SirToxicAvenger

hey man if what you need to do to get you through your day is to spout off "things are bad" like some off-kilter street preacher, then knock yourself out. dont let little old me and logical argument stop you. you do you - you know how to do it best! be the best you that you can be!

biological imperatives dictate that I get up in the morning, I perform my ablutions, I consume a tasty caffeinated beverage and I go off to my job like a fine, upstanding, tax-paying, obedient citizen of this great nation because I am a proud member of it. but you're right, nothing I do matters. all I strive to be, all I work towards, it's this black pit of woe and despair. but... perhaps what we do matters! maybe! I mean, not a fucking chance, but maybe I'm wrong! maybe there's a shining light and the end of this desolate existence! but i doubt it.

oh yeah, you're totally right about that 6 degrees of separation thing - the world we live in is getting smaller each and every day. as the world condenses into the singularity (as foretold) I have indeed found myself interacting with people that have different experiences. like, we brought in a new guy at work last year - he's from Afghanistan, he worked against his people and his nation to get in good with the Americans and when they left so did he. his insights into what's going on over there have been really interesting. but nothing that he does is going to change what's happening to his extended family back in the old country. theres going to be famine there - perhaps not this year but very, very soon. and there's nothing anyone can do to prevent it. nothing really matters.

is genocide bad? yeah. does it matter if you tell people that? not really

is ethnic cleansing bad? most folks would say yes. does it matter much? nope

is it bad to kill others? even if you've been granted absolution by your government/religious faith/community leaders? even if the voices in your head require it? maybe. there's not a real, concrete answer for that one. the reality is that it depends on the situation. sometimes it's perfectly acceptable to kill others - shit, you might even get a medal and raise for it if you're lucky!

you're totally correctamundo about my complete and total lack of respect for their occupation - I reiterate, a garden gnome would be just as effective at herding animals as a shepherd. is being forced to do the same thing that your father did because he did the same thing his father did actually independence? it seems to me that's flawed thinking. the world is constantly in flux - a rigid, uncompromising, unyielding nature isnt going to get you very far. that's even more true when you're going to get to experience new vistas.

changed the goal post? should we be as unyielding as you're insinuating that the shepherds are, or should be? should they be ungrateful in the now and regretful in the future? does it even matter? will they have to compete, strive, suffer? of course they will! suffering is part of the human condition - it has ever been thus.

agreeing with your ideology is never going to happen. believing in lies just doesnt jive with "seeing reason" for me.

it's interesting to note that slavery was still a thing in some countries even up until the 1960s. in fact, the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam outlawed slavery in 1990 - 33 years ago. how progressive! how totally hip and with-the-times!

and this discussion is quibbling about a little thing like ethnic cleansing. pish posh!

i love getting cleansed - so much so that I do it every morning (irish spring is the best soap ever). seriously though - no one here participating in this discussion/argument/whatever has ever been in even the remotest danger of being ethnically cleansed. what we say doesnt matter. you and I, any anyone who views these comments now or in years to come, we dont make policy. our opinion is meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

you say "oh no, it's bad!". ok, great. it's good to have a position. my position is that our positions dont matter. the news doesnt matter. you think policy makers actually care what nonsense the journalists say? queue my endlessly contagious derisive laughter.

shepherds already have extremely limited economic prospects. it's not like they're skilled artisans, constructing unique crafts that can only be manufactured using materials that can only be sourced from that one geographic location. no, they oversee domesticated herd-beasts that dont have any natural predators in their habitat and feed themselves on whatever plants grow wherever they happen to be - lichen, thorn bushes, dried straw, etc.

it's only a occupation by definition, but a pet rock could be just as good of a shepherd - it takes about as much "skill" to do. outside of the inner desert regions & cities, a shepherd can exist, if not thrive - ie: they can do the same thing wherever they go. herding communities are usually insular in nature - they dont need to know the local language. their source of food, their entire reason for being, those are animals and they feed themselves - the animals are usually their currency as well.

maybe a change of scenery is exactly what they need - they may even be thankful for it in the months and years to come.

if it's so common that literally every country in recorded history is guilty of it (and they are if the accepted definition is so broad) then it's just another part of governance - unworthy of discussion even.

if moving people from one location to another is "ethnic cleansing" then all travel agencies are guilty of it.

eh... using a definition that broad would mean that most asian countries are guilty of ethnic cleansing. a lot of african countries would qualify too, as would many european nations (other than, you know, germany).