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From: ariels@orca.UUCP (Ariel Shattan)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Discrimination [A Digreesion]
Message-ID: <1500@orca.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 15-May-85 10:42:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: orca.1500
Posted: Wed May 15 10:42:55 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 17-May-85 00:15:08 EDT
References: <482@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP> <436@sftri.UUCP>
Organization: sixes and sevens
Lines: 50

> > Imagine a highway 10 miles wide and stretching from coast to coast.
> > Further imagine that there's a silver dollar on every square foot of
> > the highway.  Now in 1776, we all started a race to see who could get
> > the most money.  Except that all black men, all women, and all
> > foreigners were tied up , effectively preventing everyone except white
> > men from getting more than a mile down the road.  So now, 200+ years
> > later, it's time for the referees to prevent discrimination.
> 
> Why is it money in the example?  
>[...]
> I'd count my life
> successful if I was able to help people when they needed it and
> raise good kids, not if I'm the first one in my family to ever earn
> $40,000 a year.
>[...]
> How everyone else saw you
> has always depended a lot on how prosperous you were, but how you
> saw yourself seemed to depend on things besides money.  Any thots?
> 
> Mark Modig

This kind of self assesment is only available to people who can
afford it.  You don't need to measure yourself by money because you
have money.  If your kids were going hungry (which a lot of kids in
this country are), you'd be a good deal more concerned about money
than now, when you really don't feel you'll ever have to worry.

Thinking about things other than mere survival is a recent luxury.
As more and more people had more than enough money to support
themselves, they've had to occupy the resulting time with something.
Some chose conspicuous consumption, others went for satisfaction at
a personal level.

The people who use this net don't realize how lucky they are, or how
unusual when compared to the majority of people in the world.  Very few
of us went hungry as kids.  Very few of us had to watch our folks
struggle (I mean *really* struggle, not just pay the credit card bills,
but pay the food bills) to make ends meet.  Much of the world
(including plenty of families in the US) is still occupied with keeping
body and soul together.

It behooves us to stop every so often and look beyond our campuses
and high-tech employment areas to get perspective on where we are
and where the rest of the world is.  I'm not going to preach charity
or anything like that, but at least take a moment to think about
where you are and how you got there (not just personally, look at
your parents and ancestors).

Ariel (I worked hard, but I was also lucky) Shattan
..!tektronix!orca!ariels