GUTHERY@ASC (guthery%asc@sdr.slb.com) (06/23/87)
Perhaps Mr. Harrington would like to take the lead and write up a social impact statement for socialism. The statement would have been fascinating reading for the 95 million citizens of socialistic countries who have been murdered by their own governments since the turn of the century. Students of peace studies should note that socialistic regimes have peacefully killed roughly three times more of their own citizens than have been killed in all the wars in the 20th century. In other words, one is safer in a war (26 killed per 10,000 exposed) than in a socialistic state (477 killed per 10,000 exposed). Should we start moving left again as Mr. Harrington urges us to do, I'd want to start a war just for the safety and well-being of myself and my family.
wfi@rti.UUCP (William Ingogly) (06/23/87)
[As Bill so astutely points out, we've left the area of computers and society a bit in the dust in this conversation now, so I won't be accepting any further comments in this vein. -- Dave] GUTHERY@ASC writes: > Perhaps Mr. Harrington would like to take the lead and write up a social > impact statement for socialism. The statement would have been fascinating > reading for the 95 million citizens of socialistic countries who have > been murdered by their own governments ... Perhaps you might try reading a man's books before you libel him in this way. Mr. Harrington is a democratic socialist; you may disagree with his politics, but don't accuse him of advocating repression and murder if you're not familiar with his writings. There's a long tradition of democratic socialism in Europe. You may find the economics and values of such societies abhorrent, but they do NOT have a history of murdering or suppressing their citizens. > Should we start moving left again as Mr. Harrington urges us to do, I'd > want to start a war just for the safety and well-being of myself and my > family. It's this kind of jingoistic thinking that's going to end up doing us in. I'm a liberal and I'm just as much a good American as you are. I'm sick and tired of hearing people on the right put me down because I don't share their vision of a lily-white Christian America where the wealthy are blessed and the trash stays in the ghetto where it belongs. Your family's safety and well-being are not threatened by American leftists like Mr. Harrington, who advocates social change through the Democratic Party. I find it frightening that you talk about 'starting a war' if the country should take a liberal turn. If you're concerned about your family's well-being and safety, you should think a little more deeply about what you seem to be advocating in statements like the one above. I expect to see this kind of thinking in the pamphlets the White Patriots' Party turns out, not on the net. I'm cross-posting this to talk.politics.misc and suggest that followups to that group may be more appropriate than followups in this group. The topic doesn't seem to have much to do with computers and society. -- Bill Ingogly