(Talking about a marathon in Buffalo)
When they said the Kenyans always won I thought they were talking about brothers, Joe and Mark Kenyan.

Original Post: http://caseyfenton.net/blog/?p=7

Received the following argument against:
“even with such education there is still massive possibility for individuals to become attached to a meme and group together. such utter globalization will lead to further oppositions among groups of humans who’s moral guidelines would be in utter opposition. i do not see your solution as any better than what is currently.”

My Response:
You speak of a massive possibility for individuals to become attached and group together. I agree with that. The human race has always been a pack creature, craving both social comfort and relative proximity for essential survival. However, I think this group magnetism can work in our favor.

By mass educating youth, whom otherwise would not receive an education, they have already become a “group”. It’s those select individuals who, now, make up the minority that will feel as outsiders and want the sense of attachment.

The youth is already receiving an education from the enemy of “Us = Good. Them = Bad.” It would be a much more successful method to reach people before they have this message engraved into their minds, rather then try and “rehabilitate” them as adults after decades of being told the statement as unquestioned fact.

E.g. You have always been told that the sky is blue. Tomorrow, the government issues a statement saying that the sky is now to be considered red. Will you conform and accept this? Some may out of trust or indifference, but a very large percentage will demand reasoning, facts, statistics, and a lot will never accept the ruling simply because they have known and trusted the sky is blue for their entire lives. The removal of this foundation of truth would shake their entire existence. In short, it’d be a big deal.

Now, in my scenario, you reach children at the age where they are still learning and have no set opinion of the sky. You tell them, “Some people think the sky is blue while others think it is red.” You have provided them with a choice, a truthful representation of how the world is. It’s now up to them as individuals to make their choice as to their own opinion. We are not pushing our views onto these children but we are allowing them an alternative perspective then the close mindedness of the previous teachings.

I do not proclaim this as an ultimate solution. I see it as a basic foundation for a starting strategy. In certain regions, it is no longer just an idealism of hatred. It is a culture, an upbringing and a way of life.

You can kill the man with the gun, but his son will only pick it up, and so on, and so on. You fight the motivation behind holding that gun in the first place. That’s how you stop the violence.