Alcohol and Drugs are destoying our society.

[adrianna_angel]

darkuncle posted



I think most of us agree on that.



In a way i agree, however we live in a society where we hold free speech as a right, and although personally i think your correct in that some rap songs encourage drugs and violence, we must uphold their right to free speech. And of course artist licence is important.

I know that last part sounds a bit overboard, but remember if you start restructing what rappers can say because of the fact that it may invoke violence and drug taking we also have to restrict comedians because jokes might lead to racism, sexism or religious retribution as in the latter case as happened in Denmark over a few cartoons.



Actually although we thing things may have been very rosy in the past and tht we are now living in a decadent 21st century, the past was much worse. Its just that you never heard much about it. Child abuse was not something the police were interested in, getting pregnant out of marriage was covered up by the female living in a strict catholic monastery, and kids were working at early ages and very long hours. We only have to go back to the Victorian period to see kids as young as 4 working 12 hourse a day in factories and getting killed by textile machines and other such accidents.

I do agree that i think we should be muxh stricter with how kids are raised but we also have to be careful about saying that bad pareneting is a new phenomena. its not.



OK stop right there. What you are effectively saying is that a person arrested by the police is guilty until proven innocent as though the person (In your words criminal) has the right not to say anything.

Actually when in interview with a suspect (Not criminal, as its not proven yet. Remember the courts and the jury make the decision NOT the police, unless you want a police state), if the suspect refuses to talk they are given what is known as a special warning. This is a warning that tells them how the courts might view their evidence if they did not mention their defence to the police officer under caution at the time. This is why the caution says

"You do not have to say anything, BUT IT MAY HARM YOU DEFENCE IF YOU DO NOT MENTION, WHEN QUESTIONED SOMETHING WHIVH YOU LATTER RELY UPON IN COURT.



Not quite sure what your saying here as its blanked, but yes i've been to court a number of times to give evidence and as long as you stick to your guns your OK. what the defence lawyer is trying to do is throw doubt on what you say.



Well for one I think in some respects we have created a more moralistic society, if nothing else.



Well speak for yourself mate. I dont think everyone is like that, certianly not from my experience.



Good for you (No sarcasm intended)



Who says that?



OK so apart from posting on an internet forum what are you doing?



So what are you doing about it?



OK what are you doing about it?

Garth

 

[LatinoHeat]

The problem with society is it's size. Alcohol and drugs don't pose much of a problem in smaller communities where they are produced locally by the people using them. It's easy in a small community to apply peer pressure to control people and make certain behaviours acceptable or unacceptable.

Take alcohol and drugs, start producing them on industrial scales to meet an industrial demand and you start to get industrial scale problems. Especially when we take into account there will always be people in society who wish to challenge the establishment and take control or at least carve out their own little patch in the world.

What we need is to reshape society. Do away with the massive sprawling metropolises and reform smaller towns and villages. Build communities where everybody knows everybody else and looks after each other.

 

[TaylorE]

Absoloutly agree, the problems within this society have been generated by heavily centralisation.

Look outside, if your someone like me, you live in a sprawling sub-urb, everything you need comes from big branded super-stores... do you know who baked your bread? or the farmer who raised the cattle? What about the butcher who made the cuts?

Society has broken down, becuase for the most part, society has dis-appeared, When I was 10 I was out in the middle of our court with my friends (about 10 of us), all different ages, we had wooden swords, shields and bamboo javelins, which we would re-construct battles with. That's how we passed the time and no one thought twice about it! We had water fights, hell even our neighbours were not averse to joining in!

I never seem to see that now, we live now in a world where we keep a careful eye on our neighbours, our kids shouldn't play in the street, and god forbid talking to someone else's kids!

To build a better community we need to first make a community, we need to reach out, build those conenctions and claim those streets, not through new police laws, but just by going out their and saying "hi" once in a while.

Sprawling sub-urban complex's, gaint retail parks and a working culture, which plays into such roles has alienated people from one another.

Localisation, brings people back in touch, gives people purpose and drive.

We need communities to form together, people supporting one another, it's not matter of new laws or police procedures, it's really a simple matter of connecting the dots and making healthy relationships.

