BlueOak

I don't know how much the other OPEC countries influence Saudi Arabia. Because it would be easier and from the outside observer more likely for them to just pull back entirely to further neutrality. They could even further align with Iran and Russia, something they did over Ukraine. How much it would hurt their primary export is a question, which they've already hurt during the recent Russia - Ukraine crisis. When OPEC tried to pressure Western economies and profit from higher oil prices, something they are still doing. This done during a crisis, generated a want to move more away from oil where possible or at least Middle Eastern OPEC oil for security reasons, something I heard other OPEC members apparently were less happy about than the Saudis themselves. It also depends as you probably infer if this is a wider push from Iran, with Russian backing, to exert their influence over more of the Middle East or just destabilize Israel, the former would be less palatable to the Saudis I imagine.

Receptivity is a key for a spiritual path. Seeking then allowing. Surrender needs to come to the outcome, not the act of seeking or doing in the first place. Surrendering while also expecting just sets you up for a conflicting failure. If we are talking about seeking spiritual experiences, you have to cultivate a state of being receptive but not expecting or being passive. A deeper understanding is that all things are spiritual experiences as there is no separation from mind/body/spirit but what we define. I want to thank you for bringing this up, as i've been asking myself how I head back towards seeking a turquoise state again and focus less on method or systems. Gratitude

I think so far it was a wide split of perspectives.

Yeah I agree with Leo here, I don't think you highlighting this person venting emotion is a good representation of leadership. Leadership of something as large as a country is a balancing act of all kinds of internal pressures, internal groups, external factors, and political theater, with hopefully plenty of good advisors and experts there to assist with this huge job. This is why it's so inherently flawed any single person even tries to represent this monumentally complex task as the face of it, but I digress.

I keep updating what I think about this as I type. I'll leave a message then probably have a different view later thank you for that. I see loneliness as a separation from a piece of myself, and how far I am separated from those pieces, is how lonely I am. I don't define me, as being any bigger than what you are interacting with. The full me doesn't have an identity, it has no details, it is everything.

You are not. You are the universe. Every single facet and detail. Why would you separate a concept of 'you' out of the whole, to then invent a concept of loneliness or separation, to then feel bad about?

We are still firmly in: How do I extend my control over X. This is everywhere at the moment. Biggest collective shadow i've seen in a while.

What is the difference between one apple and the other. Whatever you want to focus on and name. We tend to exercise a lot more control over ourselves here in this one, whereas when we sleep we let go and integrate more with everything else. Though those who lucid dream control that too :D, with even more direction. Its a good opportunity to reflect and receive without beliefs, identity, and patterns getting in the way so much.

I don't know how long you've been alive @Nabd but this sort of violence while I was growing up was common, and it continued for a long period. I think Iran just want to return to that tit-for-tat exchanges of decades gone by. To increase the pressure on who they perceive to be their enemies, using a proxy state, a convenient distraction for others also. Strategically, they want any way possible to isolate Saudi Arabia from the US more, which is certainly possible depending on how far Israel goes in response. The US and Saudi relations were splitting quite far during the Russian-Ukraine war, oil prices, and over Yemen. Then they patched them up, but they are shakey enough that this could split them again. The Syrian point was interesting, thanks for the map and detail. One result of the Russian/Iran actions in Ukraine, or Russia's actions in Africa against French interests, is there is so much political capital to act against these countries that what you are describing is just the tip of the iceberg. The general population in the US is just going to say so what, to anything the US or the EU do against Russia or especially Iran for the next decade or more. I would definitely expect some very quiet French reprisals that we won't even hear about, I was trying to tell people to stop call France weak, but nobody listens.

Do you look at the bright light close to you, or the dim one in the distance? Too philosophical? Do you watch the entertaining story with all the players, all their different perspectives in unexpect twists? Or do you watch the man in his shop quietly serving the local community? Which one has more to see? More to understand? The level of theater and fantasy in movies/books/stories/song has reduced greatly because of a hyperfocus on realism. So that need for theater, fantasy, and imagination is now sort out elsewhere, like politics or the news. Go watch a popular 50's or 60's movie (popular at the time) and you'll see what I mean.

