[TheForge] Patriotic rant....

Thu Jun 20 21:15:00 2002

I suggest you should go build up a net worth at least equivalent to Secretary
Rumsfeld, then give it to the poor.
If you don't, then you aren't doing your part to help the poor, and you have
little room to complain about it.

Not that you've done this, but it reminds me of something I find ironic (even
humorous).
Some people like to complain about the government being too deep in everyone's
business, then in the next sentence they start talking about what others should
be doing with their money.

When it comes to those with plenty of money, if you can't beat 'em, then join
'em.
Then spend your money on what you find important, and leave others to spend
their money on what they find important.

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 11:17 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Patriotic rant....

In a message dated Thu, 20 Jun 2002 10:20:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:

> They "deterred" japan effectively....
>
> A "deterrent" is not a deterrent unless those to be
> deterred believe it
> will be used.

Shall we use nuclear weapons against terrorist cells within our own borders?

This country's government and its media are controlled by money and those who
have the money are increasingly a tight-knit and very greedy group whose
primary aim is to acquire more money/power/control.  The only deterrent for
terrorism is to remove the cause.  The widening gap between rich and poor is
the cause and that is certainly clear to terrorist leaders even as they use
religion to persuade more followers. The suicide bombers are doing no more than
someone's suggested response to airline hijackers...they are taking the only
effective action available from their perspective.

We like the lifestyle available in our country, but most, I believe, would be
willing to moderate it in favor of a more equitable lifestyle worldwide...do
you think the Bush dynasty would do the same?  If we are not willing to make
concessions with the world resources (Coca-Cola bottlers in India are depleting
the local aquifers to ship their product throughout the country.  The locals
are of lower castes, so who cares if their wells run dry?), then we either
accept what damage terrorists are able to inflict or we set out upon the
horrific path of genocide...we would have to be willing to annihilate the Axis
of Evil, and we have seen that as we chop off one tentacle from that creature
another grows in its place.  Our greed cannot long endure any more than could
King George's taxation without representation.

Why is it so difficult for us to see that the war is between the haves and
have-nots?  Why don't we start by demanding that members of our government
share OUR interests rather than the interests of men like our Secretary of
Defense?  What portion of the World's resources are necessary to sustain
Secretary Rumsfeld's $200,000,000+ net worth?

Philip (NOT PHLIP) Whitley