Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a
nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a
"Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed
considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense
initiatives more successful? Can such an application of
science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable,
necessary or impossible?
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rshow55
- 02:32pm Dec 20, 2002 EST (#
6854 of 6858) Can we do a better job of
finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and
I have done and worked for on this thread.
Hold Your Nose and Negotiate By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/20/opinion/20KRIS.html
refers to problems in North Korea, where we may have no choice
but to negotiate, or have the key decisions made for us - in a
dangerous situation.
I like the phrase " hold your nose and negotiate" as
well ! If people used the phrase more often, a lot of things
might go more smoothly. I'd suggest a generalization:
" Hold your nose andcommunicate . "
Too many situations never clarify and become soluble - and
things are more dangerous and stark than they have to be,
because people find it easy to find aesthetic and status
reasons not to communicate and not to negotiate.
Reasons to avoid communication and negotiation are easy
enough to understand.
All the same, we'd be safer, and a lot of things would go
better, if people were more willing to talk and negotiate even
when they felt there were "aesthetic" and "moral" reasons not
to.
Real talking, finding shared space, usually involves a kind
of negotiation. Negotiation about meaning.
Is it just my imagination, or are some useful negotiations
going on now? Maybe 20002 will go down as a year where
a lot of really big problems started to resolve effectively.