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From: dlo@drutx.UUCP (OlsonDL)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Patriotism and America Bashing
Message-ID: <366@drutx.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Sep-85 18:56:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: drutx.366
Posted: Tue Sep  3 18:56:53 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 5-Sep-85 02:46:33 EDT
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
Lines: 38

> = From: richardt@orstcs.UUCP (richardt)
>> = Me

>>Suppose I drag people out of hospitals and kill them.
>>Question:
>>Can I do ANY of those things and still be justifiably be called a fighter
>>of oppression?  If you cannot answer "NO", then you are a fool and you
>>didn't even have to laugh!
>>David Olson

>I hate to tell you this, David, but by those standards the Good Ole' U.S. of A.
>is one of the prime causers of oppression.

I won't even try to dispute this.  Mainly because it presents the philosophical
predicament of trying to prove a negative.  BTW -- I am very much opposed to
oppression, even if the oppressor happens to be an American!  Supprised?  (If
your comment is meant to dispute mine, I guess I missed it.)  But, I cannot
accept an equation that goes something like this: 'An oppressive American
==> an oppressive America ==> *ANY* American = oppressor.  Therefore,
imprisoning/beating/killing *ANY* American = fighting oppression'.  As
plausible as that sounds, it seems to be a rather large case of begging the
question.

The point that I was trying to make is that several people have attempted to
elevate, say, hijackers of a civilian airliner to the level of a fighter of
oppression.  This is, at the very least, FOOLish.

I guess that 9 uses of "oppress"... (now 10) in this article should be
enough. :-)

>			orstcs!richardt

These opinions belong to anyone who wants to claim them.

David Olson
..!ihnp4!drutx!dlo

"To laugh at men of sense is the privilege of fools". -- Jean de la Bruyere