Iran can shift the attention way from Russia and/or China, tying up media attention, and military attention etc . Its the perfect proxy war, from a coalition of powers, trying to shift the global dynamic in their favor. Even more so when Iran gets nukes, they can do this indefinitely every 5-10 years.

A country having a nuke changes everything leo. 1, It increases nuclear profileration in their enemies. Bringing us closer to armageddon or at least the after-effects of large doses of radiation in the air and water, with all the hundreds of millions of refugees and chaos that would generate. 2, It means they can wage conventional war, making them more likely to do so. Because people will not attack them back. 3, It completely shifts a power dynamic in the region, destabilizing what little order exists in that region. *4, It means people are more likely to strike them preemptively to stop it, meaning more war and all the fallout that brings.

You, and everyone else reading this. The entire shift of the last two decades in every individual here. You are disconnecting pieces and not seeing the whole. Iran will have nukes in the next years, if you believe their claims they are close now.

With the authoritarian global shift over the last two decades, we now have two of the more dangerous governments facing off, both soon to have nukes. Are we done shifting authoritarian yet? Have we seen enough and validated that part of ourselves enough? Can we start trying to balance ourselves? How many wars do we need before we mediate and moderate? This only continues to get worse if we keep unbalancing ourselves. The constant need for our authority to extend over others is a black hole. Who am I speaking about? You reading this.

That's your first challenge then, your first problem. It'll always be like that, you'll meet a block or challenge, and you'll need to work out how to move around it, overcome it, use or learn from it. If instead you give up, you cut yourself off from that path. So ask, investigate. You know your local area and country far better than I ever will, that's an advantage you have. Look at what's lacking in your area, your life, and ask those around you. What are people struggling with, lacking, or needing more of? If you want to go global you can, in that case, look at a trend. Like doing an internet search for: Global business trends 2024, economic trends 2024, careers 2024, jobs of the future, or new business ideas 2024. Read a lot. Listen to a lot of speakers, podcasts on the subject, YouTube videos. Then you can add your country name or locality to the search. What adds value to people's lives is a more advanced question and slightly more specific, a better problem than your first one, it's up one step. it's always like that, you'll walk one step and be confronted with a new challenge or problem. All this still relies on you knowing yourself, and if you don't know yourself, start learning. Start trying things, start taking personality quizzes, start asking others, reflect on your life, and look at your failures and successes and why they happened. Start learning your strengths and weaknesses, what makes you tick and what keeps you going or what repels you. @Sabth

War is cyclic. It leads to another war.

Meditate outside. Try to get out into nature to rest. If you can't, then get rid of all the electronics in the room and do it there. If you can get rid of these things around your sleeping area it'll be a start. You are handling more energy and not used to it. More pure water might help. Look into grounding or how to ground yourself. *Less Sugar, less caffeine etc. A better diet can also be a way to stabilize this new pattern you have. I'm even having trouble typing this to communicate :D, it feels disjointed.

The parallel lines are also part of the whole picture or reference.

Identify what you enjoy doing and what would add value to people's lives. 1) You can work out what you like doing by looking at your life experience, hobbies, part-time work, school, all of it. Find a common pattern. 2) You can find out what will add value to people's lives by looking at the market you will work in or sell to. Whether that is global on the internet, local in your area, or national. Look at the trends and what is doing well, especially if either it isn't over-saturated with competition or you know a way of doing it better than your competitors. Research your competitors. After you have learned what you are going to do, listen to several experts in that area of business. Take all the information in, any time you can. On the way to school, in a break, at home. Saturate your mind with as much information as possible, until you know it inside out. Then start trying it, failing, improving, and eventually having success. It's knowing yourself. Learning. Learning and Learning. Finding your market. Knowing your market. Modeling those who are doing well, taking action, failing adapting, and keeping going. Any time you say you can't do something, focus on finding a way to do it. Like you are doing here. There'll always be a problem or challenge, you'll just find bigger or better ones. Good luck and all the best. *If you have questions on any of these, after doing some searching yourself, feel free to ask and i'll give you a pointer. @Sabth

