BeiYin: There is the saying: Like above, so below. What in my interpretation means that what happens on a huge scale is just the representation of what happens individually in the majority of the population. The world leaders are chosen and in their limitation they represent the limitation of the people. What are the interests of people? So those people who hold the power, because they are selected legally or  came to powerful positions because they worked their whole life to reach such a state, can't have distinct interests otherwise they wouldn't be there using the same interest of all for their purpose. In a way every body is using every one and the established system to reach their goal, or at least striving for it. 
Betsy: I agree, whatever manifests on a larger scale, clearly reflects a majority of the mass opinion or what can be said of 'society'. Whatever this may be, can clearly be argued as positive or negative, which depends on the individual viewpoint (values of the personality).
So one may or may not like the current leader and one may or may not like what happened in the United States. When people look at things they color it with their personal value system. These values subsequently are defended at all cost (Why? Because it gives us a strong feeling for meaningful purpose.),  as a side affect causing chain reactions in the environment around us forming mass societal manifestations of agreement and disagreement. So all that occurs or is visible is a mirror of what IS reality or mass opinion, positive and negative. That makes 'you know who' responsible for what happened as it is all inter-connected.

InkyPinkie: The given goal by society is: Making money, making more money to use the money to make more money, to have the position and power to make more money and to have more power. Every thing and every body serves exclusively this purpose. So no wonder that there are tendencies within the population which build up resistance in different forms, trying to find an alternative way of life. These tendencies are of course going against the interest of the money maker and they use their power to manipulate where ever they can and this indeed goes through all fields of existence. With other words: The average population is like a sheep herd, easily manipulated through their own needs given as a goal by society. Then this is called 'democratic system'!

> InkyPinkie: An attack gives the right to use revenge. Right? The whole tradition supports it, Christian or not. Every thing serves as a reason to react, to strengthen one's own position. And the side effect is, that every body involved (who is not involved in such a dramatic happening?) will react and so feel one's own existence, making this feeling stronger by putting out energy towards an 'enemy'. United with others who are suffering, being justified by the obvious facts.
BeiYin: The tradition and culture as part of the system gives the possibility to be identified with it, so that the personality has a background from which can be reacted. Christian and other tendencies are integrated and help to find a more individual color. Tradition is pretty worn out and doesn't give much sense to peoples life, so they are looking to fill their emptiness with sensations, reaching out for excitement.
Betsy: Our background, or our personality, is built up from all that happened to us since birth and even before. Also we inherit values from the family and culture that we were born into. Our individual experiences plus our inherited past create a reference point from which we react in a defensive way (positively or negatively) to outside events (people, places and things). Mostly this reaction pattern is totally unconscious, we don't question why we react in certain ways, we JUST REACT. It is sad to see it the way you express it above, that people are reaching always for new excitement being tired of the old. When you see what has happened and you understand it is due to people 'wanting to react stronger and stronger'. 
InkyPinkie: There are several groups of money maker (or they are all the same?) there are the industry for entertainment, there is the industry to deliver the delicious substitutes like food and drinks, another industry serving entertainment through music, virtual cyber reality, etc. and there is the other group of money maker (or the same?) which serve delivering all kind of drugs, tobacco, alcohol, etc. Indeed a big business... There is no gap left open not fulfilling the needs of people and so there is the other group of money maker which serve on the spiritual market. The offer is very brought and fulfills the needs of every body. Right? ...
Betsy: This covers the majority of money-makers that offer substitutes that people demand to feel their existence in outside ways. I just think that you should mention the other large group of money-makers that satisfy the needs of people who find value in the ownership of material things. So yes, all bases of needy people are covered by profit making enterprises. (An aside: Is it just me, or does anyone else out there notice that search engines now predominately return
links where there is something to buy?)
InkyPinkie: ...In reality there is still an urge for more. For something more essential which can't be fulfilled by stuff one can buy. People are not satisfy, tension builds up, anger is accumulated, growing more and more. All possibilities so far used seem to guide no where. But people are on a rail road, going on and on, because they are used to be guided and there seems to be no way to jump off the limitations and restrictions. Something dramatic happens!
And although shocked and suffering, people are moved. They can react and they do it! It feels like they are waking up. They feel themselves in a new way. They have the possibility to direct their accumulated anger and disappointment into a certain direction. They can shout, scream, together with other who feel the same. That feels good! 
Betsy: I agree that the call from within gets stronger when people's defenses are broken down. This can happen in various ways when tragedies happen or when people are at the end of their ropes not knowing what they can do next. This break down coming from the dismay at not being able to protect our existing structures is what creates this opening allowing for something new to take it's place. In light of this discussion, clearly a group voice joining together would not only feel good but also has the possibility to really change things around, allowing us to walk less violently. 

