Most people just want a good life. If we stopped seeing each other as the enemies the world could be better.

  • Vanshaj@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    There is an old saying where I live:

    वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam)
    

    This means, the world is one family.

  • ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    Like South Park on religion: “you’re all so focused on the stupid little differences that you’re not seeing the big, stupid similarities.”

  • SynopsisTantilize@lemm.ee
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    14 hours ago

    I think if you peel back the ego, the “self” is just obligations that we’ve made to try to create an “identity” like “I have to draw I’m an artist”. “Oh, I have to go to school because I’m a smart person and I don’t want to XYZ.”

    It’s all just fluff, or an illusion. If we were to truly be free of all obligations we would find out quickly that we are all the same consciousness wearing different masks. I am me, and I am you, and you are me. If you were to be able to switch perspectives with someone else I’d be surprised if it felt any different than being in your own body.

  • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    nah.

    I can’t have empathy for fuckheads that want to kill and imprison people based on their sexual preferences or their identity.

    I refuse to subject myself to the torture of “working together” with people with fascist ideologies.

    I cannot, and will not, coexist with Nazis.

    • thermal_shock@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I think op meant more along the lines of normal, everyday people, not radical extremists who hate everyone that isn’t like them.

      and by normal, I mean non hate driven people. I believe everyone is weird in some way, there is no “normal”.

      the way I described it to my son is everyone has the same right to be happy as he does, you don’t get to dictate that to anyone. we love you for your weirdness and expect the same for anyone else.

  • radicalautonomy@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I don’t see MAGA people as the enemy because they want to pay less in taxes. I see them as the enemy because they don’t think my kids should exist in society and are actively passing legislation to make it so.

    Delete this shit take.

  • Every molecule that makes up our entire existence came from the fusion of a hot star, and no matter what it looks like right now, it will once again be both the precursor and the product of many more stars.

    In that regard we are all identical and inconsequential.

  • Jonnyprophet@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Amen.

    What the people who want to control us don’t want us to realize is that you have a lot more in common with the Chinese/Russian/Ukrainian/Mexican/Indian working class… Factory worker/programmer/hard-working house wife… Then you do with your own political leaders and billionaires. People with servants who don’t ever worry about bills. (Biden, Trump, Harris, Vance, Elon, Gates, Bezos, etc)… Don’t look at the foreigners as different and the enemy… Look at the Rich and the Politicians (who want us to blame the foreigners)

  • Zacpod@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I’m not sure that’s true. One side has empathy. The other does not. I don’t want to be friends with someone who doesn’t have empathy.

    • Free_Opinions@feddit.uk
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      2 days ago

      The world is not binary like that. Your side is not all good and the other side is not all bad.

    • WeUnite@lemm.eeOP
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      2 days ago

      I kind of see your point there. My hope though is that maybe people could gain more empathy for each other by understanding that we are all human and I hope that one day people can understand each other’s struggles.

  • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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    2 days ago

    I have been struggling with this lately. I am staunchly anti violence and anti war, and yet, I am conflicted on how far I truly would be willing to go to cull classism, fascism, racism, transphobia , homophobia, misogyny, and pedophilia from the world.

    These things are abhorrent to me, and I wonder how much of my humanity I’d be willing to sacrifice in exchange for even one of these to no longer being in existence amongst the ranks of humanity.

    How much good does pacifism give to the world in promoting the better angels of our nature? How much harm does it do when those same principles allow the worst among us to march down our roads and drag away our loved ones in the night?

    Two scenes from media I consume have lately continually resurfaced in my mind. One is this scene from Vinland Saga, where the main character’s father confronts him when he finds his sword. The father is about to go off to war, and somberly asks his son who he wants to kill with his father’s sword. This culminates with the father, who again, is about to go off to war, emphatically declaring to his son that he has no enemies, that there is no such thing as enemies.

    The other is this scene from Star Wars Andor, in which a high level spy of a burgeoning Rebellion is asked by a compatriot (who wishes to quit fighting the Empire due to possibly being found out), asks what he sacrifices for the fight against the Empire. The monologue he delivers is chilling, acknowledging he sacrifices all things that make him human, he becomes like his enemy in order to defeat them. When he reflects on the question, and asks, “So what do I sacrifice? Everything!”

    That…is what I believe I will have to give up in order for there to be a sunrise for the people I love tomorrow. I’ll have to give up my humanity, everything. And I am afraid. I am selfish. I don’t want to. But I don’t know any other way.

    The feelings that scene stir up in me resonate because that is how I feel when I think on the fascist cancer that has once again metastasized in America. Having no enemies… if only. Truly. Having enemies robs me of my humanity, because in fighting them I must bury my humanity. And I know that once I do that, there’s no going back. There will be no redemption.

