilities to destroy Israel, I think he definitely would have. Personally, I believe it is the right thing to do to remove someone from power who wants to maliciously destroy another country. While I hope that in the near future all people, all religions and races can co-exist, at this point in time I can confidentially say that I would not want to co-exist with a man like Saddam Hussein.
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You made a good point that we live our entire lives over “here” without knowing a single thing about everyone else “over there.” What even sadder is that we are okay with it, too. Yes, we need oil from the Middle East, but we also get a good portion of our oil from Canada and South America, as well as other places. I think it goes deeper than that. I began to wonder to myself what would happen if political leaders were sitting in the lecture yesterday. What kind of impact would it have on them and their idea of the war. Clealry, the lecture had a huge effect on the class and really got people thinking.
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I want to think that people are truly able to co-exist even if they must share power and resources. Take a look at the people who live within any town or compare any of the chapters in Crossing the Boulevard. They may be worlds apart in their experience and their heritage, but nearly all of them voice the same concerns including the well-being of their families and freedom from wrongful persecution. Isn't that something that all people want and deserve?
What I'm saying is that if these people who "shouldn't" be friends can get along and live within the same community together, why can't the leaders of a nation who are trained to cooperate with each other? It's because of our unwillingness to let go of our prejudices. A good relationship can not exist without communication and understanding. There ARE ways for United States and the Middle East to not only co-exist and work together, but they have to be willing to get to know each other's perspectives first.
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After watching this video, I personally don't think that we can coexist. Like you said, this world is a "dog eat dog" world. Everyone strives and competes to be the best at whatever they do. Everyone wants to possess as much as they can and have more than everyone. I don't think it will be possible for our countries to coexist. We have too many differences and views on topics and we will never come to terms with each other. Our country is too greedy and too egotistic. Other countries may be able to coexist with us but I don't think we can coexist with another country because greed, pride, and power are all too strong of things for our country to give up.
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I think that we can only hope to be able to coexist in the (hopefully) near future, but if it were possible then why wouldn’t we have done that so many centuries ago? I think something like that would require someone to “be the bigger man” and step down, hopefully creating a domino effect that will show other, more hostile nations, that it really is possible for us to coexist and not need to kill people for trivial reasons like materials, or religion. But something like this sounds too much like a fairy tale, so I doubt it will ever happen.
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I think peaceful coexistence is a possibility but maybe its my naiveness talking. I want to think we can one day understand each other as a world population instead of just national ones. But just as families want the best for their children, Citizens want the best for their country's citizens. This idea of nepotism can stretch globally. We will always favor the ones closest to us and some people will do extreme things in order for them and those close to them to remain in power.
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Wow, that’s a really good question. Well, I’m not sure if we can coexist because if feel like both sides really don’t understand what other completely. How do we even try attempt to achieve some kind of peace between us? I mean, if I’m not mistaken, terrorists will only be happy when we’re dead.
I think that there are people on both sides that are trying to sympathetic and/or understanding. Because not every one in America or in the Middle East is so hot headed and angry. I feel like the Muslim religion has been horribly transformed into something just purely awful. It’s sad that not all Americans realize that not all Muslims are terrorists and the Muslim religion was actually incredible during the times of the Christian crusades. Though they did fight for Jerusalem, they spared Christian lives and accepted the Christian and Jewish prophets and holy books. This causes so much confusion, that terrorist would completely ignore this idea or maybe it is just Americans is who they hate, but why. I’m not totally sure but I believe that the people that are the terrorists in those regions, we brain washed when they were young and then grow up angry. But I can’t really say what has happened to “some” of Muslims that now believe that everyone is an “infidel” and should be murdered. There is really a lot of animosity and its spreading like wild fire. I feel like it is clear to them that we need oil but I don’t feel like they care, but then again I would have no idea of the lies that have been feed by their leaders.
