Conflict

Conflict is more likely to occur when reality does not meet our expectations As the expectations of individuals differ between societies, cultures and religions, the clash between those of whom realities are met and those of who are not, are likely to generate conflict. Society is made up with different people, from different backgrounds, with differing expectations; therefore, it is impossible for reality to reach the expectations of all. The collision between the expectations of those within society is what makes conflict inevitable. On the 15th of August 1998, the Real IRA, a splinter group of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, built, planted and detonated a car bomb in the marketplace of Omagh, Northern Ireland. The bomb was detonated in order to halt the Good Friday accords and peace process. British Prime Minister Tony Blair described the atrocity as an attack of “appalling savagery and evil.” The bomb killed 29 people and injured over 200 others, with among the dead Catholics, Protestants, Mormons and other various religions. When our expectations of reality fail to be met, this generates the internal conflict in confronting reality. In Peter Travis’ film Omagh, the softly spoken, Michael Gallagher is overcome with grief and experiences internal conflict after losing his son Aiden. When firstly hearing about the bombing, Michael Gallagher sets off to find Aiden, assuring he and the rest of the family that Aiden will be somewhere helping the injured. Michael Gallagher repeatedly and pitifully insists that Aiden “must be helping”, but when this expectation is not met, the Gallagher family is then left to respond in their own ways, which become a source of conflict between Michael and the rest of the family. Furthermore, the differing expectations of those of not only individuals, but of groups, create conflict through the discrepancies, which erupt from the disparate outlook on society. As Sinn Fein and the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) sign the ‘Good Friday’ agreement, conflict arises form within the PIRA as those who believe that the agreement is a sell out, form the ‘Real IRA’. Those within that group share the same outlook on the agreement as they all refuse to cooperate with the peace agreement. This is the spark offcourse, which caused the detonation of the bomb within Omagh. The Stolen Generation is another prime example of how when reality does not meet our expectations, conflict is more likely to occur. The Stolen Generation is a significant part of Australian history, the policies and practices of removing indigenous children from their families has sparked great tension between those the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and “Australians”. There are a number of reasons behind the removal of these children. One of the motivations evident from documentary evidence from newspapers and reports to parliamentary committees is that the Australian Federal and state government agencies had a desire to attain a white racial purity. The different expectations held by the Australian government and of the Aboriginals most certainly caused conflict. What were the expectations of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities' The expectations of those of who were of Indigenous descent were like any other persons, their expectations of reality are no different to yours or mine. This therefore caused conflict when Aboriginal children were removed from their families and suffered mental and physical abuse, leaving them scarred for life. The expectation that the Aboriginals had, and what everyone has of living just a normal life was shattered by the expectations of the Australian Government. The aftermath of the ruthless expectation has caused indigenous people to “carry these sorts of wounds until the day they die” (Bringing Them Home). Overall, the clash and discrepancies that occurs between different people with different expectations leads to the uprise of conflict occurring. We do not live in a perfect world, where everyone is the same with the same expectations, and therefore our expectations will never be always met. As some people have their realities meet their expectations, others will not have theirs, thus making conflict not only more likely to occur, but inevitable. 1. Reality does not meet the expectations of Michael Gallagher as believes Aiden is helping others 2. Everyone has different expectations so the expectations of the Real IRA, Sinn Fein and The Omagh self support group generates conflict 3. The expectations of those in the Stolen Generation families expected a apology, whereas The Howard Government didn’t 4.