At the end of the day that is what a society is, one big relationship. Let's make it a good one!

 

[obed_15vc]

Actually it was a pretty good reply to what you said....

 

[SweetP]

Giacommo posted



But thats your choice. Personally I go to the butcher as its healthier, better and cheaper. yes your butcher is cheaper than Tescos. And I have just started to grow my own veg. I use the super market for some things but i am not dependent on them.

At the end of the day its your choice, no one is forcing you to go.



Still do, its called Ninjutsu (Joke)



I agre here. i dont let my kids (8 and 6) out on their own.

But i'm also aware that actually the threats we believe are their are blown up pretty much by the press, and the fear factor is out of control.



And getting mugged, which is why we need the NEW police laws.



I agree but at the same time I dont. I've often heard the the call for less retail parks and more sociable work hours from people but am always surprised that these are the first people that go to the retail parks on a sunday and want 24 hour service.

You cant have both.



OK sounds good, but what you have said is just talk. You have not presented a startegy for making it happen.



OK what are you doing?

Garth

 

[heathern1]

1. Kids in scotland COULD go eat a balanced diet, be involved in sport and be health concious, but they don't. That's why we take action to persuade them to do so.

2. Talking to your neighbour does not get you mugged.

Listen, their are no quick fixes in life, we are not going to change anything by implementing new police laws (I would love to hear what you propose by the way ) it's going to change through shifts in society and that affecting people's attitudes. If we build a community where people talk and work together we teach a lesson to the younger ones about their role in society. At the moment their is no role in society, their is just live in house and go to work, the poeple around you are their by co-incidence, do as you will.

Police laws are a band aid, the problem with society is a cancer, it doesn't need a band aid.

3. True that, it is more convieniant to go to supermarkets, but that is where the problem lies, it;s convieniance over community.

4. Don't understand this last part, you want an honest answer NOTHING I'm 19 going to university within the next couple of weeks . I would love to implement these idea,'s and where-ever I go I make a point of establishing connections and net-working, it makes my life easier and I'm also on good terms with the hoodlums from the estate near by, so in a way my ability to say "hi" has saved me from mugging

If your looking for practical soloutions, change in work hours, change in school hours (actually, moving school hours earlier out of the way of the mid and late afternoon has been shown to be a terrific way to motivate younger generations), Helping fund local business's, encourages fete's you could even try designing buildings in a more communal way forcing people to communicate and particpate.

Sweden actually has a brilliant way of running housing, you don't buy the house, but the right to live thier, as a result it's a shared property and often their are mutliple owners of semi-detattches, flat blocks, which meet and use services together.Shared laundry rooms, suana etc

Hell you can get evicted from your house for anti-social behaviour. The whole system is geared towards communal living, it's quite incredible.


However you comment perplexes me this is nothing to do with me or you, this is about idea's and thoughts. I'm not here to compare our stats for a "citizen of the month" trophy.

I just want society to work

 

[GabbyG]

Giacoomo posted



No I asked what you are going to do, not whats already being done.



Depends on your neighbour



Well i'm not propeosing anything, but then i'm not the one complaining about society and saying "We should all do something about it"

My point is here that I often hear people like you saying we should do this or that, but actually are doing nothing about it themselves.

My question to you is "What are you doing about it"?



OK so you know what you need to do, now what are you doing about implementing it?



Do you go to supermarkets. if you do then your as guilty as everyone else who uses supermarkets.



Right so your not doing anthing about it.



OK have you written this and posted it to your MP?



What has this got to do with your post above.



You can in the UK.



Sweden also has a problem with alcoholism.



No. You see if you come on here and tell us what we should be doing with society, but then fail to do anything about it yourself, your actually a bit of a hypocrite.

You are willing to take all the good things about society. A society that gives you university and your education, but then complain about the hand that feeds you. OK society is not perfect, and i'll agree that things need to change, but words without actions are meaningless.



It does, just not as well as we would hope it does. But to change society takes action, but then it seems like your not willing to take action.