I think that because there is so much oppression in some regions, brainwashing, or people who just want to follow their faith and are scared of the unknown Americans running around with guns. I highly doubt that every one there knows the real exact reason why we occupy those areas or even the reason we claim to be why we are there. I think its pretty obvious to us that we are there for oil and we are running out and/or trying to bring democracy…. Which is pretty coincidental since we weren’t paying all the much attention to them all this time.
Also, I feel like in a rural area, where people don’t speak our language would be frightened of some strange soldier walking around with a gun. We seem like the unwelcome invaders to them.
This looks like a seriously confusing mess to me. I can’t really comprehend how we got to this point on either side. Both have really peaceful people and people fueled by hatred that has a very shaky foundation. I understand if a loved was murdered but I don’t see how you can hate an entire country, but the person and maybe the group that thinks like that person, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be coexisting any time soon.
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I think that a peaceful coexistence is not possible. I think there will always be powerful countries trying to overcome less powerful ones either for natural resources or some other benefit. For example the United States has NOT been at war for 30 something years of its history since the birth of our nation. Don't get me wrong i'd like to see a peaceful co-existence, but as long as a country can sustain itself by itself I think there will always be military engagements. Our nation was built on us not being able to peacefully co-existence with England or any other nation that had created colonies in America.
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Can we coexist/ man that is a deep question and a hard one to answer. With the attitudes of American being the Supreme Beings I honestly do not believe we can. I mean I am optimistic person and in my heart I believe we can; however, it may be too late. I mean yes I am a Christian but I do not support the attack on Muslim Arabs for oil. This notion of a dog eat world is true among our American culture, and it is sad. I guess the way the Europeans came over here and stole the land from the Native Americans is reinventing its self in to the crusade for oil in the Middle East. I hate that we live in a world like this, I really do. It is like I feel like a traitor because I understand how Arab Muslims feel. You know with all the America is great and we are the best and all the pride and other things. I feel bad to be an American. I mean I always say that you should always do your research before you believe everything you see and hear, but this is crazy really crazy. I mean that is how I feel about Arab Muslims but we as Americans too should do it also, I mean our government said out loud that there was a war for oil, oil! I mean where they do that at. Sorry to be so blunt but that is BULLSHIT! Everyone else may think that what Sam says is bullshit but not this. This is the truth and I hope everyone shall see it. It is the realest thing I’ve ever heard. I just hope everyone takes it to heart. And as for changing the place of Arab Muslims eye opening, because what if it were the other way around how would we feel about us coming in over some bullshit. It almost makes me want to be on their side, I mean not in the extermination of Americans but, how they feel Americans not all but the ones who are on this crusade. And I guess us as Americans got this feeling of us being the supreme beings from gaining our independence from England, and building our army and being the world’s super power. I think we need to get our act together before something really really bad happens, because if we are the world’s role models we need to start acting like it. This is more than just like over whelming it is hurtful that I am apart or viewed by people I do not even know as one of these ignorant Americans that do know anything about anything who wants to take over there people for my own ill means
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I think we can, but at a cost. We have a lot of conveniences in modern American society that we could not have if it weren't at the expense of other people. We can get oil from different sources but there are costs in labor, processing time, quality and environmental and ecological safety. We can get cheap clothes and mass produced goods but its at the cost of cheap labor somewhere in the world that comes at the cost of quality of life for those people. We can get food that takes a lot of resources to produce but if everyone in the world ate like we did the earth would not be able to sustain it.
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Can we coexist? I don’t know. I think it is very optimistic to think so. I think our cultures are so different and that coexisting would risk changing one or the other or both. Personally I would hope that some day we could live together in peace, but sometimes war is the answer. I understand why the Arab people are angry, but now that we have placed ourselves in this problem, acting like it is over would be insulting. We should try and understand each other, but understanding is difficult when money (aka oil) is at stake. In the end money, or the opportunity for advancement is really the dividing factor.
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I think that at some point in the very distant future yes it is possible for us to coexist but I think it will take a lot and it will not come easy. Getting along is another story completely I don’t think that it will ever happen. There will always be people that hate others for whatever reason they decide is the right and just reason. And there will always be people that just want to start trouble. And there will also be the people that want what someone else has and try to take it by whatever means necessary.
