Re: On Poverty and Crime: Oscar Wilde's views [by John Hilty] FWD
Charles Wilson (nternet@c2i2.com)
Sat, 4 Apr 1998 15:46:05 -0700
Dear Liberty, my answer follows at bottom.
>At 08:21 AM 01/04/1998 -0700, Charles Wilson wrote:
>
>>>There is nothing in the U.S. system that stops anybody,
>>>rich or poor, from enjoying their right to freedom, life and pursuit of
>>>happiness either.
>>
>>and
>>
>>>The United Nations Declaration means absolutely nothing, particularly
when
>>>the United States has persistently avoided paying its membership dues.
>>
>>I do not agree with you at all. With these sort of beliefs, I can not
give
>>much weight to any of your arguments.
>
>Why not? Because all people like yourself have to counter any of these
>arguments is the usual leftist, lets-have-a-demonstration rhetoric. Get
>your head out of the sixties, and start recognizing it is the nineties,
>and that radical, marginal tactics no longer work.
>
>Nor does advocating that people break the law.
>
>Liberty
Dear Liberty, there IS something in the U.S. system which prevents me from
realizing freedom to pursue my happiness. The fact that I can not build a
small hovel (which should be my choice) and simply live in it is a direct
impingement on my freedom to pursue my happiness. I can't walk around
without clothes, which should be natural; I think it is healthy. I can't
imbibe weeds which might naturally grow around on the ground. With all the
unshared use of motor vehicles, I can't breathe the fresh air which might
otherwise be in many cities. I can't spend my life interacting with a whole
lot of people because they have been drawn into a never-ending escalation of
earth resource production. The extent of the military required to continue
to consume two-thirds of the daily production of earth resources appalls me.
The satisfactions which would be enjoyed in a true human community are not
there. Instead giant houses which take half a lifetime to pay for and
midday silence in materially immaculate "housing" areas are the reality.
And I have been always inspired by the United Nations Declaration of Human
Rights. It gives me a measure of what the accord is among the citizens of
earth to realize ideals, such as are expressed in the U.S. founding
documents, which I was taught as a youth, and where I detect some of the
true essence of the American experience and journey.
How can you know my arguments are "the usual leftist,
lets-have-a-demonstration rhetoric," when I have not previously expressed
them to you. You think you know me from a few e-mail sentences.
I'm glad my head was in the sixties; I realize it is the nineties. I know
that radical, marginal tactics do not work. I am hoping that some radical,
marginal thinking might lead us ahead in this country; it often has in the
past. Your thought that I would advocate any violation of the laws shows
you have confused me with others you have communicated with. I do not
advocate that approach.
Sincerely,
Charles Wilson