OK write to your MP, start an action group, get involved in a political party or start one, join a group that has the same ideas as yourself, campaign for you local buthers, greengrocers, start a residence association, rent an allotment and get the community involved to grow crops, petition for a community centre.

But saying "I'm only 19" as an excuse why you havent done anything is lame

Garth

 

[MargaretY]

1. Your argument rests on this, "are you doing anything?"

Police should be more rigorous in thier interviews of criminals- Man on street.

Police should be more rigorous in thier interviews of criminals- Police interrogator who is kwon for cutting corners.

Now I fall mainly under the first category, becuase I am proposing something without directly implementing it. However I am not condemning anyone. Having an idea of what needs to be done and not doing it, is MILES away from being a hypocrite.

I would be a hypocrite if I condemned those who shopped at tesco's while shopping at tesco's, I'm not condemning anyone becuase I am in no position to do so.

You seem to have me confused with someone who is trying to take the moral high-ground.

2. Have written to my MP, but I don't class that as doing something.

3. I am making a concious effort to net-work and communicate. This is a micro scale operation, I consider this to be not doing anything, to do anything significant, what needs to be undertaken needs to be a macro-operation taking place on a larger scale.

4. No idea you could be evicted from your own house, I thought that only applied when the house was not yours.

5. The sweden one was an example of a pragmatic plan to build a society where people talkto one another.

6. I don't really see where swedens alcohol problems fit in.

7. See, in a debating sense your getting slaughtered right now... becuase your not actually providing any argument ratehr just critising me (not my argument) becuase I hold beliefs which I am not currently trying to enforce.

8. I'm 19 is a perfectly valid reason, I have an education, I'm moving city within three weeks, I can't actually stand for parliment, I need to work and get money, their are plenty o matters wich are more pressing to me right now, I have lived in this society, sure it could be improved, but I can live in it for now.

I do have intentions to change society, and take action, but now is not the time.

"Damn binmen this is the third week they have missed me"

"Have you started a revoloution yet?"

"No.... I have a job and a famil-"

"then stop whining you hypocrite"

Get a grip garth we can't all be Che.

 

[shchi]

Have you ever sat in a police interview? Have you ever interviewed a suspect in a police interview?

I have

I dont know wher you are from but here in the UK we have whats known as the PEACE model.

And by the way its not down to the police to prosecute its down to the Crown Prosecution Service.



If you say "We need to do this" and then finds excuses not to do it, is in my book being a hypocrite, especially if you are happey to use the services you criticise when other options are available.



The courts can do anything they want if they have enough evidence against you.



Well we do in the UK. Are you from the UK?



Because you held it up as some perfect society we should follow.



Am I? I dont think so



well actually I have, see above.



Not if you feel strong enough about it.



well i'm not the one complaining about society



Well it doesnt make me a hypocrite because i'm not complaining about society, but I do act on the things I feel strongly about such as crime:

Police commendation for arresting a burglar whilst he made his escape whilst a civilian.
subsequantly served 4 years in the police force. 1 year as a volunteer.

Charity:
3 BBC children in need charity holidays. Took 120 kids on holiday to Yarmouth and wales and the Isle of Wight.

Religious beliefs and education
Resigned from my job in a museum (Story went world wide)
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/Museum-man-resigns-over-Darwin.4475006.jp

History: member of the battlefield trust campaigning for the protection of battlefields in the UK.

Community: Teach martial arts and lecture for local interest groups in archaeology. Perform magic for disabled people.

Please dont call me a hypocrite

Garth

 

[imag]

No, I am destroying our society, and alchohol and drugs are taking all the credit.

 

[casapulla2001]

The police analogy was not about police interrogations *facepalm*, it was pointing out the difference between someone who holds beliefs but has yet to attempt to implement them. And someone who holds beliefs contradictory to thier actions.

Hypocrit derives from the greek word actor, it is about saying one thing and scpefically doing another.

In a more modern context it refers to someone who condemns people for the same cirmes they commit, in order to gain a moral high ground.