> InkyPinkie: Reacting with violence to violence will produce a chain reaction, which might even cause an uncontrolled world wide war. There is so much accumulated aggression every where, waiting under the surface to explode... Who wants to be a victim of a world wide explosion? Is this real action because it allows to have real reactions? What has happened is the same we can see every day in all these action movies, we were consuming since quite some time and which were lately more and more boring in spite of the more and more spectacular actions. In horror movies there are always the bad ones, so every thing is clear. Nobody needs to engage themselves and so it becomes boring after a while. Are we engaged now in the real happening seeing it in TV? It is so easy to give the fault to someone: To the terrorists, to the government or whatever. But who asks for the cause?
BeiYin: Although it is obvious that people are not ready to question themselves, the happening now gives the opportunity that a certain openness due to the shock situation can be creatively used to receive some information to bring light into one's background.

> InkyPinkie: It is said that the attack goes against the system. That's obvious and it doesn't really matter from where the attack comes. Doesn't it make sense to ask 'why' this happens? Isn't the fact that there exists an established system (which maybe is not open for growing beyond the established limitations), that this produces and causes resistance from inside the system? And when this resistance is suppressed and the system reacts also to the outside and other different systems in a defensive way, that this inflexibility causes violent reactions?
Betsy: This seems also to be what happens in a volcano.  All outside forms seem to want to cling to their existing shapes - this is true for all levels: volcanoes, the individual, society, governments, money makers, etc. The not being open for growing beyond the current shape, shows a tendency to want to cling or defend that which is now, which is done to try to maintain or allow the shape to survive. But yes, I see that there is an energy non contained in form, prevalent through all forms that wants to express differently than that which is currently manifested. This I can imagine as an inside pressure building up, which if suppressed will eventually erupt or break out and this would be like a violent eruption. So this says that change is inevitable, the growing oneness wants to express itself from all dimensions which also includes us. Repressing this energy on a grand scale is what causes these violent outbursts, forcing the change upon us. There can be a more non-violent way to change, but it depends on all individuals taking responsibility to question their own selves. 

BeiYin: Probably you are right: The happening is part of a growing process which includes humanity in its wholeness. Probably this is impossible to be recognized by people. 
Betsy: It almost seems like it's being forced upon us, due to our own inflexibility. 

Neil: I like the analogy here, I'm just not sure that we, the people, can really question ourselves.
Betsy: No? As I see it, it just takes a little time each day in
meditation. It is not a 'we' thing, but the 'we' grows as more people practice. It is just that each individual takes on their own
responsibility to do this (this is the only possibility as no one else can do it for you). 
Neil: without something big happening or until its more understood and admitted how we are, by everything we do strengthening and increasing the weight that will be behind the violent outburst when the Volcano erupts.
Betsy: Okay, I see you are saying that people won't start looking at themselves until there is some major threat forcing them to make a change. That looks to be the sad picture of reality.
Neil:  Admittance of what we are doing to our future survival, the damage we are storing for the future must occur first, only then can we see a need to look at things and mostly ourselves in a different way. 
Betsy: I agree in that first an individual needs to admit there is a problem, the second step is to realize that the problem has to do with their own behavior or reactions and lastly that blaming the outside or feeling like a victim, will NOT HELP. As far as seeing anything, this is presuming one can look at the world objectively through their rose colored glasses... I think something else needs to be done even before this, and that is to look within at one's personal structure, to find out about those glasses and how to take them off. Then one can have that objective look around. 

> InkyPinkie: Wasn't there 2000 years ago a kind of hippy, a guy who tried to tell people that the old way of reacting with violence to violence wouldn't be the right way? (He was even talking about 'love', what seems to be far out of daily reality...) This obviously was against the established system, which then reacted in a defensive way by eliminating this attack. Isn't it still the same today? Who is reflecting about what is happening? Can we do something about it, which is not violent but would make a difference? Or is it all, feeling as a victim, suffering and finding the cause outside? 
BeiYin: Such a situation like now will make something to people. Yes, most of them will project to the outside and react. Using the opportunity to get out their accumulated frustration and anger. But there will be also people who will use their desperation in a creative way, recognizing that the happening outside is the direct reflection of the same situation within themselves. 
Betsy: People talk and talk and talk when something like this happens. The news media fills with it, giving people what they want to hear. And we all know that the government (controlled by money-makers) feeds the news (owned by money-makers) all to manipulate the masses for what the government deems is the people's bests interests. Then all the people suck up all that is heard, subsequently adopting their valuable opinions from the garbage they are fed. Clearly this behavior amasses collective energy to 'create' the form for the next event. What will it be, what is being regurgitated?

