I disagree that conflict is not inevitable. Conflict does neccessarily imply physical agression. Individuals experience internal conflict between and among values, needs, and wants.

From Websters on-line dictionary 2 a : competitive or opposing action of incompatibles : antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons) b : mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, wishes, or external or internal demands have yet to encounter the person who does not have to deal with internal conflict.

Conflict is not wrong or bad. It simply is. It is a reality of the condition of life. We do not always agree with ourselves or with others. Unless one acknowleges and accepts this reality, one can not arrive at feasible ways of dealing with conflict that do not involve physical violence.

While I do not at all discount the influence of the internet among those who routinely access the internet, the world population who access the internet is still quite small. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm. In addition, I suspect that most who have ready access to the internet have a tendency to frequent sites that validate our own predisposed povs, to accept as "true" that which we read on those sites that tend to be in agreement with our views, and to discount or view as lies or propoganda what we read on sites that we understand to be in opposition to our pov.

In other words, it is human (and none of us who are human are exempt from being human) to tend to accept as true that which confirms our various perspectives, prejudices, paradigms, and to find grounds to reject most information that does not fit our paradigms, or to otherwise devalue the opinions, or even the person, of those whose paradigms, opinions and prejudices do not mesh with our own.



Bearded Bruce, your comments are very interesting to me. I have long observed the interactions between you and others here on Mudcat, which I attribute only in part to you being one of the few conservatives here. I know you only slightly from the Getaways. The person that I slightly know from the Getaways is not the same persona I slightly know who posts on Mudcat. (And I can say that about a number of folks, regardless of their political or philosphical persuasion, not just you.) I would enjoy the opportunity for a chat when we see each other in early October.

I think I am going to bow out of this thread now, because the discussion seems to want to go in the direction of apples, while I am interested in, and keep writing about oranges.

All the best.

Janie