Find the commonality. It may be you are focusing on the topic rather than what you get out of each, rather than what part of it you actually enjoy. Look at the method, or which part of each activity in each you do, even in your spare time, What actual activity in each of these things are you doing over and over and over again? Before you get to the point where you completely lose interest. For example, I loved planning and design. Whenever that came up in a career, hobby or even me scribbling on a bit of paper as a kid, I enjoyed it, not the topic, or career itself. So I can do that in a fantasy setting, a corporate setting, as a writer, a game designer, an architect, a graphic designer, in a meeting looking for ideas, designing software or systems. I could probably have fun in a corporate environment designing, planning, or improving supply chains when everyone else was bored senseless. By the way, trying lots of things is the only way many of us get this answer. @jdc7733 These tests can help give you ideas or insights. https://www.16personalities.com/

Nobody with the view of saving the world from them is helping the world. They are helping themselves.

Save the world? You are still on the moralizing. Why? Is it easier than admitting that the world is a selfish place, and your country is no better or worse than anyone else's? What am I Unhappy with ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That And You don't understand or won't admit BRICS is half of the problem. Justifying suffering by suffering is a spiral, and on a global level it's a world war. And Cooperation leads to a better outcome than competition.

Who? The countries protecting their own interests. Yes, exactly a competitor. We are competing with China and BRICS, this is what two competing global powers means. War, violence, spying, stealing, assassinations, coups, skirmishes etc. BRICS are creating a fractured world. Do they have good reasons of their own for this, yes. It takes away the benefits of globalization and specialisation back to an older era of warfare, sabotage, spying etc. Everyone will feel this over the next ten years as their quality of life declines. I don't know why you are insisting i'm making a moral case and I keep telling you the exact opposite. Is it because when you put aside moral arguments we are saying the same thing? Aren't the US and Europe for Democracy? Yes to different degrees, if you have a look you'll find the level of democracy in each country differs on a scale. Equality? Some lean towards this like Scandinavian countries, and many lean towards individualism and supporting the rich. Like the UK or the USA. It's a mix. Equal chance for everyone in the world? No countries are self-interested. All of them. There is not one single country on the planet that is making their policy with anyone but their own interests first. Admitted what? That countries are self-interested? Yes from the very first post, this is not a shocking thing, that's just the reality. When we remove all the moralizing and appearances. It can be that leaders realize that cooperation is beneficial, but they are still looking at their own countries first. Russia saved what? A chemical wasteland where they'd eradicated those that opposed them. If you consider war 'saving' you are back to moralizing again, playing your 'good' side against the 'evil side'. It was several competing interests fighting over a country, that's part of what BRICS competition brings. You want me to say why I don't like this? For the refugee crisis, the extreme loss of life, the immigrant crisis, the destabilization of the region, and the further wars this brings. The middle east is already on the fast track to collapse from water shortage, war doesn't help that in anyway. *America fought a lot of wars there*. Exactly. I also don't like the fact autocratic figures are messing around in our elections and countries, trying to overthrow democracies by funding extremists and anti-democratic political candidates. The militarization of surrounding countries in warzones, the increased nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and threats to end the world are not positive things either. War breeds more war. Violence begets violence. *Insert your but another country did this too.* EXACTLY. Its a cycle, that feeds into itself, until a very large war happens and people cannot fight anymore. Show you proof of what, please be specific? Russia's 8 wars to rebuild the USSR? Here i'll give you the list. If you can't find them i'll list the 8 from former parts of the USSR they either now control or have favorable proxy governments in place. They've repeatedly said they want to rebuild the USSR and shown maps of their claims all the war to central Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Russia China swallowing up Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, the surrounding seas of other countries, threatening Taiwan? Do you want to see where these countries were on the map before you invaded them? You are being willfully ignorant in an attempt to put words into my mouth. Despite the fact I keep saying over and over and over the opposite. NO ONE HERE IS THE GOOD GUY. All countries are self-interested. You gaslight all the time. Nowhere did I say I like war. In fact, i've said the exact opposite ALL THE TIME. Why do you think I bother with these posts complaining about violence and aggression? Because I like violence and aggression? Or because I don't like it? The only bizarre thing is you want to make this about morals. When there are no morals involved whatsoever.

