Howard Zinn: "On Human Nature and Aggression."

[All Else Failed]

YouTube - Howard Zinn: "On Human Nature and Aggression."

 

[Murdoc]

i would have loved to hear this guy talk on the war on terror. i dont know when this video was made, but if it was recently, then i strongly disagree with some of his points.

i agree that when the draft was going on it wasnt necessarily human nature that was causing the war. it was the policy makers. but look at the war on terror. we have no draft anymore. yet we still have the strongest military in the world. why is this? i believe this is because of our human nature to "take them out before they take us out". it gives us the urge to kill. survival of the fittest. thats where your basic instincts kick in and you start to realize "hey i want to kill these guys before they do the same to us".
take 9/11 for instance. after that a lot of people's basic instincts kicked back in... in a kind of primal fashion... thus causing people to have a sort of blood lust.
i think what he said about the areas you live in that cause hostility in contrast to other people's surroundings who are peaceful is right on. i would REALLY like him to touch on whats going on in the middle east.

 

[All Else Failed]

i would have loved to hear this guy talk on the war on terror. i dont know when this video was made, but if it was recently, then i strongly disagree with some of his points.

i agree that when the draft was going on it wasnt necessarily human nature that was causing the war. it was the policy makers. but look at the war on terror. we have no draft anymore. yet we still have the strongest military in the world. why is this? i believe this is because of our human nature to "take them out before they take us out". it gives us the urge to kill. survival of the fittest. thats where your basic instincts kick in and you start to realize "hey i want to kill these guys before they do the same to us".
take 9/11 for instance. after that a lot of people's basic instincts kicked back in... in a kind of primal fashion... thus causing people to have a sort of blood lust.
i think what he said about the areas you live in that cause hostility in contrast to other people's surroundings who are peaceful is right on. i would REALLY like him to touch on whats going on in the middle east.

We have a strong military because we have the most experienced military that has a budget to back it up with, along with the most advanced technology. I don't think it has to do with some macho attitude. really though, the "war on terror" is just a buzz word. There really isn't any way to meet an ideology on the battlefield and kill it forever. Ideas can't really die.

 

[Murdoc]

We have a strong military because we have the most experienced military that has a budget to back it up with, along with the most advanced technology. I don't think it has to do with some macho attitude. really though, the "war on terror" is just a buzz word. There really isn't any way to meet an ideology on the battlefield and kill it forever. Ideas can't really die.

i agree. but to some extent didnt 9/11 piss you off? i know it sure as hell pissed me off. and our entirely military is enlistment based now. no draft. so there has to be at least SOME kind of macho attitude... people (soldiers) who want to get even and say "hey, dont fuck with us". i mean this whole nuclear treaty needs to be abolished and we need to take out iran before their full scale uranium enrichment program hits full scale.

 

[debbie t]

what an interesting man he is .all else failed i like him.

murdoc,you have a large number of young men enlisting now because of economic necessity they are the dispossed(it is also true in my country)

9/11 pissed me off ,i dont like to see people die .but,we lived here with that nature of terrorism for decades ,i grew up being afraid to shop in london in case the ira bombed it,my own parents were in manchester when the last ira bomb devastated the city,it was awful.
despite this we were able to sit down end that civil war and get on with our lives.

it is impossible to say that some are allowed nuclear power but others arent.nuclear bombs are vile and no one should be allowed to have them the US included.thank goodness the japanese forgave

 

[All Else Failed]

i agree. but to some extent didnt 9/11 piss you off? i know it sure as hell pissed me off. and our entirely military is enlistment based now. no draft. so there has to be at least SOME kind of macho attitude... people (soldiers) who want to get even and say "hey, dont fuck with us". i mean this whole nuclear treaty needs to be abolished and we need to take out iran before their full scale uranium enrichment program hits full scale.

