The Politics Megathread

[Akio Kahoshi]

The second amendment is about the right to create a militia for defense, it does not specifically grant civilians the right to own weapons.

That said.

I have no problem with people owning guns. There has to be some regulation to prevent as many criminals as possible from getting guns, but its impossible to keep all guns out of criminal hands. If a person wants a gun, and wants to kill people with them, there are ways to get them.

As for self defense, I am quite certain that the number of successful uses of guns in self defense is extremely low outside the Wild West.

 

[Aran Finn]

I live in Australia. We have strict gun laws here, making it very hard to obtain a gun legally everywhere in the country, outside of serving in the Defence Force or police. It's possible to obtain guns illegally through bikie gangs, mainly, but I've found that gun violence has decreased regardless. Bikie gangs are very careful as to who they give firearms to. Liabilities (i.e. possible mass murderers of the Columbine ilk) are very, very bad for business, especially if you're attempting to get away with other illegal business ventures like selling drugs and maintaining protection rackets. If there's a large scale public shooting, police are likely to come looking for who supplied the gun. It's simple.

If you're selling guns legally, there is less of than onus to make a character assessment on your customers. I realise that a lot of gun shop owners do that sort of thing, but some don't. The essence of legality makes you think of possible trouble as an unlikely situation. If someone is trying to buy a gun illegally, it makes you suspicious. Legally, and everything is legitimised and therefore everything seems above-board and relatively risk free.

Since Australia introduced their stricter gun laws, there have been no mass shootings. Before that, I believe there were six in the last twenty years? It has been about twenty years since, and nada for mass shootings.

Gun control doesn't cut down on violent crime, but it does cut down on Columbine style disasters. At least, that's what I have come to believe.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Aran Finn"] Hail, fellow Aussie!

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"] G'day m8!

 

[Alan]

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Aran Finn"] I don't think I've ever said g'day with a straight face in my entire life.

 

[Aran Finn]

@[member="Tegaea Alcori"] My mates and I use it, but always tongue-in-cheek. Don't think I've ever said it without being a little self conscious

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Or to tourists who expect to see kangaroos hopping down Pitt Street.

 

[Aran Finn]

Or to country blokes.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

That too.

 

[Arage Bao]

Restrict the access to guns, make sure permits are only given out to mentally stable people (with strict yearly or half a year psych evaluation).
Reform the social system, increase the minimum wages et cetera.

In the end you have to make sure that your general population is well-educated, that there is protection for people when they are jobless, give them a reason to work.

 

[Kei Amadis]

I don't live in the US so sadly I can only speak for where I live, the UK

Economic conditions worsen, crime goes up. Very simple. There are a multitude of reasons for this, if you need food or shelter - you need food or shelter, full stop. We'll put that one aside, as its dealt with later.

However often its down to addictions, and I don't just mean the obvious ones, which exist. I mean addictions to needing to have as much as the person next to you, or the next console the day it comes out. To buy a bigger house than your father did, have 10 bikes sitting around your home, things that don't really mean that much, only to the person getting them.

Which is fine people like things that make them happy, who doesn't, but things you are not in control of, the urges to need something rather than want something, those addictions completely sap you of income, and often do lead to crime because when the downturn happens people are maxed to their limit spending wise. There is no sense of needing to keep a chunk of income in reserve, or on the other end of the scale, food in reserve.

I get it I do about the food, been there when it was hard to find, live long enough and you might have that issue too. This is instead handled by the community and country as a whole having enough put away in times of crisis. Say what you want about Germany, when all this hit, they were so much better prepared than the UK, I have a lot of respect for them . I know everyone is suffering now but those kinds of things make a difference, the country is the individual mindset, it is the collective will of those who are able to be engaged by it. I haven't been engaged for years politically. Its the hype word to say at the minute but banking bonuses make me doubt the sanity of anyone at the top in the UK. That is personal greed gone mad, especially since there is so much public dissatisfaction with them, and highlights what i indicate in the open paragraphs. Most of the political class in the UK is, rightly or wrongly imprinted in my mind to be of this mindset.

There is the other issue political class, it should be working men and women, businessmen, scientists, farmers, soldiers, janitors, policemen, accountants, and yes negotiators or diplomats there too, not a singular political elite divided along party lines ruling the country, what are party lines to me? I'd rather be electing individuals with experience, but that is the UK for you still for the most part, a political elite and some odd notion that parties make a difference aside from campaigning together for mutual benefit. Another reason why an individual candidate when they stand, gets a lot of interest here, is because he or she is standing as themselves, and you can judge them as themselves whether you want them leading you and your children without the murky affiliations which have less meaning.

Finally there is the issue of interest, and this will be more of a sticking point, as I like free money too. Interest on money is what drives much of inflation, especially when set 'above' inflation. Someone with a more of a head for numbers will probably look at that and add more to it, but interest is a problem, it brings us full circle around into what I listed above.

Again I am sure the US is different, so don't take this as for the US, this is for the UK.