I have condemned no one, neither have I tried to gain moral high ground. I don't blame people for shopping in tesco's, I shop in teso's. But my point isn't "PEOPLE SHOULDN'T SHOP IN TESCO'S". It's that massed centralisation should stop, at the moment it is more efficient and profitabele to go to tesco's, than it is to find a butcher etc... well for me travel is one thing, time and money are secondary.

Care to quote me on the sweden inciddent, I don't recall calling it a perfect society.

Oh and yes you are, your getting your ass handed to you on a plate,

Take scotlands obesity one, you indicated that choice was already their and that should be fine. I exlpained why it isn't. Perfectly knocking your argument to the floor.

You then changed the context saying "it's about what you have done". Everything else so far has been amount me...

and frankly I have done everything that I want to right now, in the future more will probably come. Right now I have an education, training, work, I'm writing a book which I hope to revouloutionise the idea's of love and sex in the modern world.

I've mentioned scotland, and I knew what an MP is, take a wild guess.... do I live in the UK?

If your absoloutly cetain that you are debating well, why not sum up your argument?

What are it's points? Bullet list it.

(If it's another stream of ad-hominem it will be ignored save for any arguments that you have against my proposals)

 

[PeterGibbons]

If the supermarket is the only game in town, which is increasingly the reality, then there isn't much choice.

 

[solaa]

Giacommo posted



Reakky, so when you said...



And the word is as you originally put "Interview" NOT "Interrogations" And as I posted a person in an interview is a suspect not necesariliy a criminal. You are innocent until proven guilty. Please learn about law and police procedure before you condemn it



Please no need for insults



Or not doing.

If you say we should do this, but then dont do it yourself you are a hypocrite.



Sometimes, but its not the only analogy that can be applied to the word hypocrite. If you say for example "we should all do this" and then say but I cant because I have to do this, then thats hypocricy.

It reminds me of "The Life of Brian" when they are going to free Brian and they all go except Reg because he has a bad back.



Which probably means "No more Tescos" and if there is no alternative?



Depends on what you want. I have found that meat and veg are cheaper at my local shops than Tescos.



Actually my local butcher is cheaper than tescos on Meat, Bread, milk and eggs, which are staple foods, and a few other things beside.



I'm not saying you were. i'm trying to point out that there is not a perfect society. You can hold up a society that has A to prove your point about A, But without taking the other points into consideration its a moot point.

You shoud look at systems theory.



Really, maybe in you 19 year old mind.

Its really simple, you have come on here and said about all the things we should do. I havent disagreed with you, I have picked you up on a few pointers, but basically said "so what are you going to do"

You have then come back with "But i'm only a 19 year old student" which is a lame excuse.

You then said...



Well firstly i'm not the one complaining about the system, YOU ARE. and then I posted what i have done to stand up for what i have done.

So if thats getting your arse handed to you on a plate, you have a very bizarre take on victory.



Did you, where?

You said



well you said...



No I never said it was their choice. I asked what you had done, NOT what someone else i.e. the governement had done.

You cant hold up governemment police as YOUR ACHIEVEMENT



Which is?



Good



Come again



Just because you mention Scotland it does not follow that you live in the UK. People in the USA have heard of scotland.



I'm not arguing yet, I'm asking what you are doing about what you see as a problem. As I say I havent said anything bad about society yet, or said that we need to do something about it.



Its not an ad hominem.

Asking what you are going to do about something you seem to be passionate about is NOt an ad hominem.

See my next post

Garth

 

[mercha]

Ok, let me put down my views regarding the last few posts which seem to cover the arguments about a breakdown in society in regard to loosing the community spirit and crime. Or indeed as Giacommo posted...



In a way I agree with him. I'm 45 and I grew up in a small town in the Midlands. I remember that my family members walked to work because the factory was just down the road, and we spoke to the neighbours and each weekend we would be at the local working mens club.

Great times.

