[aklug] Re: !~

On Thu, 31 Oct 2013, Greg Schmitz wrote:

>
> Of course, Arthur, it is convenient to ignore some things, even though, as I
> think most historians would admit, the past informs the present. The
> profits from publishing European titles without having to pay royalties are
> significant and bear heavily on the IP law that we live under now and there
> is an irony considering who made off with the gold. That leads me to wonder
> about, oh say slavery in the United States. The history of slavery and the
> wealth the slave trade provided to a developing infrastructure in the United
> States is not insignificant (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, William and Mary for
> example). For at least some contemporary political arguments, especially if
> they are based on history, the profits from the slave trade and heinous
> practices and how those profits were invested are not insignificant. I don't
> think we can pick and choose which historical events are of significance when
> arguing current affairs. For our nation inconvenient truths abound I
> think. We could talk about mineral rights on indigenous property too?

Boy, you really like setting up the straw man arguments, don't you, Greg?
From a pragmatic perspective none of it does matter, unless you happen to
have a Tardis in your pocket -- I'm not asking, BTW. ;-) Whether or not
the victors were just with the spoils a 100+ years ago is not the concern of
the living. What does matter is that we had a country in which some of the
more egregious violations could be corrected, and have been. What does
matter is that we insist on a level playing ground where everyone can
succeed according to the level of their natural abilities. What matters is
that we learn from the past, but we don't try to erase it or let the future
be crippled by it.

Your idealogical slip is showing. Social justice is neither social or just.
Welcome to the real world.

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Thu, 31 Oct 2013 10:44:28 -0800 (AKDT)