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RE: Conflict as a Path to Justice and Cooperation

I've rarely so strongly agreed with you, despite agreeing with you often.

" Ignoring, denying or dismissing the problems around us won't bring justice to our lives or the world...And then forget about real peace."

I have recently been educated some about this, as I was assaulted with a knife by someone who's enmity I had ignored to the extent possible. The visiting relatives of a neighbor I had befriended dissuaded the assailant, possibly saving my life.

Absent confronting the obstreperous party, where I could have established some reduction in animosity, their resentment and ire simply grew stronger until they were drunk enough to disrupt the public peace.

One thing that struck me about this event was that ignoring conflict as I did actually made it worse, and potentiated harm to more people, such as the little children who might have observed their grandmother's friend bleeding out in the street if their daddy hadn't been ready, willing and able to prevent it.

I believe this was my fault, due to my arrogance and conceit regarding my tolerance. I am now preparing to institute means of preparing for future assaults that I have in the past considered a burden that I, and I alone, bore. The stark truth is that if I don't personally act to nip such escalation of conflict in the bud, innocent children might suffer as a result, and neither my conceit nor my sharp tongue protects them absent other preparations.

We all have a duty to preserve the peace, and that means we must be prepared to deal with those who insist on disturbing it, lest those disturbances harm innocents we are obligated to protect.

Thanks!

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Not sure if it is your fault for avoiding the conflict with someone who seems to have issues and lost it with the devil's juice. Being prepared for violent potentials is always helpful. Sometimes walking away is the only way to prevent conflicts from escalating, as some only want to dominate or control and don't want peace :/