> InkyPinkie: Probably it is too much to ask that each of us should look inside. To discover that the outside happening is just an accumulated reaction of the same what happens (daily!) within each of us. We are holding on to what we believe we are: To our belief system, our property, to all what we have established in the long years of our individual life. What we defend by reacting to all influences coming from outside. Each of us in one's own way and also if necessary (?) with violence. 
BeiYin: If we recognize our own system and do the first step beyond in creative (non violent) way, then the social system, which only exist because it is the sum of all of us, will also change in a smooth way. And even the leader and the people who are holding now the power positions will adapt themselves to new ways. Who knows? They can go on making money, but maybe they will use ways which don't harm anybody?
> InkyPinkie: Who wants to reflect about it? Who wants to talk about it? Who wants to use this forum in a creative way with the risk to show oneself admitting that we are all vulnerable...? etc. etc.
BeiYin: I agree, we should use the marvelous possibilities of the Internet for a creative exchange...

Ramiga: Stand proud, America!
BeiYin: The dilemma is that every bodies opinion is right, at least for the one who is holding it. As long as the opinions slash against each other, there is no bridge to come together. And as there is total identification with one's opinion, so this standpoint must be defended with all means. It is a question of survival of one's personality, of one's existence. 
Is there a solution to get out of these personal cages? People are used to manipulate whatever they can reach for their personal purpose and goal. So they do their best to conquer terrain on
all levels to include it to their property. Part of this is that they use all their strength, like it is from the first moment of existence of the first living cell. Nothing has changed, only that humans using highly sophisticated means to reach their goal. 
What is their goal? Obviously in the first place to secure and enrich their personal existence, - forming groups with the same intention and goal makes them stronger. Then groups go against groups if they have different concepts of existence. Countries against countries, nations against nations. The identification with a higher goal makes that the individuals even go beyond their personality and sacrifice their existence, this indeed is a phenomenon. But the western culture can't give such a strong goal. The traditional idealistic Christian concept serves now mainly as a kind of covering paint on a pure materialistic concept. Even though this represents the power of the western world, this is not a strong position, for this the system is not enough in balance, there are too many people which can't participate in the welfare of the rich. And then there are countries which are suffering from being extremely poor, not because they have no resources, but because these are explored by the rich of other countries. Obviously it is not enough to forgive the depths of the poor if they are still suffering...
The ideological strengths of the materialistic world view stands on weak feet and it will probably not survive for much longer...
Transformation is needed and is happening, the rigid shells will brake. I was just told that in New York yesterday it happened a phenomenon: People were talking with each other in the street, what didn't occur before when every body was just rushing to their job. Could it be possible, that people find out that others are suffering the same? The next step would be to find out that people of other cultures, beliefs, etc. are just the same humans with the same pain!
Could this be possible? I guess we are still far away from this, but we are moving towards it. This gives some hope!
We just can hope that those people who hold the power, as they are human like you and me, will reflect and question themselves and be part of the movement towards each other... On the personal level they are breaking down not only since yesterday. They are kept together because of the weight of the mass they have created. That's right: They are also responsible persons and they do their best to take care of the working places etc. But it is time now that they go one step further...
This of course is valid for each of us, every where on this planet, no matter in which position, living under a bridge or sitting in the highest chair in the highest building. The basic human condition with all the needs striving towards completion is all the same. We should gather information about it, to understand ourselves and our fellow human beings. Then we might do the step to come together and together we might find solutions.

Neil: ...For any problem to solve the problem first we must admit we have a problem, society is in denial, big things must happen before enough people can see and admit  we have a problem. All this must occur before a non-violent solution can be found. This is how I see it anyway.
InkyPinkie: Right, an alcoholic only has the chance to quit drinking when he/she admits that he/she has a problem. So what is the problem of our society? First we must name it, before we even can think about to solve it. I could describe the problem now, but would it make sense to someone who has no need to think about it? People are imbedded in this society, they are borne into it, live in it, make children in it, rest in it, are happy and sick in it and they die in it. If there are some crumbles in it which makes it itching, then probably they will take it and not change their bed...
So what is the problem of people living in this society? Maybe that they are growing out of the given frame? That they are urging for something the society can't offer? What can this be? Can we name this, can we make this clearer? Why there is so much tension build up, accumulated to such an extent, that whatever reason serves to react in a violent way? Obviously there is a lot of frustration and this for sure is because of reacting to reality, which is so different than the expectation coming out of one's needs. What are the real needs? Needs which can't be fulfilled by consuming all these wonderful things offered by society. There is a problem. What is the problem?