orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) (03/17/86)
I am getting fed-up with the incessant repetition of this refrain: > > Wait! Remember, a few articles later was a remark that the Area Handbook > was in fact more accurate than it appeared to be at this point. > Why are you always so fast in picking up anything that may show the US > government to be evil, but never the USSR? > -- > Kenneth Arromdee Listen here! I am an American citizen! I am one among all other Americans who are supposed to have a voice and control over our government and its policies. If I do not like those policies not only do I have the Constitutionally guaranteed right to say so but I also have the right to do whatever I can to see that those policies which I find morally repugnant ARE CHANGED. Some people on the net seem to feel that Americans have no right to criticize their government - well, I have news for you, the government serves at *MY* bequest and the bequest of every other American citizen. I do *NOT* serve at the bequest of the American government. *Because* my government supposedly acts in *MY* name I feel a special responsibility when I see that government promoting terror, bombings, tortures and killings in *MY* name as an American citizen. I am also insulted when the government tells me that "we know what is going on better than you" and implies that they have the right to tell me how to think. What is this? I say. As an American citizen this is *MY* country and I tell the government what to do, not vice versa. If some people don't like this arrangement I suggest they move to countries in which the people serve at the bequest of the government rather than the government serving at the bequest of the people. I am *not* a Soviet citizen but as a member of humanity I *am* concerned about the welfare of the Soviet people. For that reason and for the welfare of all of humanity I find it a rather nasty notion that my government seriously considers blowing up all Soviet citizens as well as murdering everyone else on this planet for reasons which I find murky at best. Because I am not a Soviet citizen I cannot take responsibility for the actions of their government since their government does not act in my name. However as a member of humanity I find it just as reprehensible that the Soviet government *also* contemplates destroying the whole of humanity as well as my fellow citizens. Moreover the Soviet government not only tries to tell its citizens what to think but has been known to kill its citizens for daring to think otherwise. As a human being I find these types of actions morally repugnant wherever they occur. At the same time that does *NOT* mean that as an American citizen somehow I and my government *own* the Panama Canal, Central America, South America,Vietnam, Afghanistan or any place else in the world. As I claim the right to influence and elect my own government I grant the same right to every other nation and its people. If 65% of the Nicaraguans choose to vote for the Sandinistas that is their right - whether I happen to like it or not. Just as it was the right of 60% of Americans to vote for a right-wing, militaristic deceitful President. Because I am an American citizen who is supposed to have a voice in its policies I have every right to criticize those policies whenever and wherever I want to whether anyone else likes it or not. I am *NOT* obligated to criticize any other government - this is *MY* government and I can criticize it as I please. Unfortunately for those of an authoritarian bent that is the way that democracy works. SO CAN THE UNAMERICAN RAP!! thank you, tim sevener whuxn!orb
ins_akaa@jhunix.UUCP (Ken Arromdee) (03/21/86)
>I am getting fed-up with the incessant repetition of this refrain: >> Why are you always so fast in picking up anything that may show the US >> government to be evil, but never the USSR? [me (Arromdee)] >Listen here! I am an American citizen! >... I also have the right to do whatever I can to see that those >policies which I find morally repugnant ARE CHANGED. >Some people on the net seem to feel that Americans have no right >to criticize their government - well, I have news for you, >the government serves at *MY* bequest and the bequest of every >other American citizen. I do *NOT* serve at the bequest of the >American government. [Sevener] My quarrel here is not of criticism against the US but of LACK of criticism against the USSR. I don't mind criticism of the US in itself; what I mind is SELECTIVE criticism of the US. >*Because* my government supposedly acts in *MY* name I feel >a special responsibility when I see that government promoting >terror, bombings, tortures and killings in *MY* name as an >American citizen. I am also insulted when the government tells >me that "we know what is going on better than you" and implies >that they have the right to tell me how to think. What is this? >I say. As an American citizen this is *MY* country and I tell >the government what to do, not vice versa. If some people don't >like this arrangement I suggest they move to countries in which >the people serve at the bequest of the government rather than >the government serving at the bequest of the people. You seem to be misunderstanding me again. I do not agree with the government secrecy attitude you mention here, and I do agree that the people should tell the government what to do, not vice versa. I assume you also think the people should command the government, and thus I am somewhat (note the "somewhat") puzzled as to why you don't criticize governments at whose bequest the people serve, more than you actually do criticize them. I am also puzzled at your statement that if you don't like the structure of the government, leave the country. Isn't this the exact same attitude that you dislike in your opponents? Why is it not OK for someone else to say this, but it is OK for you to say it? (Note: _I_ have never made such a statement, so you can't explain it away by saying you were trying to disprove one of my positions by using it against me) >... Because I am >not a Soviet citizen I cannot take responsibility for the >actions of their government since their government does not >act in my name. Actually I thought it acted in the name of all workers everywhere. >At the same time that does *NOT* mean that as an American citizen >somehow I and my government *own* the Panama Canal, Central America, >South America,Vietnam, Afghanistan or any place else in the world. Are you trying to claim that sending "covert" aid to Afghan rebels is on a par with the US involvement in Vietnam? Please explain. Actually I thought it was the USSR trying to own Afghanistan, not the US. >I grant the same right to every other nation and its people. >If 65% of the Nicaraguans choose to vote for the Sandinistas >that is their right - whether I happen to like it or not. This only applies, though, to non-dictatorships where the people can be freely informed. (Not to mention questions over the elections themselves) >Because I am an American citizen who is supposed to have a voice >in its policies I have every right to criticize those policies >whenever and wherever I want to whether anyone else likes it or >not. I am *NOT* obligated to criticize any other government - >this is *MY* government and I can criticize it as I please. But when you criticize policies of one government and don't criticize much worse policies of another, you imply that the government you criticize is worse than it actually is, and the one you do not criticize is better than it actually is. The same applies when you compare actions of one government with much-worse actions of another government, such as the malls in US/government control of media in USSR comparison. >Unfortunately for those of an authoritarian bent that is the >way that democracy works. SO CAN THE UNAMERICAN RAP!! I never said you were un-American. Please stop misquoting. -- "Father, they DO know what they are doing!" Kenneth Arromdee BITNET: G46I4701 at JHUVM and INS_AKAA at JHUVMS CSNET: ins_akaa@jhunix.CSNET ARPA: ins_akaa%jhunix@hopkins.ARPA UUCP: {allegra!hopkins, seismo!umcp-cs, ihnp4!whuxcc} !jhunix!ins_akaa