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So, I believe that this is the question: Given the new found information (at least for many people) that Sam's class brought to light the other day, can we coexist with Muslims in a way that our economy can still thrive? And I'd say, just based off that question, no. Very plainly your question implies that there is an "Us" vs. "Them" and we want to protect us, not caring about what it does to them. It's unfortunate but that the world we live in. We can never coexist in the world peacefully because there are too few people who put the interests of others before themselves. I am like you in the sense that I do not support crusades either. In fact, being a Christian, and believing in the Bible as the word of God I'm still confused as to how to interpret the mass amount of violence condoned in the Old Testament. It's all one book, but there is a difference in the time frame, and I'd like to believe that there is a time and place for everything and God had a reason for everything he commanded. Still, when plans are created to deploy men to engage in a battle similar to the things that happened during previous times, I don't see their relevance now. That's even from my side. Now yesterday's class was very eye opening because in spite of what I want to believe about myself, I'm in an environment where we judge people we don't even know, people so far away from us that, like you said, "have a whole entire life we know nothing about" but we think we know them and their motives and they must have an unjustified dislike for us as Americans. And as Americans, we have the power right now. So we can get more for ourselves to sustain our images or thoughts of better safe than sorry and we do it with very little backlash or pushback, because the people (us!) who are most powerful are not complaining. Honestly, I would have to say that I don’t know another way of life and wouldn’t know what to change even if I wanted to. Still, I inherently know that it’s not ok to kill someone as long as our livelihood is intact. But we do it every day. And most of the time, it's not even related to oil. In fact, yes maybe this war may be over oil, but a lot of the torture we inflict upon countries everyday deal with things that we use and take advantage of not even knowing the background of where we get these things. We consistently rape countries of its beautiful qualities and possessions and claim it as ours and we care less about how they are left in the wreckage. I want to feel guilty, but I also know that as hard as I try, I haven't tried hard enough to let go of some of the liberties I indulge in as an American. So it has nothing to do with them being Muslim, it has to do with them being different, and no we can't coexist when we put ourselves before another human being. Period.
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I am not sure if coexistence is the big issue. I think that we need to put religion aside in order to “coexist” I guess or just not judge people unless we really know them. However, I do know that we stereotype and generalize groups of people because it helps us simplify the world. Otherwise, our minds would be overwhelmed. This makes me think of religion and how it is good and bad at the same time. It is good because it helps keep a sort of social order in the world. It is bad, though, because it brings about stereotypes and hatred and competition between groups of people as seen with these crusaders.
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I believe that what people want is to co-exist, and that is everyone’s overall goal. However, I don’t believe that the people will ever achieve the goal of co-existence without violence. I believe that people are just too afraid of things they don’t fully comprehend and they won’t be able to live with that fear inside themselves. If the people don’t learn how to understand other people and have that fear go away than I can’t see people co-existing. I don’t necessarily believe it’s about the oil that the United States is getting from the middle east as I believe it’s about us not understanding other cultures.
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Does a bear shit in the woods? Yes. Does a bear wish he could shit on a toilet? Yes, more and more each day. These are my thoughts on the possibilities of co-existing in a world with people of the Muslim religion. It is highly likely that we could co-exist, on Mars. I believe this because the one thing separating the Middle East and us is an ocean. Are there oceans on Mars? No. That is why to survive on Mars we would need to band together to fight the evilness of an oxygen-less world. One can only hope that one day we will co-exist with Muslims on the Red Planet. But can we co-exist on this world, being Earth, no. We can’t exist because our cultures are too different and too far apart to ever mesh together smoothly. Sure a little bit of our culture is able to stick together. Such as Muslims in America or Americans in the Middle East.
