Quote:

Along those lines, I'd like to suggest some other possible causes for the unrest, not just in the middle east, but elsewhere in the world. How about oppression (ie: lack of various freedoms and an associated fear for ones life and well being if those freedoms were excercised or even a desire for them voiced)? What about level and quality of education (ie: access to information without censorship for ones betterment)? How about social mobility (ie: the ability to move up or down within the social infrastructure, the ability to improve your social condition and standing)?

Those are just three areas that I see as needing to be examined (and have previously hinted at), and there are several more that I can think of. And if you accept that maybe, just maybe some of these could have some degree of causality, how do you address correcting them besides agressive use of force, which should always be considered the very last possible action, if at a



You're quite right there Brad. The question really comes down to: How do you change a culture? Staying with the Middle East (the rest of world will just have to wait ), there is a culture of violence and deceit among the leaders of many of the remnants of the Ottoman empire, it would be foolish to say that Islam doesn't play a role in this culture since it's the dominant social force in the region.
Back to the question of changing a culture through non-violent means, I can only think of a few examples. The American civil rights movement for one. I'm not sure how the change in feudal Japan came about, I know that the last Shogunate kept the country in relative peace for a time, but how did they become a modern country? I'll bow to the historians on the question (Tad?). Are there any examples of a violent, oppressive, caste culture being changed for the better through non-violent means?

Contra todo mal, mezcal; contra todo bien, también