    The thing I am struggling with is… am I the one who makes them my enemies? Or are they? And if the only thing we can agree on is that we are enemies…then what choice do we have when they come for me and those I claim as my kin?

    • I can see uve put a lot of thought into this.

      The beauty of being human is that u have free will. U can choose to believe what u want u can choose to do as u wish.

      If u claim that someone is ur enemy then they most certainly 100% are ur enemy. If u do not claim this and they claim that u are their enemy then they are not nessasarilly ur enemy. Its a common trope that you create ur own worste enemies iron man trilogy is a great example of this.

      If u where no to be “selfish” (to maximise the life of everyone over urself) then u would donate everythibg u had to make the lives of others better untill ur life is equal to that of the lowest person alive whos life u seek to improve. U would give up ur possessions ur food ur drink the organs u can spare u might even commit self immolation. U clearly are not doibg this so therefore u must admit u are on some level “selfish”.

      U could then say this is a ridiculous thing and that u should live to maximise ur own life over everyone else. U could poison the earth destroy the forests dig oil out of the ground to power ur weapons factory that u sell to both sides of a conflict where each side aims to genocide eachother while u push propaganda to extend this state of affairs. You could disrespect the rights of everyone for ur own enjoyment.

      It is ur free will to decide where on this spectrum u wish to be. And wherever u may end up its still selfish to some degree.

      Say u can create 1 unit of evil to extinguish 1million units of evil will u do this? What about 1 for 100? 1 for 2? 1 for 1.000001? 1 for 1? In all these cases u arw doing evil and at worse u arent making the world a worse place?

      Imo:

      I would be willing to do almost anything to achieve my goals

      Pacifism simply allows the proactive to take advantage of the weak

      1.8million people died of a preventable disease last year and ur worried about ur humanity because u will have enemies and thats gonna undermine ur humanity? Are u willing to ignore 1.8million deaths per year to fight another fight that is multiple orders of magnitude less harmfull? Is this not a selfish act?

      People go to war and kill other humans. They berry their humanity to do so does this make them unredeemable? Why would u be any different? U can choose to forgive urself whenever u wish u cannot do somthing u truly believe to be wrong (u can have regrets fron learning new info or be forced to do somthing but then thats not on u) cos then u wpuldnt do it.

      I think ur scared that trump is a facist and that hes coming to murder u and ur kin. Relax ur fine u are being used. Ur a usefull idiot for the purposes of promoting a political agenda.

      If they do come for you then utilise ur second amendment to do everything that u possibly can and take as many as u can with u.

    • itsAsin@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      i just wanted to say that what you wrote here is beautiful and it helps me clarify my thoughts. ♥️

    • dubyakay@lemmy.ca
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      1 day ago

      cull classism, fascism, racism, transphobia , homophobia, misogyny, and pedophilia from the world

      One of these is not like the others.

      • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        Fair enough. To be clear, I am saying I would not like any of these aspects of humankind, not that they are necessarily in any way equivalent. Nor am I trying to necessarily relate them to each other. On their own, I dislike them.

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?

  • SuperSleuth@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    You make this argument and it immediately falls apart because people revert to “Well they want to do this, this, and this, so they actually are an enemy”

    You see it here in these very comments. If you are different from the “normal” you will eventually be hated, regardless of whoever is in power. It is human nature. It has not changed, it will not change.

    People, families, tribes, nations have risen to power and subsequently lost power. It’s cyclical and will continue until we are inevitably wiped out by ourselves or the universe.

    • Shardikprime@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I mean we hunted and fucked neanderthals to extinction just because they looked like us but not exactly like us.

      Yeah it’s a nature thing

    • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      “I am vry smrt. Boog Brian here”

      When someone wants to take away my freedoms or human rights. they are the enemy.

      what you said is like telling a rape victim that they didn’t ask if their rapist consented to raping them and so they asked to be raped because they didn’t confirm they were indeed being raped.

      wtf is wrong with people. bad people do bad things. punch bad people in the face and get it over with. we don’t need to understand why they did it. fuck them up.

      • SuperSleuth@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        I don’t see the need for insults.

        These “human rights” were given to you by the current established powers. When those powers change the definition of good and bad do so as well. That was the intended message of my original comment.

        It is naive to say “we don’t need to understand why they did it” when, taking your stance here, it’s imperative in preventing the “enemy” from taking away your “freedoms”. But I see it differently, take one of my favorite quotes: “You judge yourself based on your own intentions, and judge everyone else on their actions”. Call it optimistic, but I don’t believe most people intend to cause harm, but make their choices based on their experiences and understanding of the matter.

        So, I feel it’s ridiculous to proclaim anyone as enemy, especially withstanding their reasoning. But you do not have to agree with this.