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Coexistence would require a lower quality of life for every American. Leveling the playing field so that every human being’s quality of life was equal would mean that every human being would be poor by today’s American standards. In order to have the immense prosperity that we have in this country, those in other countries must suffer. Our massive military doesn’t protect the US as much as it protects US “interests”. This means protecting our economic supremacy. We invaded Iraq because Saddam was threatening to trade oil in another currency. A decade ago, oil in the Middle East was almost exclusively traded in the US dollar. This means that in order for any country to buy oil from the Middle East, they first had to buy US treasury notes in order to purchase the oil. Saddam began making moves towards trading oil in Japanese Yen, 9/11 conveniently took place shortly after giving us the premise to invade Afghanistan, and with Iraq only a stones throw away and harboring an immense stockpile of WMDs we invaded Iraq. Guess who doesn’t trade oil in the US dollar anymore. Iran.
It is a dog eat dog world. The US is the biggest, meanest dog on the planet. If you poke it with a stick, you are going to get mauled. Don’t be fooled by our charity, it is a masquerade used to maintain power and hide our global dictatorial authority. We may not necessarily need oil from the Middle East right now, but we may need it in the future, so we have taken the necessary steps to protect that “interest”.
Coexistence could occur in the future if Obama’s agenda persists. He would like to pass Cap and Trade. This is the invention of the Carbon Tax. Basically, each nation has industry that pumps out so much greenhouse gasses into the air each year. Cap and Trade would require those nations that pumped out more carbon than smaller nations to pay the smaller nations a fee for pumping out excess carbon. Essentially, this policy would link the economies of the world in an unprecedented manner. All manufacturing would be directly linked. This is one crucial step toward world government, and only with a world government could war be eliminated.
Mortimer Adler, a philosopher, has said that one world government is absolutely necessary. He has made the observation that the larger societies have become, the fewer wars have occurred. This is because societies protect themselves, and seek to conquer others. By this logic, the fewer the number of societies, the fewer the wars, until there is only one society remaining. Here is a question: if there were just one society, what would replace national pride?
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I feel like no matter where you go in the world there will be people judging others. From high school to jobs to traveling abroad, there will be people to judge others. We have been coexisting for a very long time so I don’t know why we would not coexist now. I understand that the world would be a better place with no judgment but the realistic view is that it isn’t going to happen so why bother. Americans/ Christians judge other countries and religions just as other religions judge them. Everyone judges, it is a way of life… unfortunately.
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Yes, I believe there should be a way of co-existing, in other words, living with harmony. Even though the harmony might not be perfect mainly because of cultural difference, we should try to minimize the cultural conflict (or gap). It was Missouri compromise which reduced bad noise of North vs. South in U.S. history. By the way, I am not implying such compromise was a great deal, I am just seeing it from the conflict resolution perspective. But it seems like it will be very hard to achieve such thing. Yes, easier to say, harder to be done. Just one thought though – what if radical religious people are kind of reduced and the religious exchange is going between Christianity and Islam? I mean many leaders use the religion as the biggest reason for propaganda purpose.
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I think that we could coexist but first we need to realize the Muslim world is different and we know too little of their culture. we need to remember that our policies have been heavily geared toward getting the oil and not in garnering good relations. after world war 2 the British divided up the middle east according to the oil surveys they had conducted before and during the war. that is how Israel and other countries were formed. this is the way our country has dealt with that region of the world for decades and people see us as bad for changing the culture and the priorities of the people there. I think we could coexist if we just decided to find alternate methods of fuel as this would make the middle east an area that doesn't matter to us as a resource but as another region of the world we deal with as equals.