But things have changed and if you want to know why society has changed and crime has gone through the roof, and drugs are a major problem one of those reasons, a very big reason is "Technology"

Now i'm not going to say that in the 60s and 70s we lived in a perfect society or that drugs were not around, but we could leave our doors open without much fear of a burglary. But over the last 20 years or so technology has increased dramatically. When I grew up there were no x boxes, nintendos, video recorders, DVDs, Computers, Mobile phones, sat nav, sattelites, 60 channel TV, internet etc etc. In fact TV was only BBC1, BBC2 and ITV broadcasting only about 12 hours a day. We didnt even get our first phone until I was 14, and no one learnt to drive in the family until I was 12.

So in effect in those days you had a choice. Stay in and watch Bonanza or the waltons or a black and white movie, or go to your local Working Mens club (Which are now disapearing0 and chat to the neighbours over a pint.

Even the major road systems in the 70s were very small, where now we have a major sprawling network of major roads up and down the country.

All these things have all led to changes in society.

We have so many other things that occupy our minds now, whether its watching one of about 60 channels on the sattelite TV, playing the latest game on the X Box 360 or going on line and chatting on a forum like this one. In fact because society has changed to a technological society. I can talk to people across the world, but I may not talk to my neighbour.

In other words society in regard to communication has become larger yet at the same time the local community has become insular. We talk of a global community instead of a local community. And this is all because of technology.

Continued on next post

 

[Cathie]

Continuing from that, because of the leaps forward in technology we have become very much a "Must have" or "Want want want" society. We are constantly trying to keep up with the peer groups with the latest mobile phone, car, games console etc. In fact when I tell people that i dont have a mobile phone, people lookat me in a very strange way and say "What you dont have a mobile phone"?

This technology of course has created a huge demand, and to supply this demand has meant that factories have had to increase in size and move to the outskirts of towns into industrial estates. This in turn has led to a growth in car sales (one needs to get to work) and a 24 hour shift pattern which has meant that there is less time for communicating with your neighbour who is also working a 24 hour shift pattern.

This demand of course is now costing each family more. Believe me I have kids and they want the latest X Box and Nike trainers, something that we did not think about when I grew up. There was no big deal about what trainers you wore, and I remember the height of technology was the first digital watch in the late 70s. But today it really is a "want want want" society, and to get that demand we need to manufacture, which means people working long shifts, which means a break down in community, and to afford the items means both partners need to work which leads to a nucleated family where even time with the children is limited.

For example whan i was at school there were no "After school clubs" but now its a must because parents are working.

It follows then that because of this "want want want" society there will always be people that cannot afford what society (The people around them and the media) say they should have and because of the pressure put on them will therefore turn to crime.

They like you, want the latest mobile phone, x box and Nike trainers for their kids. No Nike trainers for the kids, the kids get bullied in school.

And to meet that demand there will always be people wanting to supply those goods by illegal means. Now dont get me wrong, there has always been criminals but now with technology its so much easier. A shoplifter can now stand in a toyshop, games shop, shoe shop and directly talk to the person who wants the goods.

And crime itself has now also become more diverse. Why is this?

Well again Technology

I once heard a chief superintendent say "The reason we have so much crime today is because of the motor car"

And this is true. Credit card (Something else not around when i was a kid) crime is committed by gangs who travel hundreds of miles hitting every supermarket they pass. In fact the credit card fraud can be tracked as the scammers loop their way around the country making fast get aways by motorways, (Its called the green route) and drug deals can now be carried out in minutes by the use of mobile phones.

we shant even get into how the internet is used in major crime deals and how crime itself i.e internet crime has added to the list of crimes that the police have to deal with thus cutting resources.

And lets face it when it comes to demand, we all fell into this trap, where we could have a credit card or a loan from the bank and have anything we wanted, until of course the reccesion hit. And now the banks want it all back.

And we all laugh at the Arthur Dalys and Derek Trotters of the world with their dodgy dealings, yet it is these types of people that are fuelling crime. Ever bought anything in a pub that fell off a bag of a lorry? If you have you are probably paying for terrorism, prostitution and Drug running.

In fact crime because of the leap forward in technology has become a world wide multi faceted industry.

The shoplifter nicks some stuff which he gives to his handler who pays him cash, which he buys drugs with that he gets off his dealer who buys from the drug barron who is also funding prostitution and terrorism. In fact the same argument can be used for those people that watch pirate DVDs (And I dont meam "Pirates of the Caribean". Where did those DVDs come from?

