richardt@orstcs.UUCP (richardt) (08/25/85)
[Oh mighty line eater, except this humble sac...gurgle... >Suppose I drag people out of hospitals and kill them. >Question: >Can I do ANY of those things and still be justifiably be called a fighter >of oppression? If you cannot answer "NO", then you are a fool and you >didn't even have to laugh! >David Olson I hate to tell you this, David, but by those standards the Good Ole' U.S. of A. is one of the prime causers of oppression. Question (open to everyone): Which of the two following quotes best describes what the general attitude towards U.S. foreign poilcy should be: "My country, may she always be right, but forever my country" (loosely quoted from Douglas MacArthur) "Justice, whether my country is right or wrong, always uphold Justice!" orstcs!richardt "C'mon, book-burners! you can get up to Farenheit 451!"
dlo@drutx.UUCP (OlsonDL) (09/04/85)
> = From: richardt@orstcs.UUCP (richardt) >> = Me >>Suppose I drag people out of hospitals and kill them. >>Question: >>Can I do ANY of those things and still be justifiably be called a fighter >>of oppression? If you cannot answer "NO", then you are a fool and you >>didn't even have to laugh! >>David Olson >I hate to tell you this, David, but by those standards the Good Ole' U.S. of A. >is one of the prime causers of oppression. I won't even try to dispute this. Mainly because it presents the philosophical predicament of trying to prove a negative. BTW -- I am very much opposed to oppression, even if the oppressor happens to be an American! Supprised? (If your comment is meant to dispute mine, I guess I missed it.) But, I cannot accept an equation that goes something like this: 'An oppressive American ==> an oppressive America ==> *ANY* American = oppressor. Therefore, imprisoning/beating/killing *ANY* American = fighting oppression'. As plausible as that sounds, it seems to be a rather large case of begging the question. The point that I was trying to make is that several people have attempted to elevate, say, hijackers of a civilian airliner to the level of a fighter of oppression. This is, at the very least, FOOLish. I guess that 9 uses of "oppress"... (now 10) in this article should be enough. :-) > orstcs!richardt These opinions belong to anyone who wants to claim them. David Olson ..!ihnp4!drutx!dlo "To laugh at men of sense is the privilege of fools". -- Jean de la Bruyere
berman@psuvax1.UUCP (Piotr Berman) (09/06/85)
> > = From: richardt@orstcs.UUCP (richardt) > >> = David Olson > > >>Suppose I drag people out of hospitals and kill them. > >>Question: > >>Can I do ANY of those things and still be justifiably be called a fighter > >>of oppression? If you cannot answer "NO", then you are a fool and you > >>didn't even have to laugh! > >>David Olson > > >I hate to tell you this, David, but by those standards the Good Ole' U.S. > >of A. is one of the prime causers of oppression. > > I won't even try to dispute this. Mainly because it presents the philosophical > predicament of trying to prove a negative. BTW -- I am very much opposed to > oppression, even if the oppressor happens to be an American! Supprised? (If > your comment is meant to dispute mine, I guess I missed it.) But, I cannot > accept an equation that goes something like this: 'An oppressive American > ==> an oppressive America ==> *ANY* American = oppressor. Therefore, > imprisoning/beating/killing *ANY* American = fighting oppression'. As > plausible as that sounds, it seems to be a rather large case of begging the > question. > Interestingly enough, it was Shia's Amal who was draging PLO wounded from hospitals in Beirut. Sometimes we forget how much of the violence does not involve Americans. It seems to me that most of the the groups who use terror against Americans are just using violence against all their adversaries. American problem with terrorists is by no means unique or extraordinary. Nor is the current wave of terrorism without precedents. I view terrorists as cockroaches of the world: as with cockroaches, there are objective reasons for their existance, they are difficult to eradicate, and they are not nice. [BTW, imagine Reagan and Schulz making tough anti-cockroach speeches, promising preemptive strikes and swift retribution whenever they intrude the White House or the Capitol] Piotr Berman then everybody would expect totally within