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This is actually funny because I had this conversation with my friend while we were at lunch together today. We were just wondering how the world became the way it is. Like, this whole thing is over something so stupid. I mean, we know people have their differences, but if we were all put on this world together, it means we were supposed to coexist in the first place. And the whole oil thing? It doesn’t even have to be oil. It could be something even smaller than that and everyone would still be blowing up places and hunting people down. My friend and I were discussing how selfish people really are. We don’t know if it is because we are naïve, but really—why can’t we all just get along? It is frustrating to know that these wars are over some kind of materialistic entity such as oil. At one point, we were taught in kindergarten (yes, I said it—KINDERGARTEN) to share. My friend told me at one point, our country did have good relations with the countries that we go to war with today, but sometime during that relationship, “shady shit” went down. How can you ruin a relationship so fast by something like wanting more oil or something along those lines? I mean, just trade because you care about the well-being of the world—not because we want more than someone can give. Are we not taught that giving is better than taking anyway? This concept does not just apply to Christmas and it does not apply just to the United States. It is a worldly concept and should be recognized. We both just discussed how much easier if people were not as selfish as they are right now. It would also be easier for the rest of the world if there were not any desires to want something more and more. For example, power can turn someone who was good into someone who becomes hungry for more that it harms the people they did good to in the first place. Leaders would not exist without their people, so why drive them away by being like that? Coexistence is a concept everyone is taught all their lives. Accept other people’s differences and to do good for other people. We are taught this simple concept when we were toddlers. Now, why don’t we just apply that concept now and keep it instead of think of it as a concept we learned when we were that young? If we are talking about these kinds of subjects, ones that children do not understand, then why don’t we act likes adults and apply that concept if these children who don’t understand can do it so easily.
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I think that we could coexist if we as humans were not selfish in some of our ways. We are much different from other countries and cultures as Americans and because we have so many luxuries that many people in other countries dont they consider Americans to be spoiled. America uses alot of oil and fuel which they get from other countries. I dont know if we can coexist with others because no matter how much you may try there will be violence somewhere between someone over anything. It would be nice to see everyone live in peace and harmony, is it possible? maybe, will it happen? most likely it never will. The ignorance of man can sometimes be a downfall, we all judge others and other races day by day.
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I do not really understand what the girl in the video means by "can we co-exist?" seeing as I think it is obvious that we can just by the simple fact that both worlds or whatever you want to call them have been on this earth together for centuries. Saying "I don't want to be in a crusade" doesn't really adhere to anything resembling an understanding of what's going on overseas or what Sam talked about in lecture. The crusades is a reference to the holy war that went on between Christians and Muslims centuries ago, it is not applicable to today's conflict from the perspective of Americans and other developed nation. The reason the crusade reference works is because from the perspective of the Muslim world these series of US initiated conflicts are the result of the desire of the Christian world annihilating the Muslim people for the sake of their desire for oil. Sam's point is that when you look at it from that perspective it allows you to understand why people would unite and attempt to kill U.S. soldiers or even citizens. Of course when you look at things from another perspective in almost every sect or group opinion or historical conflict, it makes sense from that perspective, but it does not really justify it anymore. The fact that the Muslim world thinks this is some kind of attempted religious extermination is absurd; all it does is show how skewed their perspective of how the world works actually is. These are third world countries for a reason. However Sam's insinuation that this is a war about taking your Oil is much more reasonable and probably not far from the truth. I never quite bought the perspective that Bush in his infinite wisdom organized this assault on Muslim nations in order to gain control of the worlds oil supplies because these are the same people who were calling Bush an incompetent daddy's boy; so I don't know how you could think someone so "unintelligent" could pull off such an elaborate con on the American people. There is much to say about our continued spread into the Muslim world and I for one have never really understood any of our attempted liberations of these people. I think the United States would be better off in times of struggle domestically not throwing billions of dollars at some war that really wouldn't exist if not for us and has absolutely nothing to do with us. We are separated by thousands of miles of ocean but yet we keep giving the Muslim world more and more reason to hate us. Whether they're justified in hating us or having some perspective of a new crusade initiative it doesn't matter we are putting ourselves and our troops in increasingly unnecessary danger. The best way to coexist with a culture that is so different and seemingly in conflict with ours is to stay the the hell out of it.
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I think that as of right now we cannot coexist because too much has happened, and I think both sides are afraid to let their guard down for fear of what might happen. The United States is in their country right now killing their people for oil; many of them are standing by as their friends and family die. Until we resolve this issue of oil, and stop invading their countries we will not be able, to coexist. After all, it is human nature to have that get him before he gets me mentality. If we continue to think way neither one of us will exist for much longer.