Because if they came from an unknown sourse you are probably funding major crime.

But of course we only watched the DVD because it was cheaper than the ones in the shop.

Yes we all live in this "Want Want Want" society, and even though we are in a reccesion it continues. We are bombarded by the media pumping out what we or the kids must have, from the latest video game to the the latest shoes.

And the thing is that we can all sit here and say that community is breaking down and we want to get back to a more community based society where crime is less of a problem, but at the same time we all want the benefits of this technological society, and i'm sure that most of us dont want to go back to the 1970s where technology was an 18 inch tv with three channels and a large plastic phone with a dial in the corner of the room.

And if we are going to accept this technology (Which of course we have) then we have to realise that sacrifices have to be made.

What you cant say is "I dont like these 24 hour shift patterns. I think we should all go back to a 5 day week with the weekends off," and then complain when the shops are shut on a Sunday and you cant phone your gas, phone, or electricity supplier because they also work a 5 day week.

You cant say "We should go back to being more community focused" and then expect otehrs to work a 24 hour shift pattern to meet our demands.

You also cant complain when your demands for items are not met and you cant get cheap foods in the supermarket and have to spend three hours going from shop to shop getting your meat here, your veg there, and your household items somewhere else.

Now I'm not saying that supermarkets are great or that technology is bad, but what I am saying is that simply saying

"We need to get back to community living as there is a break down in society, and crime is on the rise and we need to do something about it"

Is not an answer, especially when actually Crime and break downs are only the results of what we desire. What we need to to do is look at the symptoms, the root causes of what we consider problems in our society.

Its like the analogy of cancer that people have used in regard to society. Yes we can try to treat the cancer, although its difficult. Much better to treat the root causes of cancer i.e drinking, smoking etc. But if you dont want to give up smoking, you can hardly blame anyone whan you get cancer.

and you can hardly blame society for a break down when you want all the benefits of a 21st century technological society with people working shifts.

yes we all buy into the things that a 21st century technology gives us, but how many of us would really want to do without those things?

In other words you cant always have your cake and eat it.

Garth

 

[t_quapin]

Haha, Garth!

Nice in depth post.

I do find it ironic your post is mostly based around the technological advances in society being responsible for etc....When your posting it on your computer, using the internet, to another person also using a computer, being viewed by me on the other side of the world through the use of satelites and other crazy advanced technologies.

quote- and you can hardly blame society for a break down when you want all the benefits of a 21st century technological society with people working shifts.

yes we all buy into the things that a 21st century technology gives us, but how many of us would really want to do without those things?-

Good point,

You say that drug deals can be done in an instant because of mobile technology, but that same technology helps a rescue helicopter come and save a person who's had an accident in a rural area and would die without immediate help.

I'm glad to see that this thread has turned into mostly a good discussion, the first few pages had me worried!

I'd also like to just ask that the fact that Giacomo is 19 is not used as some sort of reason as to why he is wrong or can't see things appropriatly.

The appeal to age in and of itself is as bad as racism or sexism.

 

[Caffiend]

This might be obvious, but I'll state it anyway. Technology, like drugs/alcohol is not intrinsically good or bad. It is how we use these things that shapes our society - we are the only ones who can be held responsible for that.

 

[arkpudel]

Liero

Excatly my point.

I'm not saying that technology is good or bad, just that one has to look at both sides, and yes it is ironic that some people knock technology and science but then rely on those things everyday, and wold not like to live in a world without those things.



Its a good point, but when someone says...



It does make one wonder what they have actually done.

I'm not saying that Giacommo hasnt done anything or has no experience in life, just that if you are going to say we should do this, then one should at least be able to say what they have already done.

Garth

 

[blkcherrylips]

Holyheadjch posted



exactly

Garth

 

[bm3223]

Using technology while condemning it... you hypocrit garth!!!

Haha jk

Your post is actually something I have thought on before, the use of computer games, internet etc has contributed to driving our entetainment in a more indoor and less communally social manner.

That's not to say the tchnology is at fault, but our attitudes to it are more to do with it. At least in that area.

