Reading NiQuE's journal

I was in the mall the other day doing some shopping. They had a sale in some stores, so the store owners moved some merchandise outside of the store and onto tables in the middle of the mall. No employees were to be found and customers were looking through the shoes and clothes. No store employees seemed concerned that anyone rummaging though the merchandise could easily jack something from their store.

I continued my day to the local farmer's market and noticed rows upon rows of fresh herbs, crafts, and food lining the side walks outside. This place does have attendants, however; they definitely cannot monitor even 70% of all of the items they have available to purchase. There are hundreds of people walking around and anyone could simply jack a couple of things off of these tables without anyone noticing... Even if they did see someone walking out with some merchandise, the attendant would probably assume that it was already paid for before they started walking out of the market with it.

So, I see this, I analyze it, and I wonder... Why do these people trust complete strangers not to steal? It's too easy and they'd never get caught. It's the same deal with those little donation candy boxes, the lids even say that "your honesty is appreciated".

After all of the shit, after all of the crap that human beings put each other through, why aren't we more cautious of each others actions as individual human beings? Why is it STILL so easy for some of us to trust people, even though we maybe shouldn't?

Take Israel for example (I'm shooting for a higher message here, but may need help, so feel free to reply if you think you know where I'm trying to go with this)... In recent events Israel has decided to invade Lebanon. Sure, it sucks that two of Israel's soldiers have been kidnapped. I can understand that they would like to get them home. But what I cannot understand is why they need to kill innocent people in the process? Israel could have gone about things a hell of a lot differently, and because of their recent actions, have lost a lot of respect and trust from many people in the world. Of course, Bush is quoted as saying that Israel "has a right to defend itself." Well, my question to that is, why is Israel allowed to defend themselves, but North Korean is not? Why is Israel to be trusted in this situation by the US? I understand that Israel and the US are allies, but what Israel is doing is wrong, and there for, cannot be trusted. North Korea hates the states, we all know this, but they're not going to do anything about it otherwise they'd be flattened. They're more worried that the US will invade them. Don't they have a right to defend themselves too? Apparently not.

Basically, what I'm trying to get at here is... Why is it so easy for a lot of us to trust humans to humans, but not nation to nation? Or, group to group? Why is it easier to individualize this topic?

Any nation cannot fully trust any other nation, it seems... So, how do we live together? How do we learn to trust eachother again, as groups, as nations, and as different, yet equally important people?

I don't know. I don't think anyone has the answer.

I just wish more of us could take a candy from the jar and put back 25 cents.

Of all the things that I have lost in my life, it's my mind that I miss the most.

I know far less about the situation(s) in Israel than i should, so im going to nod and smile toall that and just comment on the situation in North Korea. The problem isnt so much that North Korea hates the states, it's that NK needs help, really really badly. They would receve no notable assistance from anyone if they were a nice peaceful thirdworld nation, so they use their military strength as leverage to get what they need. True, NK would be flattened if they actually did anything with the their weaponry, but the fact is they have the potential to creat a lot of damage right now, which has many powerful nations worried. NK wants them to worry enough to give them food, oil, aid... etc And it's true that NK do have a valid fear the NK will invade them, which is one of the main reasons why NK continue to show their capabilities. America know that should they invade, they cannot stop NK from striking out before they disable NK...

i think. >_<

-Mel

Look at me! I'm a prostitute robot from the future!

Simple reply: trust is built on history! You can not trust strangers (or aliens for that matter). You don't know them. And, even when you know a person, if the past has been crippled with bitterness, trust doesn't come easily.

People sometimes don't realize the reasons behind the distrust between nations. North Korea has a bloody history against the South and the US. Both North and the US are still observing a ceasefire - the war is not over. Why should they trust each other? Has anything changed for either nations since the ceasefire? Has any one of them tried to talk to each other?

Same case applies to Palestine-Israel or Lebanon-Israel. The trust between US and Israel and the distrust between US and Lebanon is due to its bloody past. While Hamas never attacked the US directly, Hezbollah has. They have killed Americans in the past, and they continue to kill Israelis - an ally of US - while Lebanon has distanced itself from the US by harboring (or not doing anything about) the Hezbollah.

If the mall was not in your area but in a neighbourhood that has a history of thefts, would the shop-owners have still trusted the shoppers? The history of the region would have taught them not to trust. They would be stupid to still trust people.

Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye opener.