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From: crs@lanl.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Discrimination [A Digreesion]
Message-ID: <25998@lanl.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 17-May-85 10:41:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: lanl.25998
Posted: Fri May 17 10:41:57 1985
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> > 
> > 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

Ariel, I couldn't agree more.

I've also noticed the skew in the viewpoints/attitudes expressed here
on the net.  I doubt that there is any practicable way to do it but
it would be instructive for those with enough money that money isn't
a worry to be transported, for a while, to a situation where it is a
very definite and nearly constant worry.  I don't mean worry over
whether you will have to make do with the *old* Porsche for a few more
years but over what you will feed and clothe your children with.

Perhaps an open minded visit to Appalachia, or some of the poorer
villages in the west or a poor section of a big city would help but 
it isn't like living it.

Thanks for your article.

Charlie
_______

Charlie Sorsby
...!{cmcl2,ihnp4,...}!lanl!crs
crs@lanl.arpa