Now for further above.

1. I was not condemning the police interragtion or interview methods, and I'm well aware that the modern world works on the basis of logical positivism and inductive reason. My point was pertaining to your fairly loose use of the word hypocrite.

Thier is a diference between one who condemns and does, and one who recommends but does not do.


Even if the latter category qualified someone as a hypocrite, I fail to see why that applies to me, becuase their is nothing much I can do, I can hradly produce legislation handing out grants to local business's or reducing tax on them. I can only do what I do now. My position does not allow me to take on a macro scale movement, without seriously mucking up other current projects in my life.

I would like to help disperse aid in africa, but right now thats just not something I'm doing.

2. I'm not actually saying that we need individuals, we need a change in legislation, which then changes the way we have to operate as a society, which then changes attitudes and values.

Man with sign saying "recycle your cans PLEASE" doesnt get half the success that a policy does when it constructs a system which buys your recycled cans to re-use.

Of course it's always better to be man with sign than man with no sign

3. My local shop itself rarely has everything I need, and the butcher is more expensive my grocers isn't to bad, depends on what I want. But both are a half hour bus journey and on my routine geting to them is just pointless when I could get to a larger store.

Along with htat what would buying from them achieve, they are hardly local, my local shop is a co-op and I'm on first name terms with the staff, but it's a co-op in the middle of a sprawling sub-urb outside of my own court, where we all try and network I have little to no idea who lives in the houses surrounding.

The point of localisation is to creat focal points and hubs rather than just help local business for the econiomic benefits towards new entrepenuers.



4. So your admitting that I am correct? I'm discussing idea's not people. Your free to rag all you want about me but that won't change my views and whether they are correct or not.

5. While we are at it, what constitutes of making an effort?

I've written to my MP.
I make a concious effort to establish connections and communictae with others around me.
Last halloween, I had some friends over we did up my house and sent leaflets round houses about our "haunted house". I arranged that becuase I believe halloween is a really great event for getting to know people and it also teaches a social and emotional lesson to children.
I play traditional music and help run local celiegh's.
Current recession means it's hard to find work, especially for people in my position, I spent 4 months unemployed, I used that time to do volountry conservation work in the forests around my neighbourhood.
Helped teach kids american football in our local schools.

See from the achievments that you have listed; my list above is similar in it's nature when looking at the principle "living up to beliefs".

But I don't actually think what I am doing is helping society, yeah it helps MY society, but in order to make a real difference I'm going to have to dedicate alot more time, maybe move into politics.

You seem to be thinking on a micro scale, but Macro is what really matters to me, and social revouloution is hard to attain with a uni education, work, training and a book. And also being inelligable to run as a political candidate tends to slow things. My position is limited in time, money, legislation and practicalty.

6. "Love, Lust and the parties involved"

I don't expect it to be finished for another couple of years, the book is comprisd partly of my thoughts and attitudes which I believe are more healthy than the current ones held. The other part is an almost "my secret garden" format, I'll be doing interviews and discussion with various women in my life looking at the realities behind sex and love in the modern world*, the age range is going from 18 (I refuse to take anyone younger) to roughly 40 so far. The female sexual psyche tends to mature and reach it's full intricacy alot later on than most males. Who have devloped most of their sexual tastes around the age of 21. (That being said, I think male sexuality is often over-simplified, I feel it also probably has certain other intricacies that have not been explored, or suppressed by our current sexual attitudes.)

Of course thier are exceptions.

I'm also deliberatly stretching this project out, I do alot of work within the seduction community and within that their are fads, everynow and again one way of thinking tends to dominate the pick up scene, so I've stretced my production out so I can keep re-evaluationg and checking what I am writing, making sure that my thoughts are ecologically valid and generalisable and not influenced by any one fashionable mode of thought.

7. Your actually probably right about the ad hominem thing, I'm so used to people debating views rather than personalities so I'm rather thrown when my perosnal life and achievements are taken into the discussion.

* I'll be trying to keep the interviews in thier most raw formats, some will be written interviews, a good couple however will be audio some may even be video!