Give it a go

[hammocksleeper]

Well I've heard the State of the Union address and earlier today the mayor of our college town spoke at length in one of my classes, and I got to thinking, a lot of shit in IR forums and everywhere else in the whole wide world, people can get hung up on specific issues like abortion, school vouchers, etc. When what really matters, what spawns these issues are the core values behind them. Then partisanship comes in and does a good job of dividing people on these issues, when if you look at the the values in a broader scope, these people actually would agree with each other, and not disagree.

Another thing I would like to see is people with differences work toward a common goal. This is something anyone can do, people who hate each other and have totally different opinions can solve a given problem, they can create a solution. Most of the time in forums like IR (and in the rest of the whole wide world) people get so hung up on making sure that you know they are right, and you know just how wrong you are. And you might not be able to convince each other that one view is right, you might not be able to change someone's beliefs, but if through circumstance you are forced to work together, and given a problem, you should be able to form a solution that makes everyone happy, even if your core values remain unchanged.

Yeah this was just a ramble. But here's the meat. Suppose you were given a problem, say, how do we cut crime in inner-city regions? Can you come up with a solution? Put your beliefs out there, be straight-forward, but don't quibble about whether someone else's beliefs are right or wrong. Instead focus on the problem at hand, accepting everyone's different values as they are, as given and not trying to change them, but instead to use them as the platform for a solution to the problem at hand.

[Prozerran]

Well I've heard the State of the Union address and earlier today the mayor of our college town spoke at length in one of my classes, and I got to thinking, a lot of shit in IR forums and everywhere else in the whole wide world, people can get hung up on specific issues like abortion, school vouchers, etc. When what really matters, what spawns these issues are the core values behind them. Then partisanship comes in and does a good job of dividing people on these issues, when if you look at the the values in a broader scope, these people actually would agree with each other, and not disagree.

Another thing I would like to see is people with differences work toward a common goal. This is something anyone can do, people who hate each other and have totally different opinions can solve a given problem, they can create a solution. Most of the time in forums like IR (and in the rest of the whole wide world) people get so hung up on making sure that you know they are right, and you know just how wrong you are. And you might not be able to convince each other that one view is right, you might not be able to change someone's beliefs, but if through circumstance you are forced to work together, and given a problem, you should be able to form a solution that makes everyone happy, even if your core values remain unchanged.

That's all nice and well, but that's not the purpose of the IR directly, from what I can tell. Here is where we bring our arguments and views to the table to get as much feedback as possible to help us improve our perspectives on issues. That being said, to hope for a common ground is nice and all, but then if everyone stopped challenging those views we bring, then there's nothing to really broaden our horizons or give us a more unique perspective. In short, that everyone seems to never agree here is a great, great thing. It's the reason I continue to post here.

Yeah this was just a ramble. But here's the meat. Suppose you were given a problem, say, how do we cut crime in inner-city regions? Can you come up with a solution? Put your beliefs out there, be straight-forward, but don't quibble about whether someone else's beliefs are right or wrong.

For instance, I hope someone disagrees with my solution, though I doubt many would. To fix the problem of violence in inner city youth, you have to start from the ground up - education. Impressing a sense of reasoning in young adolescents is one of the strongest solutions to the problem, giving them the power to shape their own decisions rather than having someone else make those decisions for them.

[hammocksleeper]

That's all nice and well, but that's not the purpose of the IR directly, from what I can tell. Here is where we bring our arguments and views to the table to get as much feedback as possible to help us improve our perspectives on issues. That being said, to hope for a common ground is nice and all, but then if everyone stopped challenging those views we bring, then there's nothing to really broaden our horizons or give us a more unique perspective. In short, that everyone seems to never agree here is a great, great thing. It's the reason I continue to post here.


I understand that. But what I'm trying to do is something that normally doesn't happen in IR. I'm asking you to try something different.

When you are a politician, your job is not to help other people improve their perspectives or to broaden their horizons; your job is to create solutions to problems that make your constituents happy (i.e., satisfy your values) and that at the same time will be well-received by the rest of your political colleagues (so they will vote on it or support it with you).

[Morkeliph]

First of all, I *hate* politics. It was never intended to be a profession.

With that said, I'm with Hammocksleeper. The big problem with the world is that people are so hellbent on proving each other wrong that they don't actually accomplish anything. Arguing a position does not acheive anything, but acting upon an idea does. I think it is often the case that while everyone is arguing, someone finally decides to do something and then the whole issue sort of dies away in a sort of resolution. Occassionally, however, it is people doing things that sparks the who controversy in the first place. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the problem with the world is that everyone has an idea of what they think should happen, but few are willing to work together, compromising and combining ideas to actually get something done. Perhaps it is idealistic, but people do need to put aside major differences of opinion and look at the picture from a wider perspective. I think that most people would be able to come to some sort of agreement as to a course of action that might ultimately work best for all parties involved. I guess there's a reason why they say that "pride is the sin of the nations." When people are too stubborn and proud to admit that someone else's ideas might have some merit to them, or that they need other people to acheive what they desire, nothing gets accomplished except for agitated conflict.