I am sick and tired of politicians and people in general, for their frequent personal insults and the fault finding of others.There have been times in life when, having sufferred a wrong committed on me by another, I have realised that the psychologists are correct when they tell us, that almost any one of us is capable of murder! I certainly have yearned for revenge, and felt a hatred for another human being.However now in my declining years, I know how futile and self destructing, these emotions are.We have all heard the maxim,"Critisise the action, not the person." But how many practice it? Politicians only exhibit their inefectiveness and frustration when they resort to personal invective.Our society would be much happier if they followed the Dalai Lama.I'd like to see a sign on the Speakers rostrum reading"STOP FINDING FAULT"

Hi diplo... speaking as one who is regularly vilified personally here with such juicy terms as "you bigoted pig" :) not to mention the many variations on my nick which seem to appear regularly like
Polywoffle
Polycrap
Poly (many) Carp (feral fish)
Poly-fill in the gap.....

from posters who are in the process of ripping 'me' to shreds for finding fault with 'ideas'.... aaah well :) it's all good.

We can never avoid the need to criticize ideas or doctrines...holding back from personal attack is the difficult bit I guess.

Take care.

Agreeing with you Diploman.

The past decade or so the federal and state parliaments have gone from chook pens to a wolverine cages.

People in general have become vicious along with the great rise of the YOUR SAY columns on the internet.

Theres another factor, which may sound a bit unusual but its there just the same and I think its a real factor in the attacks by people upon other people, and thats the huge increase in caffiene addiction.

Coffee shops are exploding across world society and addiction levels are up vastly.
Kids get their original rage poisoning of caffiene in Coke etc at an earlier age.

To christians its all satan goofing off in behind the scenes in these "last days".

Agreeing with you Diploman.

The past decade or so the federal and state parliaments have gone from chook pens to wolverine cages.

People in general have become vicious along with the great rise of the YOUR SAY columns on the internet.

Theres another factor, which may sound a bit unusual but its there just the same and I think its a real factor in the attacks by people upon other people, and thats the huge increase in caffiene addiction.

Coffee shops are exploding across world society and addiction levels are up vastly.
Kids get their original rage poisoning of caffiene in Coke etc at an earlier age.

To christians its all satan goofing off in behind the scenes in these "last days".

Gibo,

You've mentioned coffee and Coca-cola before and stirerd up some action. I don't think caffine alone is a problem generally although it may affect some people. Some children for example, have reactions to the chemicals in food additives that makes them act hyper - red cordial can do this in some children, yet others can have the same foodstuffs with no problems.

Overall, I think we've lost our manners. I know I've been guilty of it. These forums are good, because one person talks at a time, and you have your turn, even if we are critical of other people's views.

I would like to see politicians stop looking for excuses and looking for answers.

DIPLOMAN, I can agree with you in part; some faults need to be let go, if only for the good of your own stress levels. But some need to be dealt with head-on.

Right now I'm regretting quite severely letting some things go in my work environment, that I really should have stuck at until they were properly resolved a long time ago. I'm talking about serious shortcomings in professionalism, infringements of our code of conduct and just plain nastiness demonstrated by some of my colleagues, that have seriously affected me.

I feel that by not dealing with them and attempting to let them be, I have in effect condoned the situation and shown myself to be weak in the face of unacceptable behaviour.

Yes Ludwig.I think you are right too.There have been situations in my past life that I could have appealed for help to get fair treatment, but if I had been a whistle-blower, I felt at that time, I should have been able to handle it myself.Now I would not run away, but regrets are negative too, and don't contribute to your happiness and contentment either!

Ludwig:

Do NOT despair as you are obviously only human! We all suffer from similar frailties at some time or another and you should be complimented on the fact that you have been brave enough to admit that you have recognised a normal minor human trait, which is NOT a failing on your part!

Well done!

Sorry Friend but its human nature.
The person who steps out on the pedestrian crossing at the last second.
But Rush's into it after getting in the car.
Polly's are not better or worse of late than they had been 50 years ago.
We may be the ones at fault.
After a lifetime of listening to broadcasts of the monkey house we call Parliament I wounder.
They must think we fall for it, take it as good fun when our side does it but be offended if its the other.
They may just be right too.
We with the greatest of ease find fault in others but mostly have difficulty in seeing our own, its human nature.

Yes Belly, I am afraid there is a lot of truth in your slant on the decline in manners and polite behavior and the place of listening to your argumentative opposition, before expressing your opinion with the prefix of "I may be wrong, but the way I see it....."

Politicians are like footballers who know a bit of "biffo" goes down well with their supporters. I agree,and so we are all to blame for their rancorous speech.Would that we still had pollies like Jim Killen who was adept at injecting occassional inspired flashes of levity that kept dispute at a serious level but reasonable.

diplo,

Blame the media. If a politician started with ' may be wrong, but the way I see it....."

Imaine the headlines. Poly admits mistake. Leader doesn't have courage of convictions.

You just cant concede ANYTHING these days, or you will have it twisted around and blown out of context and proportion to what you're actually saying.

