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From: rb@ccivax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Slave labor built Siberian pipeline
Message-ID: <494@ccivax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Mar-86 14:29:22 EST
Article-I.D.: ccivax.494
Posted: Wed Mar 19 14:29:22 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Mar-86 23:05:44 EST
References: <1720@bbncca.ARPA> <1122@mit-eddie.UUCP> <542@ihdev.UUCP>
Reply-To: rb@ccivax.UUCP (What's in a name ?)
Organization: CCI Telephony Systems Group,  Rochester NY
Lines: 32
Summary: The "Sophisticated approach"

In article <542@ihdev.UUCP> rastaman@ihdev.UUCP (Floyd Hydrozoan) writes:
>In article <1122@mit-eddie.UUCP> lkk@eddie.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) writes:
>>In article <1720@bbncca.ARPA> rrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) writes:
>>>
>>>	much of the labor used in building the pipeline was
>>>	probably slave labor from the gulags, in keeping with a
>>>	long-standing Communist tradition in big works projects.
>>
>>Please don't forget the long-standing tradition in the American South
>>of using forced prison labor on road-building projects, as well as on
>>...
>>Isn't this the same sort of slavery we criticize the Soviets for?
>
>Sure!  It will be just as soon as we make it illegal to be a Jew, or
>a dissident (You don't like the administration's policy on Nicaragua?
>Off to the road crew, scum!), or make it illegal to fall out of favor
>with the party.

Oh, we're much more sophisticated than that.  We simply use
"blacklists", and various racist, political,economic,... techniques to
make crimes more "justifiable" to the oppressed groups.  Then we make
laws that almost anyone can violate.  THEN we can put those
undesirables into prison labor camps. If you are carrying a wrench in
Texas, you can go to jail (See "Trenton Pickle Ordinance"), but don't
worry, that's only enforced for wetbacks.  Oh, by the way, your
"public defender" has a hangover so you'll have to defend yourself.

This doesn't mean the U.S.S.R. is right, just that we're not perfect.

The favorite "human rights" issue of the U.S.S.R. is what we do to
"Indians" (native americans on reservations).  None of their allogations
has been investigated (they are "local" problems).