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This is definitely a great topic. I think the idea that we can all co-exist is always there and always desired, yet not necessarily manageable. I think it will always be difficult for so many cultures to coexist without conflict. As humans we strive to be better people but in the end we are always subject to our own worst qualities. We are never satisfied and always want more or to be better than our opponents or even our allies. It’s very shameful indeed, but pride, greed and stubbornness are a handful of all too common yet inevitable human characteristics. It is what makes human act the way they do and it’s sad. I don’t think that people understand the beauty of coexistence. It is a matter of opening one’s eyes and perspective of the world to understand and respect the cultures of other people. Regardless of one’s faith or belief, this can be done for each and every person. I come from different countries in Africa and I know exactly what it’s like to have strangers come from the other side of the world to take the sources, the treasure and the wealth of other people’s land. Unfortunately, all the countries in Africa have faced and are still facing these horrible actions. You would think or believe that people or countries are supposed to love, respect and help each other, but that is not the case on this earth. Everyone is thinking of themselves. From my knowledge the United States has been one of the main countries that goes around to different countries to fight for something that does not belong to them. Just for the Hell of it or just because they want to have more of what they have, and if at first the country they are trying to invade does not compromise with them, they end up using force, in other words; weapons and it starts a war…all that for “POWER” everytime I think about it, it makes me sick. I am sure that the United States isn’t the only country doing that, but again it’s the main one that’s been doing it forever and it’s pathetic. The U.S. government needs to make some amends and really look at the way that they’re dealing with their international relations. Misunderstandings causes people to jump to conclusions, which causes chaos. We live in a world where survival of the fittest exists. I believe that either way this world will never change, peoples’s minset is made up already. The United States, has lots of things to work on just like some other countires. They need to be more aware of their surroundings and more caring and less Selfish because it will bring nothing but Hatred amongs each other.
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I think peaceful coexistence is a possibility but maybe its my naiveness talking. I want to think we can one day understand each other as a world population instead of just national ones. But just as families want the best for their children, Citizens want the best for their country's citizens. This idea of nepotism can stretch globally. We will always favor the ones closest to us and some people will do extreme things in order for them and those close to them to remain in power.
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I can answer how we can judge other people we don't even know. It's because we don't know them. We fear the unknown. I highly reccomend watching the documentary "The Anatomy of Hate" it does a pretty good job of explaining why humans hate one another. I was always baffled by this topic as well. The unknown is scary. Hard to deny it. Honestly though with the flow of technology nowadays that shouldn't be the case. Our reach is endless and yet we are still scared of those we don't understand and don't take the time to learn. Which is ridiculous. But people can end up set in their ways. I'm sure psychology has studied how long it takes for humans to learn habits. Once those are set, what else are we to do? Not to sound like I want to brainwas children but acceptance should be taught early on. Yes parents will be against it for awhile but that's how it has to start. Start with your children and your family and let it grow and blossom out. Pay it forward. Then we can coexist.
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I think that it is almost impossible for us to co-exist in this world. Every country is striving and working for their own good. Most of the time we do not stop to think about how our actions are affecting others around us because we are happy and getting what we need. We are human and we will always be striving for perfection and we will pretty much do whatever we can to get it. We are killing people in Afghanistan because we want their oil, well we are killing and enslaving so many other people in this world because we want their goods too. So I do not think it is possible for us to all co-exist because we are too greedy and stubborn to compromise.
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I’m going to go back to a very old saying that I have known since I can remember which is “Anything is possible” because truly we can figure out a way it’s just a matter if we want to conform or go through the efforts to change. The problem is we, as Americans; don’t really feel like changing the way we do things unless it is progressive. The new industries being developed for green energy is actually really helping America right now because we are creating a lot of research and therefore the research is then sold to other countries. The problem is we became so dependent on oil and we are having trouble coming off of it. Also we have plenty of oil in the United States specifically in Alaska that we are barely even touching just in case we can’t get the oil from here anymore. It is allowing us to have some leverage and not allowing other countries to shut us down by not selling us oil. It is possible for us to co-exist because I believe we are going to become less and less dependent on oil the problem is there is a rumor it’s not even about oil for the war but the watershed located there because in the near future water suppose to be the scarce resource.
