Forwarded to: i[wsn@csf.colorado.edu]
cc:
Comments by: Greg Ehrig@USOTP@TA
-------------------------- [Original Message] -------------------------
I must say, just as I was losing all hope for Richard, he comes out
with something like this! I almost agree completely with what he has
to say on the subject. The only caveat I would add is that we should
not assume we can change human nature into something that it is not.
The mistake of almost all Utopian beliefs, (like marxism, for
example)were in making assumptions about the changeability of man
that were, in retrospect, wrong.
Bruce had an interesting set of points on the subject, too, but I think
the problem of drug prohibition in america is due more to
irrationality than deliberate malice by one group or the other. After
all, how does it benefit any group for society to pay close to 60,000
a perp, per year, for imprisonment time, not to mention the costs of
letting repeat violent offenders out more frequently? The only group
I can think of is the prison guards' union, and it is unlikely they are
the core group of the NWO....or is it? ;->
___________End of Message
4/29/96, Greg Ehrig wrote:
>Is there a statute of limitations for historical crimes?
>
>For instance, do people of Anglo descent owe restitution to people of
>Saxon descent for the centuries of slavery and exploitation suffered
>by the former at the hands of the latter? How do you determine
what
>reparations are "Just"?
As Bob Dylan said: "Show me someone who's not a parasite and
I'll
go out and say a prayer for him."
Or as Joseph Campbell observed: life is AT-ROOT a
self-consuming
bloody cannibalistic beast. (Big fish eat the little fish, and so ad
infinitum.)
This is the human condition -- we got where we are partly (or
perhaps largely) via warfare, despotism, genocide, and injustice.
The miracle of human conciousness is that it is possible to
CREATE
the concept of justice, to GENERALIZE inborn familial-tribal caring to
the
brotherhood of man, and to COMPREHEND the ecological
interconnection of
species, resources, and energy.
This is a creative process, not a deductive one. Let's just admit
that we ALL share in the guilt of history, if ANYONE is guilty. The
useful
question is how we can collaborate in creating more just societies,
more
equitable distribution of wealth, and sustainable economies -- NOT
how we
should allocate guilt.
When a Hindu admitted to Ghandi that he killed a Muslim child,
Ghandi's "justice" was for that man to raise another child to be a
"good
Muslim" -- NOT to go out and hang himself.
Some of the worst injustices have been carried out in the name
of
correcting past injustices. Wasn't The Holocaust itself justified by an
alleged ancient crime of Jews? Isn't the present persecution of the
Palestinians justifed by ancient land-ownership claims? (bolstered
by a
misplaced urge to "make up" for the Holocaust?)
Let's clear the books and start anew. Our collective debt is
unrepayable.
-rkm