The Sociology of Conflict

[DispenserJosh]

Well killing someone is wrong at the end of the day if you look at it at face value. You are denying them the right to live. But if you consider some of Gadafi's traits then many people wouldn't bat an eyelid if he were to be violently removed! Maybe a few raised glasses here and there?

"An eye for an eye makes the world blind" - Gandhi

[Nik]

Nice extreme example there Sol - you could always look back and wonder how things might have changed for example if Hitler wasn't just injured in WWI but killed or had been killed before his rise to power? Would the world have been a better place if the Nazi's didn't exist ? Probably not, as we would have ended up fighting Stalin and the Soviets instead. One dictator replaced with another. Defending yourself is necessary but how many people will be willing to pull a trigger and take a life at the crucial time, especially if your attacker/burglar is unarmed or running away ? Not many I would suspect.

[DispenserJosh]

Defending yourself is necessary but how many people will be willing to pull a trigger and take a life at the crucial time, especially if your attacker/burglar is unarmed or running away ? Not many I would suspect.

What about a soldier, under order to shoot to kill? I know it's circumstantial but if someone has no perceived choice in the matter, maybe they find it easier to partake in fatal conflict?

[DispenserJosh]

Hello All, a quick update, and a change of sails!

My dissertation plan is coming along nicely, thank you all for your opinions! I have decided to take the direction of studying the public opinion of nuclear war as there is a huge gap in the literature of this particular area. It is also a more contemporary issue, I was concerned I may end up writing a history dissertation by accident. So I have some more questions I'd like to discuss with you.

How do you perceive the threat of nuclear war? Has your perception changed over time?

Do you believe the development of atomic weaponry to be a positive/negative movement?

What are your thoughts on the construction of nuclear shelters?

Now, I only have the support of the literature that I have read, but to me, in our present setting, I think the idea of building a nuclear shelter is outdated. I find it hard to see anyone spending their own time constructing their own personal shelters. Please correct me if I'm wrong! At the end of the day I think the majority have become comfortable with the current nuclear deterrence policies.

[johnep]

CND will give you all the info.
johnep

[rafhelp]

Hello all!

I'm going to be working on my dissertation for sociology in the next two years. I will be studying the sociology of conflict.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the topic. To get some coversation/debate/arguing started here are some questions:

How has war shaped the world?

How do you feel about immigration to the UK?

What are your thoughts on the wave of unrest sweeping northern Africa? ie Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco

Have you ever been in a fight?

Discussion, ideas, thoughts are all welcome. Cheers

it only takes a spark to start a fire. that spark could be started by mistake aswell.

[DispenserJosh]

CND will give you all the info.

Thanks johnep, I shall look into that! But I think that's only one side of the coin. In fairly recent Gallup polls there have been signs of support for the nuclear program, interestingly men are generally more supportive.

@rafhelp, very true, some of the reading I have done dances over the issue of mistakes, or the motives of individuals. The capabilities of nuclear sub-mariners to launch warheads was also discussed.

[johnep]

Conflict is one of the tools of nature to control the population. If we have no conflict then nature will introduce another of the four horsemen to compensate. Currently this is disease (HIV) and famine.
johnep

[DispenserJosh]

Nuclear war is a little bit toooo 'four horseman' though...a bit over kill. Unless someone is thinking we should start again, from scratch.