At the time, yes. It was a horrible event where thousands of innocent lives were lost, which is ALWAYS a gigantic tragedy, no matter who they were. I wouldn't call it "macho" so much as "hey I want to kill the people who did this", in a weird sort of way. BUT that doesn't contradict what Zinn is saying. He is saying that we do not as a whole have a NATURAL urge to kill. You don't wake up in the morning, hopefully, and say to yourself "wow, today would be a great day to go down to my local shopping mall with an Uzi!". Only insane people do that. BUT things like 9/11 can be seen as motivators that make people want to kill, but that doesn't make it a part of our "nature".


Now with Iran, they aren't really a threat, IMO. They don't have the balls or means to ever launch a nuke towards any western power. They aren't stupid.

 

[Murdoc]

At the time, yes. It was a horrible event where thousands of innocent lives were lost, which is ALWAYS a gigantic tragedy, no matter who they were. I wouldn't call it "macho" so much as "hey I want to kill the people who did this", in a weird sort of way. BUT that doesn't contradict what Zinn is saying. He is saying that we do not as a whole have a NATURAL urge to kill. You don't wake up in the morning, hopefully, and say to yourself "wow, today would be a great day to go down to my local shopping mall with an Uzi!". Only insane people do that. BUT things like 9/11 can be seen as motivators that make people want to kill, but that doesn't make it a part of our "nature".


Now with Iran, they aren't really a threat, IMO. They don't have the balls or means to ever launch a nuke towards any western power. They aren't stupid.

is "kill or be killed" not a natural instinct?

 

[Murdoc]

At the time, yes. It was a horrible event where thousands of innocent lives were lost, which is ALWAYS a gigantic tragedy, no matter who they were. I wouldn't call it "macho" so much as "hey I want to kill the people who did this", in a weird sort of way. BUT that doesn't contradict what Zinn is saying. He is saying that we do not as a whole have a NATURAL urge to kill. You don't wake up in the morning, hopefully, and say to yourself "wow, today would be a great day to go down to my local shopping mall with an Uzi!". Only insane people do that. BUT things like 9/11 can be seen as motivators that make people want to kill, but that doesn't make it a part of our "nature".


Now with Iran, they aren't really a threat, IMO. They don't have the balls or means to ever launch a nuke towards any western power. They aren't stupid.

But they are supplying iraq with tons and tons of weapons. which kind of proves your point of them not having the balls to directly do something to us, but theyre well on their way with helping out iraq.

 

[All Else Failed]

is "kill or be killed" not a natural instinct?

I don't think so, since not all humans feel that way. To say we have a human nature is to say all humans have a single, objective nature they are predestined for.

 

[debbie t]

murdoc ,why have iraqs so called weapons of mass destruction never been found?
that lie almost toppled a government here

 

[Murdoc]

damn i need to take some philosophy classes or something.

 

[All Else Failed]

But they are supplying iraq with tons and tons of weapons. which kind of proves your point of them not having the balls to directly do something to us, but theyre well on their way with helping out iraq.

We've done the same. Hell, we gave Bin Laden his jump start back in the 80's when we gave him 3 BILLION.

Is Iran helping our enemies out? Yes, in some ways, is that bad? Yes. But to go half-cocked into another invasion when our resources are already stretch is suicide. Especially for our economy.

 

[Murdoc]

murdoc ,why have iraqs so called weapons of mass destruction never been found?
that lie almost toppled a government here

i never stated that iraq had weapons of mass destruction. but with iran supplying them with various other weapons its just a matter of time before they have the ability to make a nuclear weapon and hand it over to iraq so that iraq can do their dirty work for them.

 

[Murdoc]

and please keep in mind that this is merely how i see things. i know it may not all be correct, but this is how i see it.

 

[All Else Failed]

Noted.

 

[debbie t]

iraq is in chaos ,its infrastructure is non existant ,i doubt it could even get someone to press a button
the middle east has been a boiling pot for years ,desert storm hasnt helped.
im quite convinced that most ordinary people there are more concerned with simply feeding themselves.