Why do leaders advocating for peace get killed?
backseatLover12
Posts: 2,312
JFK, Jr., Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon, etc. etc.
Just a simple question that crossed my mind while tuning in to the JFK, Jr. remembrance today. I'd love to know why some people with angry instincts and a weapon (in most cases) feel the need to go after the ones advocating for peace; a union among people that should not incite any threatening behavior.
Just a simple question that crossed my mind while tuning in to the JFK, Jr. remembrance today. I'd love to know why some people with angry instincts and a weapon (in most cases) feel the need to go after the ones advocating for peace; a union among people that should not incite any threatening behavior.
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twisted irony isnt it? I think in a way, humans are brain damaged that way. We cant seem to comprehend that positive change is a good thing. For some reason, on the whole, we as a species thrive on conflict.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
So, you identify with the twisted and angry, then? Because most people are NOT. Most people don't seek to kill the peaceful.
Are you saying it isnt a twisted irony that peace advocates meet with violence at the hands of others? Isnt that the very definiton of irony?
Individually maybe not, but collectively we do thrive on conflict and chaos. Too selfish to a man. I wonder how often during the day you think negatively towards others for anything, the slightest thing.
I find it strange that I do all the time, but abhor violence. Even accidents sicken me, but I still stare like everyone (or most anyway) else. While I dont think I revel in my humaness I certainly have come to accept my fallibility and now seek to right the wrongs I commit.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
They were simply a major threat to the people in power at the time. Less lennon though. Crazy fan got him.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Godfather.
This is kind of confusing.
I think that anytime someone is advocating for something that threatens the way of life for others... they become a target. Outspoken advocates become a thorn in the side for the establishment and sometimes... the privileged will go to extreme measures to preserve what they have come to enjoy.
I can buy that. But was Oswald in a position to profit off of JFK? Eh. The townspeople who sentenced Jesus Christ? No. James Earl Ray? Some say he was just a scapegoat. I don't know.
King was a true leader changing society in the U.S. Obviously being racist can lead to sick and evil behavior, as well as a vehicle for real change. John Lennon was a victim of a mentally sick fan. Gandi is interesting, I hate to reference Wiki, but it says that prior to his death, there had been five unsuccessful attempts to kill Gandhi, the first occurring in 1934. I don't know much of his assassination.
And according to Wiki about King that makes sense: As a consequence of these threats, he confronted death constantly, making it a central part of his philosophy. He believed, and taught that murder could not stop the struggle for equal rights. After the 1963 JFK assassination, he told his wife Coretta: "This is what is going to happen to me also. I keep telling you, this is a sick society."
So, ok. I can see that anyone with real charisma and power to change the world for the better could be killed for upsetting the status quo. But I'm talking about just peaceful people in general. And I don't believe it's all about money. It's about how hate drives people to the unthinkable. Hate is the problem. Ignorance is the problem. Closed-mindedness is the problem.
Being misanthropic though, "dropping out", does it really solve anything?
Rod, back in AMT again, sweet! I agree with this statement to. Peace does equal NO MONEY.
Dropping out? No! I've never dropped out (although I did tune in once).
"Misanthropic" always sounded bad to me until I heard two people use the term. The first was Paul Westerberg in his wonderful song, "It's a Wonderful Lie":
So don't pin your hopes
Or pin your dreams
To misanthropes or guys like me
The truth is overrated
I suppose
Well, I thought, it can't be that bad if a sweet guy like P.W. says that.
The second time was in the middle of a class session at our local Community College about 14 years ago. I had the position as program assistant in these classes for a couple of years, working along side this brilliant instructor/professor who's tough but compassionate style and technique for teaching and helping people has left an indelible mark on my life all these years. I've never personally known anyone who is more widely admired for her dedication to helping people (although she does have a "tough love" side t her that doesn't work for everyone). So one day in the middle of lecture she says, "It is very possible to care deeply for people you work with or know and love or even those you meet casually and at the same time be critical of the human race as a whole. In fact, I'm fairly misanthropic that way myself". You could hear a pin drop when she said that. For me it was incredibly revealing. I feel the same way. Nothing pains me worse than to hurt those I care for and for the most part I consciously try to be respectful and kind to others and yet I have grave doubts and uncertainty and, at times even a strong disliking for the human race as a whole.
Now that I think of it, Mark Twain was a compassionate misanthrope. He really had compassion for many people but he also penned something called "The Damned Human Race".
Here's a great quote that also relates to this whole subject from an amazing book (page 24 in my copy) called The Politics of Experience, 1967, by R. D. Laing:
“The condition of alienation, of being asleep, of being unconscious, of being out of one’s mind, is the condition of the normal man. Society highly values its normal man. It educates children to lose themselves and to become absurd, and thus to be normal. Normal men have killed perhaps 100,000,000 of their fellow normal men in the last fifty years.”
- Dave Mustaine
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
-Braveheart