[aklug] Re: !~

On 10/31/2013 10:44 AM, Arthur Corliss wrote:
> 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

That's a silly argument Arthur; I was just reading the Federal Registry
from 1964 today. How does the natural of ability of some individuals
trump history or circumstance? Talk about "straw dogs." I would
commend to you one of the books that has informed the way I think about
things: ESSENCE OF DECISION by Graham T. Alison (the inventor of modern
game theory) any edition is enlightening. Last time I checked history
was still relevant to our nation which claims to be built on laws not
only for it's historical value but the social consequences that ensue if
the public is aware of history (and our Judicial branch takes both under
consideration when rendering decisions). Do you really think that ANCSA
would have been successful without the books, BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED
KNEE or CUSTER DIED FOR YOUR SINS or the American Indian Movement (AIM)
and all the folks that read those books while realizing that we were
slaughtering civilians thousands of miles away? Your approach to
contemporary problems and how "things work" is amiss I think

--greg
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Received on Thu Oct 31 22:37:10 2013