 

[Judas]

I am politically neutral due to Islamic lifestyle so I wouldn't see how any of those ideas can change anything. All they do is create more conflict and suffering around our world than it does to help. If everyone were to love one another as equals and stop the hate then our future generations can grow and learn in a society where preventing something brings oppressions because people have their own minds and opinions. Increasing law enforcement only brings fear and control upon the people because they have been used many times to corrupt and manipulate society through cover ups and bribery. Harsher punishment is cruelty to man with violence thinking that an eye for an eye solves everything. Pain with pain does not teach our children peace to our common folk. Reformed government is the worst of all and it has happened through many eras in human history where propaganda and media are used to spread corruption and lies making us a divided people through our ideals and moralities. Lobbyists are the main tools of these conclusions as well.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

@[member="Judas"]

Yes, well, the goal of a pacifist, egalitarian utopia is not likely to ever happen. Not since it was proposed by the Classical Greeks or since has it happened. People are individuals, and individuals have different wants and desires from each other.
It’s notable that every time a utopian commune was started they all inevitably fell apart due to the contradictions inherent in them. There will always be a leader and there will always be property inequality. That is why communism could never work in its pure form.

Your ideas are commendable, but how would you make it happen?

 

[Judas]

You do not need one great change to create peace. You don't need to be a politician either. You don't need wars or violence to force people to do what you deem is correct. The greatest things in life start small and grow in ripples. From going outside and sharing a smile with a person everyday to convincing a crowd to unite to one cause. Just be a good person. Share something. Give more and expect nothing. Positive energy is highly contagious even to the most contemptuous people. One good devotion or action becomes someone else' need to do the same for others. I don't expect something done overnight but with time and a bit more humility a lot can be changed in this world without the need to bend someone's will to being human.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Right…but if positive energy is contagious, negative energy is more so.

It’s very nice to say ‘if everyone was nice everything would be happy and shiny’ but I think we can agree that it doesn’t really work that way.

Currently, despite all the wars and tragedies in the world, it is currently the safest, most prosperous and most happy time, overall, in history.

While in due time in 400 years war might cease, I think Plato’s comment that “Only the dead have seen the end of war” is as apt now as it was 2300 years ago.

 

[Judas]

In a gruesome sense, yes.

 

[Vereaux]

Why are people negative? You have to ask that question if you want to help people, and I think that's the heart of what Judas is trying to say. Yes, the world doesn't operate on ideals, but we, as an entire collected society, reflect a very general pattern of behavior from a practically standpoint. People are negative because there is something negative within their life, and we tend to vent this negativity in order to feel better about ourselves. The only way this negativity can truly be eliminated is to be constructive. Yeah, you can point things out, you can theorize, but unless you actually do what you say, it will not become constructive. To be constructive is to work through your problems, and that doesn't mean fixing it, because not all problems can be fixed, but by making it so that it is not causing as much negativity in your life. I stopped caring about people wanting me to cut my hair (it's down to the middle of my back), because it wasn't what I wanted for myself. People have said it will make it so I won't get a job, yet I have a job now as a math tutor at my college. My point is that they didn't like something about me, or they would give me a reason other than something from the exterior, which is not possible with this situation. Whether it's a health reason, a social reason, political, it doesn't matter, they're all exterior reasons no matter the view point because it is from someone else. I kept my hair because I wanted it. It made me happy having long hair, and that is one way of getting around negativity. You find it everywhere, but don't let it interfere with how you want to live your life. Being happy, smiling, everything else Judas has mentioned, it does actually work, though I think he didn't explain why it worked. It works because one stops letting the negativity get to them. You get angry because you let it. You get sad because you let it. If you find a reason, for yourself, not because someone said so, but because you came to the conclusion yourself, you stop letting negativity in. People can say that this does this or an activity makes you happy, but it means nothing if you don't want it to. Only you can change anything about yourself; no one else can.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

I agree that it works on a personal level. It’s definitely the way to be personally if you can.

However expecting everyone to act that way en masse is a whole other story.

 

[Judas]

Why are people negative? You have to ask that question if you want to help people, and I think that's the heart of what Judas is trying to say. Yes, the world doesn't operate on ideals, but we, as an entire collected society, reflect a very general pattern of behavior from a practically standpoint. People are negative because there is something negative within their life, and we tend to vent this negativity in order to feel better about ourselves. The only way this negativity can truly be eliminated is to be constructive. Yeah, you can point things out, you can theorize, but unless you actually do what you say, it will not become constructive. To be constructive is to work through your problems, and that doesn't mean fixing it, because not all problems can be fixed, but by making it so that it is not causing as much negativity in your life. I stopped caring about people wanting me to cut my hair (it's down to the middle of my back), because it wasn't what I wanted for myself. People have said it will make it so I won't get a job, yet I have a job now as a math tutor at my college. My point is that they didn't like something about me, or they would give me a reason other than something from the exterior, which is not possible with this situation. Whether it's a health reason, a social reason, political, it doesn't matter, they're all exterior reasons no matter the view point because it is from someone else. I kept my hair because I wanted it. It made me happy having long hair, and that is one way of getting around negativity. You find it everywhere, but don't let it interfere with how you want to live your life. Being happy, smiling, everything else Judas has mentioned, it does actually work, though I think he didn't explain why it worked. It works because one stops letting the negativity get to them. You get angry because you let it. You get sad because you let it. If you find a reason, for yourself, not because someone said so, but because you came to the conclusion yourself, you stop letting negativity in. People can say that this does this or an activity makes you happy, but it means nothing if you don't want it to. Only you can change anything about yourself; no one else can.

Evil, pain, regret, depression, suffering, envy, hate, and negativity. People are not born with these things. This is created by people because they choose to be. We all have the power to make a positive in every waking moment in our lives so that others would realise their own true potential.