Re: Debian conference in the US?
On Thu, 22 May 2003, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
> On Thu, 22 May 2003 22:39:02 +1000, Russell Coker
> <russell@coker.com.au> said:
> > On Thu, 22 May 2003 17:06, Miles Bader wrote:
> >> You mean the iraq war? What's the point? How is avoiding the
> >> U.S. going to help anything, regardless of how strongly you feel
> >> about the U.S. governments acts or positions?
>
> > When tourism goes down the hotel, entertainment, and airline
> > industries suffer. If enough people boycott the US because of this
> > then it'll keep the American economy down.
>
> I see. You all are personally taking action to make it harder
> for my friends and relatives to find a job, or get decent health care
> (my ex-boss has been looking for employment for 27 months now, and my
> step daughter does not have a job with benefits), and you expect me
> to have sympathy for your views?
Do you have a better way of encougaging the U.S.A. to take an alternate
stance? It's fairly clear that they don't actually give a shit about the UN
or anyone else, so we can't just "express our displeasure" and expect Bush
and cronies to give a shit.
The citizens of the US have a little more power than the rest of the world,
in that you have a *vote* as to who gets to fuck the rest of the world. So,
it goes like this:
* The rest of the world is sick to death of US imperialism;
* The US government ignores world opinion and does it's thing;
* The rest of the world puts pressure on the US people to change things,
since they've at least got half a chance to make changes;
* The US people make the change, or live with the consequences of not
changing.
Remember, the rest of the world does *not* owe you and yours a living.
> You are taking personal actions inimical to the standard of
> living of me and my loved ones in retaliation for actions by my
> government (which I have little control over), and you expect me to
> roll over and congratulate you all on your stance? Hell, my first
> instinct is to try and see how I can retaliate.
Not looking for congratulations. Again, from where I'm sitting, you've got
more direct influence over US policy than I do. If you have a better
suggestion of how foreigners can influence US policy, I'd love to hear it.
> Let me clue all of you in: anyone who takes a stand and tries
> to hurt the US economy, I see as a taking action inimical to me, and
> my loved ones, and I do *NOT* see that as friendly action.
And most of the world does not see the actions of your government (and,
since you live in a "democracy" it truly is *your* government - remember,
"of the people, by the people, and for the people", or some such) as overly
friendly, I don't quite see the problem.
--
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#include <disclaimer.h>
Matthew Palmer, Geek In Residence
http://ieee.uow.edu.au/~mjp16
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