People make peace as much as Politicians

Originally posted by lighthouse:
In the late 1980s I spent a weekend in a place called Benwell in the west end of Newcastle (NE England). It's an area recognised by many in relevant organisations as one of the toughest neighbourhoods in the UK. Because I went up there with a friendly demeanour I was made to feel very welcome and had a really enjoyable time. If I had gone up there with an 'attitude' , and/or been judgemental the minute I got off the bus, concidering the sort of place it is, I would probably have lasted about 5 minutes - because the 'attitude' I'd have got back would have been infinately more - erm - 'up front' than anything I'd have been able to carry off. That was 16 years ago, and I sometimes wonder if these days it's possible to be able to do things like that, and does a friendly approach evoke the same, or are we becoming cynical to all that?

Is the world generally becoming an increasingly aggressive place, where competition is all, and being friendly towards people sometimes isn't enough. Is the whole notion of friendliness seen as a strength or a weakness to be exploited these days? People have to work longer hours in the increasingly competitive work place, to pay ever higher mortgages and a bewildering array of credit agreements, and you wonder what sort of effect that's having on societies as a whole, and how societies interact with each other. We live in a high octane culture where the simple day to day use of words can be taken and twisted totally out of common sense parlance by people who seem on a mission to cripple the basis of any peaceful coexistance - spoken communication.

Is this the Neobrutalism, and is it really possible to "Give peace a chance" in the 'get one over on someone else' culture - or are we just trying to grow flowers on a motorway?

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It depends on where you are at, when you are there, and whether or not the people you meet have an attitude problem. Your own behavior will usually determine how you are treated, but not always. People as a whole seem to be a lot more willing to screw over others nowadays, though. My personal observation is that this does not apply equally in all places.

The where: Folks in rural areas often seem to generally be a lot more friendly than those in uban areas, I'm not sure why. People in nearly all the Midwestern US are very friendly, those in Boston and the San Francisco bay area are decidedly unfriendly overall. The demeanor of people in different countries also varies, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Mostly for the better, I think.

The when: Anyone entering an area when there are unusually high tensions will find it rather unhospitable. People might behave in a much more civil manner at other times. Areas that are safe during the day may become dangerous at night. People all across America were more accomodating and supportive of each other following the 9/11 attacks than at other times. For some reason, this seems to happen a lot during disasters.

The world does seem like it is becoming a more agressive, cutthroat, hostile place. Part of the problem may be that individuals adopt that outlook and behavior as a survival mechanism, although they find it distasteful. They believe there are few who see things the same way, when, in reality, the opposite is true. As far as friendliness being a weakness to be exploited - being friendly and treating others well does not require people to be fools. Fools will be exploited sooner or later no matter what, just as in times past.

Of course, all these statements are based on my point of view. Others may see it quite differently.