From: jim bell <jimbell@pacifier.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Sep 1996 20:52:17 +0800
To: jonathon <grafolog@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Race Bit: C
Message-ID: <199609060330.UAA27245@mail.pacifier.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 02:11 PM 9/5/96 +0000, jonathon wrote:
>On Thu, 5 Sep 1996, Anonymous wrote:
>> defunded 100%, IMO). Violence begats violence which begats even larger
>> government, don't start us on that road -- leave me in peace.

>If I understand you correctly, it is OK for a government to
>institute violence against the residents of the land it claims
>dominion over, but it is not acceptable for the inhabitants of
>that piece of land to respond in self defence.

I think Mr. Anonymous displays a mental crutch that you'll occasionally see: 
 A person who, while he'll not quite admit defending the status quo, 
criticizes alternatives to it yet doesn't have a solution of his own.  He 
says he wants to be left "in peace," forgetting that most people in the 
world today are NOT left in peace.

The way I see it, the status quo doesn't come "pre-justified":  It needs 
just as much a defense as any other proposal.  Its main advantage is that it 
tends to be more understood that most hypotheticals, because it's been 
tested. Sadly, people tend to ignore its disadvantages, to to excess 
familiarity.



Jim Bell
jimbell@pacifier.com