Let's get a few blocks out of the way. - There are no 'good guys' in terms of countries, they are all self-interested, Generally, those taking aggressive actions are more dangerous than those on the defensive. You missed where I said I understand why BRICS are doing this. I even said you'd been on the receiving end for centuries. It's of interest for the reasons i've stated. I'll do it again and add a few. On Taiwan: Trillions of dollars of trade goes through there, and needs to be protected somehow. China will have a stranglehold on all technology through microchips if they take Taiwan, and nobody is letting that happen while China has positioned itself as a competitor and rival. There are a lot of other countries that due to international law have things like fishing rights in the sea that China has decided to steal, they use it to feed their people. They have a radius around their country for their own protection and their own use. China unilaterally decided to just steal it because they wanted to, and this causes problems. Like the many border disputes that China keeps pushing. They've got to learn to work with people rather than try to roll over them. Say what you want about the west, if often makes deals. *Taiwan also opens up China to invade further, at the moment its a way to limit China's expansion. Countries like Japan are rightful concerned that you keep pushing your naval capabilities further outward, and this aggression gets people to copy you like North Korea. They fire missiles over Japan and South Korea, copying China's behavior of flying jets over Taiwan repeatedly. It's like how central Asia is copying Russia's expansion, fighting border conflicts. BRICS members are aggressively expanding through war, debt traps, coups, stealing technology, spying, interfering in elections, and making a competing economic block. You can't do all these things and then complain when you get a response. It's absurd for you to expect otherwise. Don't compete with this competing economic/military block that we have designed to compete with you! What? All you have in response is: Well those people are bad, they did something bad back then, so we'll be bad. Well don't expect me to pat you on the back for aggressive expansion, expect to get the response you are getting all the way up to skirmish or world war if China continues its current aggressive course. BRICS do exactly what everyone else did/does then claim they are somehow better or 'good', or moral. It's such nonsense. You can decide to work with people or against them. China and BRICS has chosen against them. So here we are on the verge of a much larger war. @rnd

@rnd I made an assumption you can't change him. I made an assumption that he's consolidated power to such a degree that the common people in China have no way at all of effecting change in their government. If I'm wrong by all means tell me how you do this? What's my assumption based on, 40+ years of life experience and more sources than I could possibly ever list here. Do I think I can, in a Western country, in any way affect the leadership in the UK for the betterment of the people? Not much. This is not an anti-China position, it's what i think of almost all forms of government. Especially authoritarian states where power is wielded absolutely, and the lengths a dictator will go to, to hold onto power is far beyond that of an average democratic leader. The democratic leader retires, gets a nice paycheck, benefits, and also probably an easy-speaking job or some cushy position made for him. The authoritarian leader probably gets killed by his opponents, killed in a coup, arrested in some foreign trade, or goes into hiding. I also know war is a very well-established method of a dictator holding onto power, and most other people know that too now. Now if I had a following, some money, a large platform to speak on, I made im my career in politics, or enough of my positions were shared with a large percentage of the population enough to whip up attention, I could certainly impact elections in the UK. I do so in very minor ways by analysis and have sometimes seen channels pick it up, but that's likely because enough others came to the same conclusion in most cases. I mean the odds of someone seeing my posts or thoughts among tens of thousands of others and deciding to act on them is relatively very low, unless it's shared by enough others and in the controlling interests of the media/channel or forum. The US has fought plenty of proxy wars, and yes they've used it in elections. It's not necessary to cling to power in the US as i've explained. Taiwan is required for the trade routes, to stop China from dominating the nearby countries' territorial waters, microchips to stop China from controlling all technology, and to halt China's expansionist policy. At the moment BRICS is a grave threat to all democracies because it has positioned itself as a competitor and is trying to undermine them internally. I understand their reasoning, under-representation, and getting a raw deal from Western nations for centuries. However 1) It has created two competing power blocks, waging war, funding extremist groups, starting coups, spying, stealing technology, and proxy wars. 2) They are acting no better at all than the people they are competing with, they are using all the same old tricks, and exploiting weaker countries around them or just taking over foreign interests to expand expand expand. So when you ask why am I focused on China? Because its the biggest threat i've ever seen in my lifetime.