I argue that there are two kind of safety. There is real safety, and there is illusory safety (in caps if you'd like). Real safety is nigh-impossible to define, and so i only really suggest its existence, because i cannot propperly define it at this time. But two things are certain about real safety: When one or a number of people have it, they are dangerous (physically, usually, but often also spiritually) to those without it. Also, it is indeniably spiritually harmful (not dangerous; "dangerous" implies a chance, real safety, whatever it is, is spiritually harmful, 100% of the time). Illusory safety is just that. It is an aspect of our egos that is satisfied by protection from our fears. Naturally, this protection is jsut the Illusion I mean. Illusory safety is a false sense of security that protects us from threats, real and imagined. While real safety gives us the power to harm eachother and harms us while its at it. It is, in a word, "Justice."

how about safety not being real at all, including real safety and illusory safety?

it seems like everything that happens in this world and in the universe itself happens for a reason, almost like everything is planned... if i didnt make the decision to change schools afew years ago, my whole life would have been different

if everything is pre planned, then safety really cant be achieved for it would already be known when you will die or when you will get into a car accident

interestingly enough, religion seems to support this, well atleast islam does as far as i know

what do you think?

Personally I believe that safety, whether real or illisionary is just a matter of preception.

Your own perception ant that of your potential threat.

Downdoom, here's a question, Does Prophecy predict the future or create the future?

Just because something Seems like it was meant to be doesn't necessarily indicate a preordained plan.

It could just be your minds way of justifying your decision

Understanding + adaptability = safety

prophecies have always puzzled me

the SCARY thing is that the quran, islam's holy book, contains lots of prophecies, all of which have come true

somehow, these prophets knew what would go down in the distant future, im talking of a gap of many hundreds of years. also, these prophecies werent general ones, they were specific, which makes this whole thing more SCARY

prophecies really get me

some people believe we all have this ability to tap into the future and in the past, but most people dont know how to "activate" it or use this ability, most arent even aware that we possess this

haha, but yes, i catch many people, including myself, saying things like "whats done is done" or "it was meant to be" after i do something i regret

who knows whats real and whats not

safety and reality in my opinion have little to do with eachother, how is society's version of reality safe? You're placing your life in the hands, whims and decrees of others who have little to nothing for care or concern about your individuality...the majority say do this and you'll be safe, avoid this to be safe, yet there are consistently people who prove that society is often times wrong, and sometimes drastically so...

the only "safety" i think is if you know yourself, knowing yourself will allow you avoid situations that could be unsafe to you, but another person can have no negative reactions...safety like everything else humanly possible is subjective to that persons view...i perceive my safety as having everything i need, yet more than enough if something happens...

there is no safety in this world...when things are meant to happen they will, even in an isolated padded room with filtered water, air and proper sustanence, if a person is going to die, they'll die...i think the end is decided for us, but from the time we're boring until then, it's up to us...

This is part of a story that appeared in Adbusters Magazine issue no. 46, "Are You In Denial?"

"When i first moved to Johannesburg I truly discovered terror, the kind that nestles inside you and nver really leaves. I had come from one of the world's safest cities, Hong Kong, to one that I had heard described as the crime capital of the world. I was staying in a house in Brixton -- close to the seething inner city -- with people who considered the city their own. A balck man, a fruit seller came to the door. I bought ripe figs from him, but my host was not happy. She told me never, ever to do that again. "Once they're in, they're in," she said.

Fear is contagious. She told me never to stop to stop at a red light after dark, and that the thin men selling roses, newspapers and sometimes even jokes were actually thieves who would smash window and grab bags given half the chance. Men might break into the house, hold us ransomand rape us, she said. We grimaced at the thought. "They'll have to kill me first," I said.

"Obviously," she added, "you don't walk anywhere, especially after dark."

I memorized the antisocial and hopeless rules of engagement in a society ruled by fear. Car windows must be closed in summer and winter, doors always locked, handbags stowed beneath seats. Never open your door to a stranger. Bolt your house, be suspicious and be ware, for terror can strike at any moment." They" don't care if they kill you. "They" have no respect for human property or human life.

My host's house had impossibly high walls, remote control gates, and panic alarms in every room. If you took fright, you could press a button on the wall and arm,ed defenders would arrive within minutes. Still, I remember quiet afternoons where I heard every noise and crept about the house highly alert and numb with fear. I was acutely aware that once I left the gated driveway, I was on my own.

This is not a new preoccupation for white South Africa. During the apartheif era, the army and police threw razor-wire cordon around the black townships, where crime flourished and went mostly unreported. Blacks were allowed into white areas to work and were arrested if founf "loitering" in the pockets of privelege.

Today, South Africa is a democracy and privelege has been privatized. The nation spends the largest portion of GDP in world on security; it's the fastest growing sector in the economy. Private security guards outnumber visible police force five to one. If you drive through Joburg or evening, you will see the paramilitary parades of private armies. their lieutenants barking orders and reading prayers as they oversee the changing of the guard."

Is that safety real or imagined?

i would say it's not a real safety...anytime other people are worked into the factor...safety is perceived rather than an actuality. How can anyone predict when that other person will...snap?

but can anyone be really safe anywhere?

But they are safe from exactly the threat they wish to remove. They are totally safe from all the threats that they percieve, real and imagined, even if these white south africans are not totally safe. So they do have a measure of real safety, even if it is not complete. They have identified a threat and protected themselves completely from it.

Part of fate is doing something about it e.g. (in relevance to the theme of safety) buying a smoke alarm, but of course if one is meant to burnt alive in their house perhaps it will be a faulty alarm?

I don't suppose one can be completely safe from harm for even if you locked yourself in the house there's still the possiblity that.. I don't know... the roof could collapse on you.

And as for whether or not something is harmful is another matter. Just because something is painful doesn't mean that it's wrong.