Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucsfcgl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!arnold
From: arnold@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Ken Arnold%CGL)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.religion
Subject: Re: It Cant Happen Here
Message-ID: <426@ucsfcgl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 24-Jan-85 22:54:18 EST
Article-I.D.: ucsfcgl.426
Posted: Thu Jan 24 22:54:18 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 26-Jan-85 10:21:31 EST
References: <658@ihopb.UUCP> <7474@brl-tgr.ARPA> <643@ccice5.UUCP> <7601@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Reply-To: arnold@ucsfcgl.UUCP (PUT YOUR NAME HERE)
Organization: UCSF Computer Graphics Lab
Lines: 41
Summary: 

>2) Even if EVERY ONE of the people being so sheltered were to die in
>	[El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, wherever], please explain how
>	that would significantly alter the situation in [Central America,
>	the US, anywhere else].  I doubt all the people in question ARE
>	in such danger (although some may be), and besides, in countries
>	where civil wars (revolutions...), claim multiples of tens of
>	thousands (50K in El Salvador?), I'm still not convinced a
>	significant improvement is being made.

I suppose it wouldn't matter much to the situation in any country I can
think of if you were to be shot either, but that is not the point.  It
is important to protect innocent life, and most of the people being
saved are innocent or they would have fled to the revolutionaries.  It
seems to me that since you KNOW that 50,000 people we killed in El
Salvarador alone (and that figure, by the way, is the number of
civilians killed by the GOVERNMENT), how can you doubt that the people
are in danger?

If you really feel the only value a human being has is to be important
to their country, mail me your adress and maybe I'll see about ending
your worthless life.  See?  Put it in context (i.e., talk about YOUR
death) and I'll be you are suddenly less interested in this way of
looking at things.  Think about the people there as PEOPLE.  They are,
you know.  Most of them are caught between a military which would
rather kill them than even think about doubting them and a revolution.
They are butchered and dragged from their homes in the middle of the
night without reason or warning and shot.  If you had reason to think
that would happen to you, you would run, too.

The point is that the sanctuary people are protecting the refugees'
lives.  I would disobey most any law to save your life, and I'm sure if
you saw me in danger you would do your best to save mine.  Why aren't
these people from Central America worth the same love and respect?

		Ken Arnold
-- 

		Ken Arnold
=================================================================
Of COURSE we can implement your algorithm.  We've got this Turing
machine emulator...