Tony Blair, who did use the media a lot for his own purposes, did say after he retired that too much time governments spend fighting fires from the media distorting and jumping on every phrase a poly makes.

No one will be surprised to hear I am welded on ALP.
Yet my clock collecting mate, good PM that he was kept me close to toilets as he spoke.
That constant repeating himself and his insults.
But strangely Simon Creans dad had skills he never passed on the his son.
He could get a laugh out of a stone.
Jim Killen too ,others could get a start in the list of best in house performers.
Our problem is very few in the house understand only the letter T separates a Wit from a Twit.
My all time favorite was not from our Parliament forgive me he was a pommy.
Sir Winston Churchill ,so many great lines.
But Lady Astors claim she would poison him if she was his wife was answered thus.
Madam if you were mt wife I would drink it.

'afternoon to you DIPLOMAN...

I totally agree with you, apropos that rather twee proclivity of ours to continually find fault with each other. I must also admit that I'm probably one of the worst offenders in this regard.

They say that as we grow older (I'm closer to seventy than sixty five)we tend to mellow a little, and generally reassess our priorities and objectives et al. I dunno? I reckon I'm more inclined to be a bit more acrimonious and vindictive rather than indulgent and tolerant with others, that don't necessarily agree with me!

I only wish I possessed the obligatory social maturity, that's of such salient importance, for any harmonious interaction with folk. And learn how to effectively circumvent the 'wall', rather than try crashing through it !

I suppose all I can do really is; to shut my mouth, pull my head in, and try to appreciate the opinion and views of others. Perhaps then, I really may learn a whole lot more from people ?

o sung wu, My sympathies to you, as a human being you are open to all emotions good and bad, like the rest of us.A practical method I'd recommend to you, is to keep a card in your pocket on which you've written, simply S.F.F. I find it's better than counting to 10.

My "last post" on this, I just watched the Joe and Sarah show.it seems to me- Joe Biden has learnt to practice what I preach in my old age.Sarah cetainly has "energy" but needs experience.Not that age is the preserve of wisdom.

Diploman,
A very wise woman I know well, tells me my criticsm of others is quite often a criticsm of myself .

On reflexion she is probably right a lot of the time .

I have a problem when trying to stop destruction of the environment by those who are only concerned with making money .

The GREEN Bashers seem to be a determined to abuse anyone who cares for the future of the natural environment .

How does one put the brakes on them without resorting to the same negative tactics?

My method of dealing with "problem" people:

I have printed-up small business cards, white with Red lettering and laminated! .....the cards say:..."SMILE...they cannot help being arseholes!"

If I am being stressed by a shop assistant or other member of the business community, I simply pull out a card, smile and hand it to them!

They usually read the card and smile themselves and when they try to hand me back the card I then tell them that they may keep the card!

Most of the time I don`t think that they themeselves realize that the "statement" is being directed at them personally,....so I walk away with a small sense of acheivement!

Cuphandle

That is pure genius. While there are those for whom self-reflection is an impossibility, your method defuses a situation and you can walk away without feeling dis-empowered and leave the experience where it belongs - in the past.

Cheers

For me happiness comes.. last! I prefer to be honest, fair, mature, responsible, constructive, creative, etc and if there is room for happiness is ok but if not "not big deal!"

I think Bobby McFerrin said it best:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=yjnvSQuv-H4

Dear Diploman,

There are many reasons why people criticise
others or complain in general. Some are justified
as Ludwig mentioned, others are not.
There are instances when we should complain,
when we see wrongs being committed, as the
old adage says, "Bad things happen when good
people do nothing..." (or words to that effect).

However, it's sheer mean-spirited to tear down
something just for the sake of doing it. (as in
the Tall Poppy syndrome).

I agree with you, our society would be so much
better if we all took the time to think, before
we act, or in this case, complain.

But I don't see the world changing anytime soon.

cont'd

I just remembered an old saying:

"Smile, and the world smiles with you.

Cry, and they pay to watch."

Take care.

I'm with you Kartiya Jim

Injustices occur when good men say nothing.

Let 'em have it - it's therapeutic, unless one has a desire to be loved by everyone.

Graft and corruption thrives on the politeness and the timidity of others. Speak up.

As for simple courtesies, I recall a back-packing trip to Italy where I rang a buzzer for access to a rather exclusive looking boutique.

I witnessed behind the glass door, two very well-groomed assistants who reluctantly let me in where they continued babbling in Italian and giving me the dirty looks.

"Hmmm. Had I stepped in a mound of doggy doo?" I pondered to myself.

"Bon Giorno. Parla Englese?" I enquired politely

"No!" they replied in unison.

Some minutes elapsed and the seemingly frantic, Italian babbling continued whilst I looked at the clothing.

No longer able to endure a trashed-out, shabby looking tourist in her boutique, the younger one resorted to addressing me in perfect English:

'Madam, we do not have anything for Y...O....U....!'

To which I replied:

"Ah.....you speak English Madam and with such arrogance. But alas, you are only a shop girl!"