Hey man. You sound like Captain America.

If you live in a conservative community where sex is considered a taboo and chances for socializing are limited you are faced with the problem of not being able to find a spouse since there is no way to spend time with them or to understand their character and to make a choice of your own based on mutual experience.

This brings forth the need for some device to initiate socially approvable relations between persons. Matchmakers perform this function. They act as a bridge between potential spouses who would not have a chance to come together. They listen to the parents of the young people to learn about their expectations. They never miss a chance to meet the potential lovers and to learn about their dreams, plans for the future and expectations from life etc. After collecting this information, they begin paving the road for a marriage. For example, if the family are after a rich husband who could offer a comfortable life for their daughter and if for example the girl is undecided, they sometimes try to persuade both the family and the girl to consider a boy for his decency and good manners. They do this in weeks, months sometimes. When the family finally consents, these two meet and see for themselves whether there is chemistry between them. 

I would not recommend this system to anyone living in a society where it is possible for people to socialize with the other sex. Nevertheless, I can´t say arranged marriages are bad or they must be banned or looked down on. Complete with all the mechanisms that evolved with it, it is a solution provided by the inner dynamics of society and has stood against the test of time quite well. This happens in modern society too. If you are shy, a friend may help you. You may not be particularly shy but love might have struck you hard. Then again you may need the help of a friend to arrange some matters for you.

A typical mistake we make when thinking about the world is idealizing it. The world has some 195 countries. Of this, a mere 8 nations are qualified to be the members of the G8 Group. There are G20´s and tens of developing countries that trail behind them. There is also poverty in much of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Poverty still lingers on in countries like Turkey and Russia. 

In this world, the poor starve, the deprived is oppressed and the rich point their fingers at them. Don´t do this. Try to put yourself in their shoes whether as a parent or as a child. What could you change? Everyone will live their destiny, people´s destinies are created by other people both inside and outside.

Cool down buddy. Give me a break. I already have enough problems zigzagging in my "against seat" on the thin ice of the limbo called Turkish Class. 

No. The only Seat I have these days happens to be a car. I suggest you read my message again. There might be an innuendo hidden somewhere.

I believe there is nothing wrong with the reaction thehandom has shown. All is in line with the saying:

People with little brains talk about other people.

Normal people talk about happenings.

Intelligent people talk about opinions.

On the contrary, many of our female members are quite beautiful -at least the ones whom I have seen so far.

We must let people have their say before we can criticize them. I find Alameda to be a very considerate and intelligent person though I obviously don´t share her religious beliefs. She has so far been a valuable contributor. I could repeat the same words for Daydreamer except the beliefs part. I don´t care about what people believe in or what causes they defend as long as they respect each other.

Understanding a culture is a very difficult process. Consider this:

Cultural differences exist even in the same society, for example between generations. In Turkey, our parents lived in a patriarchal world where it was normal for a woman to seek and find happiness in her house. This has now changed dramatically. We see women getting more actively involved in daily life and holding on to their identities. My father still expects my mother to be obedient and servile. They are in their 70´s now. They have missed the train of change being born in the 30´s. There is no denying they set a very negative example but sometimes negative examples can help you avoid mistakes especially when the mistakes are obvious. I don´t hate my parents. On the contrary, I love them. They just believe in the different values of a fading time. They are doing quite well by their own right. Since there is no chance for them for an awakening. For those, young women in the East however, there may be a chance. When you remember 30 years ago, you do notice a tremendous change. This change will certainly continue and all the mistakes of the past will be eradicated eventually.

People can live in many different ways. Remember your mothers and fathers. Can you say you are any happier than them? Do you think there are more positive things in your life compared to theirs. You can instantly point out to the differences in your lives. We must ideally be living in a better world. Why are we more stressed then? Why is it not possible to relax and feel happy? We fight in the cyber world day in day out. Passive agression has become our second nature. Being dissatisfied with the real world, we have turned our attention to the Internet where we chat with people whom we don´t know maybe hoping that they could make a change in our dull lives...

P.S. All my ours and yours are literal. I am actually a very happy person. 

 You forgot to say World Peace.

...but for a better world, the US must be the champion of freedom not that of ethnic or religious hatred...

Hegel said something which could be instrumental in reaching a verdict about governments´ use of new opportunities offered by technology to gather information on their subjects:

"... the State ´has the supreme right against the individual, whose supreme duty is to be a member of the State... for the right of the world spirit is above all special priveleges.´"

Now you might say, ours is a capitalist regime and we are in favour of personal freedoms. Yet, behind the curtains, there is an ever existing tendency which dwells upon the true nature of humans which is utterly selfish and highly opportunistic as per explained by Hegel.

We can continue quoting from Hegel, he famously proposed that all processes follow a THESIS & ANTITHESIS clash. It is stated that terrorist activity could serve an antithesis of a government policy. Through the clash of these strings of theses and antitheses a SYNTHESIS is reached. When that syntheses comes about, a discernable progress will have been accomplished only to be eroded by further clashes between new pairs of thesis and antithesis.

That the governments tend to act like big brothers at times of conflict and chaos must be associated with the interaction between thesis and antithesis. Remember the cold war era, the two mighty nations closed their doors to one another and advocated two entirely different political systems. When the clash between their theses was over, Russia emerged as a fast growing capitalist economy and the US, once the land of freedom turned into a nation dominated by xenophobic ideals. Don´t take offense at these words, I believe the US is still way more liberal than many other countries.