Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!bbn.com!ulowell!m2c!wpi.WPI.EDU!ear
From: ear@wpi.WPI.EDU (Eric A Rasmussen)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: CPSR vs. EFF
Message-ID: <1991Jun27.051845.30495@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Date: 27 Jun 91 05:18:45 GMT
References: <9269@hsv3.UUCP> <1991Jun26.055354.358@athena.cs.uga.edu> <1991Jun26.184003.22787@spool.cs.wisc.edu>
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Lines: 36

In article <1991Jun26.184003.22787@spool.cs.wisc.edu> samuel@shemp.cs.wisc.edu (Samuel Bates) writes:
[quoting the CPSR article]

After writing a long tirade on how their advertisement had very little to do
with complaining about the actual use of computers in the Gulf War, I realized
that that was not the actual point of the article.  What the CPSR is really
trying to say is that they as a group believe that the U.S. government should
be spending less on the military and more on social and domestic programs. 
Why computer professionals should feel that they know more about this than the
government or the rest of us is still beyond me, and I still feel that the
article was not well written.  

Now let me get down to a few nitty-gritty points...

>Congressional and military sources estimate that at least 100,000 Iraqis died
>in the war.  Their deaths did not improve the lives of 200 million Arabs
>living in the Middle East.  Nor did their deaths benefit the millions of
>Americans who continue to face a declining standard of living and a collapsing
>infrastructure. 

One must now ask oneself if they (the CPSR) believe that the death of 100,000
people is ok if it DOES benefit citizens of the United States by raising the
standard of living and helping the collapsing infrastructure.  Perhaps we
should plunder the wealth of Saudia Arabia while our forces are still over
there.

>We call for new priorities.  We call for ... our technical skills
>to help solve the pressing problems of social justice and human survival.

What modesty.  If only the world worked like a computer program.

+---------< Eric A. Rasmussen - Mr. Neat-O (tm) >---------+ +< Email Address >+
|   A real engineer never reads the instructions first.   | | ear@wpi.wpi.edu |
|   (They figure out how it works by playing with it.)    | | ear%wpi@wpi.edu |
+---------------------------------------------------------+ +-----------------+
                     ((( In Stereo Where Available )))