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I do not know if we can co exist with Muslims. I believe that we do not need their oil if we would keep implementing better energy policies. The more energy efficient we become, the less oil we need and the less oil they sell. They need our money as much as we need our oil. Although it is hard to imagine if we just pulled out all of our troops from the Middle East, and get rid of the embassies and military bases, would the Middle East still hate Americans? I still feel like they would, even if we like put up a wall between us and didn’t try to wrong the Middle East in any way.
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This was my favorite class of the year so far. It completely opened my mind to the Muslim world and our relations with them. I will admit that before class, I was all about Americans and our presence in Iraq. After 9/11, it was hard for me to look at a Muslim and not feel some kind of hatred for what “their people” did to this country. I was not educated and felt this way because of American pride and biased opinions. I realize now that I can have pride, but I need to be educated and I need to be open minded when dealing with these issues. This class completely blew my mind as to how I could be so one sided without knowing the other side and where they were coming from. Sam made me realize that this war is two sided and I now understand why people could be so “crazy” to want to kill themselves for their country in retaliation against another. As for my opinions about war, I think we should have bombed them in search of missiles and Osama Bin Laden. However, after we did not find any weapons of mass destruction, I think we should have got out. It is not our place to invade foreign land and tell them how to run their country. When Sam had us pretend to be in their shoes, I felt mad at Americans for invading Iraq, “my country”. They were taking my oil for their own benefit. How is that fair? As a hypothetical citizen of Iraq, I was mad. I can now see where this hatred comes from. When Sam told us about the Chinese coming into America and taking Pennsylvania’s coal, I was very mad. That was not fair and how could I not feel some kind of hatred towards them, they were coming into my country and taking my resources for their benefit. If I was an American back then, I would have to say I would fight back. Fast forward to present day, putting myself in their shoes, I think the Muslims have every right to fight back. Of course being an American citizen I would not want them to, but that would be hypocritical. How can I sit here being a United States citizen and get mad at the people of Iraq when I would have been mad in the same situation against the Chinese years ago. I think that in order to co-exist, we need to remove military from Iraq. That would be my first step. There is no need to put our soldiers in danger anymore. I think this would ease tensions between the countries. This would only be the first step of many. In the future, we might be able to co-exist, but for now, no I don’t think we can.
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Unfortunately, I do not think that we can coexist. Although I wish it could be possible, I do not think it is realistic. I think there are two main reasons why we can never coexist. One, is competition—competition for money, power, resources. The second reason is religion.
Each religion has their own God, and each religion believes their God is the greatest one. Coexistence cannot happen unless people understand other people’s religions. They do not necessarily have to agree with them, but just understand and accept them. So many wars have been fought, and religion in some way or another has been involved. People justify violence and war by saying that God is telling them to fight. I am not saying that religion is the only factor—but it is definitely one of them.
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Up above one of the comments started off as, I don't know if co-exist is in the worlds dictionary. I agree with that statement. As much as I wish and hope and would like to believe it is, is it really? Will there every come a day that we will get a long with everyone, and we won't be killing people to take their oil to operate our own country? I highly doubt it. I feel as if as individuals in American we can not get past our own ways mindset. Coexisting would be a great achievement for myself and for our country. If everyone could get on the right track and at least start realizing people have other religions but yeah were still the same in multiple ways. We do not all have to be best friend with each other but at least understand them and realize the good they are doing instead of focusing on the harm they could potentially be causing. I think this is just a dream that we wish would come true, but it would be a great dream if it did come true!
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The sad truth is that it seems like it is a dog eat dog world we live into today. We say we are there for weapons of mass destruction, but the longer we stay in the war it seems we might just be there for oil. Are killing off Muslims because we need oil? If that is the case then we must be sick. How can we go to a whole nation start killing off their people all in the name of oil or religion or whatever the real reason we are still in Middle East killing people? So can we co-exist? I don’t think so.
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