May the Best Generation Win... You know that you are winning when "The World" thinks you are the enemy. Yes, it is pretty much all in your head. Yes, they really can't think that of you. But why the hell should they stop "thinking" of you as the enemy just because you've been "lucky" enough to get away with being one when "everyone else" has the other label? The good or bad label? The real or delusional enemy label? It is almost always people in general who you should really be upset with and not anyone in particular. People who aren't taking care of themselves are not your fault...they are yours to correct. If you don't correct them they can only blame themselves. I think you are a brilliant writer so as you continue to hone your writing skills you should always continue to be creative and use your intelligence for the greater good for those that cannot do so for themselves because it is their choice and they have the power to do so. They choose not to. That is a choice as well. I understand what you are saying. The "why" is to expose them to you. It is to let them know that they have a choice. To be a part of a different world. That it is possible that a different life can happen. That they could be a part of it as well. But it seems that to most people, they don't really think that far and they are more interested in being right than being happy. Most of the time it comes down to money. But sometimes it's the other...their job, family, friends, and just their general comfort with the way things have always been done. A lot of it is pride. I don't think you need to get upset at anyone unless you choose to do so. At the end of the day if we are all just "lumps of matter" and not "sentient life forms" then we really don't have any right to get upset about much of anything. Do what you think is right for you and those around you. They will choose for themselves...or not. You have no control over what they choose and no right to tell them what to do. As you say the only way to change things is for the "world" to catch on. If enough people agree they will change. I don't know. I can't imagine anyone but myself ever being at risk or fearing for their life. For most of us...life has not been so great lately. I don't think we've ever been better than our current situation has to offer. We may get a few free months off or we may lose our job because of "reorganization" or "redundancies" or "mergers." But otherwise we're still going to be doing the same thing we were doing last week. Of course we can try to make our lives better by voting in new people who will make things more fair and honest and "open." But we all know that it won't change things very much. We can complain and hope for the best. Or we can go out and get some better gear and learn to defend ourselves and make things happen. It doesn't always work but it can. And it can work in our favor to be prepared. That's a good point. I am not as worried about myself as I am about everyone else. I'm afraid it may sound selfish to say that...but most of the time I am just looking out for my family and my own personal survival and getting by...just as I do for everyone else. You're not selfish at all because you are looking out for everyone else and working towards making the world a better place. I am trying to learn how to survive better as well and prepare for something bad because it would be a shame to get through so much and die in a war. Like our family we all get caught up in family traditions and family fights that we don't realize that it is us against the rest of the world. We get so wrapped up in what we want out of life, or what we think our family wants out of life, that we forget to do the things that will make our family happy. It is a cycle that never ends, and when we think it has ended it continues on. Once we learn that we can choose to let it end and decide that our family will be happier with the new path that we choose to take, then the cycle stops, and peace starts. The more I've grown up the more I'm aware that we may as well go for it. As long as we have done what we can to protect our family we can do everything to survive. They are still waiting for me to be ready before I should be ready. You know, I would do this for my family too. If we were given the chance to start over I would most definitely take it. I think that for my family it would be best for me to go first though. You never know what your family would do if something like that happened to you. Maybe they would freak out or hurt someone for not being prepared. What would be the point in fighting for them when you cannot protect them? To just give in, die and hope they'll be alright, or to be ready if something is to happen? Maybe we can train our family, just like the old army trick of training soldiers to fall on their sword so the enemy doesn't get the head shot. It is just a thought. If we made plans for every disaster that could ever happen it might give us time to prepare and prepare ourselves mentally and physically to become something that will last long enough to keep our family safe. And that is exactly what it is. We are going to have to plan and prepare for the worst in case it does happen. And the best way to prepare is to understand what you may have to do and become proficient enough that you have a plan and know exactly what you can do to protect your family. You may even find yourself ready for this scenario now and then just in case it happens. I'd probably rather stay right here with my family than leave and fight with the current government of Iraq. Some of my friends are in the military. To a point I'm not sure I could ever leave this Earth, especially as the world stands today. It feels better being here than any other time in history. But the thing is if there is a fight going on in Iraq, it is over a country that has already been taken from someone. Do I think we should stop fighting the battles for the ones who haven't got the opportunity to fight for themselves? Absolutely! And there are countless people around the world who need to fight for their basic rights. But there is a lot more to consider in these situations. Our whole way of life, way of living and the way we view the world is based on a lot of things that have nothing to do with right or wrong. We all feel that we have the right to be protected. And we have rights in our countries and they are upheld with our tax dollars. If there is a threat that is trying to destroy the idea of a country that is our basic right then someone needs to defend it. If I am prepared to defend it then what am I complaining about? Who am I to judge who has the right to defend it? You can't just sit here and pass judgment because you believe you know all that you need to know about what is going on. Because you do have the ability to make a difference in the world. What you see is not the full picture, just like if you read a book that is different from what you expect it to be you will get the wrong impression. If you had not read it yourself and had only been told what the author was trying to say you would be shocked and amazed. Sometimes things don't come out the way they are expected. Sometimes you have to see things through to figure out the big picture or the little picture to come up with your own opinion on what it all means. When someone is in the position to take a stand against something, they need to understand that there is a better way than what they are doing. There is a better way to get results. So if I fight for my cause, and my cause is right, then I will do it because that is what I know and that is what I have chosen for my life. If I don't fight for it, then I don't fight for it. And yes, we have the right to be protected, but only if we help to make a safer, healthier, fairer place for everyone to live. I wish I knew what life could be like if we lived in a community that did not have the problems we do today. It would be so much better if we didn't have to deal with so much conflict that is caused by people. If we all lived in a world where conflict was a thing of the past it would be a much better place to live and we would all be better off for it. The way our life is living today is like driving a car that doesn't have enough fuel to get where you want to go and you are wasting valuable fuel, time and money trying to get there. It doesn't make sense and it isn't right. There is no other way around it. We need to be prepared in case something goes wrong. Not because we are bad people or because we are mean, but because we