One thing that pissess me off...

...Is the tendency of people to oversimplify issues of morality, and/or distort and ignore truths when making morality judgements.

Take this example from a 3-year old blog post I've randomly stumbled upon. Consider the following quote:

The following countries/governments are the most evil in the 20th century. I have ranked them by the deaths they have caused since 1945.

Good job there pal, obviously morality is a matter of raw numbers. The more you kill, the "eviler" you are. While I have no fundamental problem with his list, I have a big problem with this notion.

That's why I cringe every time people say the US is evil because it "exploits" third world nations (as if they point a gun at their face, demanding their corporations to be let in), ignoring the billions in humanitarian aid the US delivers to third world nations every year, and downplaying the horrors of third world regimes that treat their citizenry as peons, without basic human rights or dignity (many people blame the US even for that, somehow).

Yet another annoyance is the strange notion that the west is somehow "obligated" to help the third world, and if they don't then they are the root of all evil. How about this genious idea - maybe the third world pulls its own sh*t together and actually make something of themselves? They have natural resources and manpower, all they lack in a western system that universally respects human life and makes efficient and highly successful use of resources (through capitalism).

The western civilization of today is, without a shadow of doubt, the greatest civilization to ever arise on this planet. They are no angels, but no one is, and no one will ever be. The west don't need to be angels to be a billion steps above the rest of the world, many of whom are true devils.

Next time you want to criticize America or Europe (or Israel for that matter) take a long hard look at your own country first.

Fight Gun Ban!

Are you in favor of banning guns? Do you think you and everyone you love would be safer if guns were to become illegal for civilians?

Wrong. It would mean YOU can't have a gun to defend yourself. The ones who want to kill will find other means to kill while the ones who absolutely want a gun will create a black market of guns. The only ones who would be hurt in this whole affair would be law-abiding citizens.

By the way, what if there's a revolution in your country? How are you going to exercise your democratic right and depose the dictator? You're not going to be winning against the military while unarmed that's for sure. But revolutions can't happen in modern western democracies! Yeah, right, spare me the bullshit. Germany in the early 30's thought so too. There's nothing special or divine about today's democracies. They're just as susceptible to upheaval as always, no matter how stable they are or how many checks and balances they have.

Even if you don't believe in the possibility of something like that, don't you think that the government possessing the only guns gives it too much power? Even if in principle only?

Guns are just tools. By banning guns the hippie crowd is just skimming the surface of the problem (as usual) instead of tackling the core. I wish we were living in a smarter world...

Don't ban guns. Ban people who use guns irresponsibly.

We are living in a wonderful era

Everyone who thinks our world is in decline - open your eyes. We are at the peak of our civilization. Art, technology, lifestyles, they're all wonderful, extremely diverse, vibrant. You think our world is evil because it has war, famine, disease, poverty, crime and corruption? Take off the rose-tinted glasses and put on the Wicked ones.

All of today's wars are minuscule conflicts compared to the monstrous meat grinders of the past where millions upon millions died pointless deaths.

You're worried about AIDS, but this disease is a joke compared to the great epidemics of the past such as the black death that killed off a huge fraction of Europeans, and the common cold that used to ensure that less than a half of all human beings reached puberty.

Poverty? The poor used to be the vast majority in the world. Today in western countries the vast majority are middle class, while in developing countries the poor receive free humanitarian aid, a charity far more generous than parallel endeavors of our history.

Crime? On the decline if statistics are to be believed (and there is no reason they shouldn't be).

So don't kid yourselves about human civilization. We are far from perfect, but we're getting there pretty fast. We have already made a huge progress from everyday common slavery and rivers of open sewage on the streets to worldwide trade and an unprecedented reduction in deaths due to wars.

If you have the nagging feeling that the world is declining and humanity is nearing its end - no fear. Imagine what Europeans felt at the conclusion of WWII, when glorious nations have become war-torn husks of their former selves. But they have rebuilt, and surpassed every expectation. The world is not declining, we are progressing and evolving constantly. The future is not dark, it's as bright as the brightest daylight.

Lastly, do not judge humanity harshly. Yes we are prone to war and cruelty, but think about it: if we were all that evil, we wouldn't care about it. We would kill and maim and rape daily, and won't bat an eye. Yet here you are, complaining about how evil humanity is. Aren't you a part of humanity? Are you evil as well then? We are constantly scrutinizing ourselves, sympathizing with each other, offering a helping hand... war is natural and unavoidable - maybe its in our partially animal-like nature that compels us to defend the territory we believe is rightfully ours, or maybe war is a burden shared by all sentient beings, maybe it comes side-by-side with self-awareness and the realization that we want a better life for ourselves even at the expense of others.

Whatever it is, we are not irredeemably evil, we can change, we can leave our past behind us and we can start over.

But it won't be done all at once, it must be taken one small step at a time.

So please stop parading with "Peace Now!" signs, because your enemies who still crave your deaths just because you are different might take advantage of your weakness. Patience is a great virtue to have. Understand this, and maybe your grandchildren can have the coveted peace.

The United Nations should be disbanded

How many times would this joke of an organization show its hypocrisy and corruption to the world, and still somehow maintain its face as "Paragon for Human Rights"? This is becoming ridiculous. I've recently stumbled upon an article (several articles actually) claiming the UN has banned the use of the word "Sharia" from its meetings, supposedly because it is not their place to criticize religion and religious concepts. Never mind that Islamic Sharia law supports atrocities such as stoning and raping women, cutting off appendages, etc.

But apparently the UN wants us to believe only the West can be held accountable for human rights violations. Apparently if you're not white, you have a free pass to torture and kill people at will.

Don't you just love the politically correct crowd?

I'm not a right-wing person. In fact, according to online tests, I have a slightly left-wing bent. However I really wish the left-wing radicals ("Hippies") would shut up about peace, equality and all that hype (I'm so going to be quoted out of context on this one).

I'm am all for complete equality, freedom of speech, and peaceful co-existence between all peoples on this planet. However, I completely and utterly deny the "turn the other cheek" policy. When you are threatened with violence, on a national scale turning the other cheek would only lead to your nation being all but destroyed, if not physically then as a political entity (very possibly even from within!), and then who would uphold your precious ideals of fuzzy heart-warming existence?

There's a reason that the attempts of European nations to appease Hitler didn't prevent WWII. When are you people going to start taking lessons from history for crying out loud?