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From: wfi@rti.UUCP (William Ingogly)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: Comment on Social Impact Statements
Message-ID: <2090@hplabsc.HP.COM>
Date: Tue, 23-Jun-87 14:01:40 EDT
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Posted: Tue Jun 23 14:01:40 1987
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[As Bill so astutely points out, we've left the area of computers and
 society a bit in the dust in this conversation now, so I won't be accepting
 any further comments in this vein.  -- Dave]

GUTHERY@ASC writes:

> Perhaps Mr. Harrington would like to take the lead and write up a social 
> impact statement for socialism.  The statement would have been fascinating 
> reading for the 95 million citizens of socialistic countries who have 
> been murdered by their own governments ...

Perhaps you might try reading a man's books before you libel him in this 
way. Mr. Harrington is a democratic socialist; you may disagree with his 
politics, but don't accuse him of advocating repression and murder if 
you're not familiar with his writings.

There's a long tradition of democratic socialism in Europe. You may
find the economics and values of such societies abhorrent, but they do 
NOT have a history of murdering or suppressing their citizens. 

> Should we start moving left again as Mr. Harrington urges us to do, I'd 
> want to start a war just for the safety and well-being of myself and my 
> family.

It's this kind of jingoistic thinking that's going to end up doing us 
in. I'm a liberal and I'm just as much a good American as you are. 
I'm sick and tired of hearing people on the right put me down because 
I don't share their vision of a lily-white Christian America where the 
wealthy are blessed and the trash stays in the ghetto where it belongs.

Your family's safety and well-being are not threatened by American
leftists like Mr. Harrington, who advocates social change through the
Democratic Party. I find it frightening that you talk about 'starting
a war' if the country should take a liberal turn. If you're concerned
about your family's well-being and safety, you should think a little
more deeply about what you seem to be advocating in statements like
the one above. I expect to see this kind of thinking in the pamphlets
the White Patriots' Party turns out, not on the net.

I'm cross-posting this to talk.politics.misc and suggest that
followups to that group may be more appropriate than followups in this
group. The topic doesn't seem to have much to do with computers and
society.

				     -- Bill Ingogly