Arugmentation (Was: Re: [PLUG-TALK] Fair Use, etc.)

[Craighead, Scot D]

>No, I grew up a Protestant extremist and was raised by people
>constantly telling me that America's leadership is the "Great Satan"
>(if only the Great Satin!) and that I should hate negros, Jews,
>Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and just about everyone else.

I'm very sorry to hear that.  I grew up dirt poor, but with the attitude
that your race doesn't matter.  Or course dirt poor in America is not really
that bad.

>I also didn't grow up with the US and Israel outwardly doing
>dastardly things to my friends and family.  I also had a lot of
>opportunities and friends from other places who showed me the
>narrowness of my thinking.

This is where I disagree.  What dastardly things have we done to the
Palestinians or any other Arab nation?  We buy their oil.  Without that,
they would have no wealth.  Certainly we made a big mistake by walking away
from Afghanistan without helping them setup shop after the Soviets left.  I
think it is the Israeli's that are the victims in the current conflict.
They are responding the only way they can.  If the US turned it's back on
Israel, they would be slaughtered.  That would be immoral for us to do.

>You confuse justification with explanation and understanding.
>I can understand what lead the German people to the horrors that
>ensued after the first world war, but that does not justify it.
>When you understand why things have gone horribly wrong, you can
>prevent it from happening again.
>
>If we've learned anything from a number of wars over the last few
>hundred years, it's that when a people are destitute and have
>nothing else to live for, they can do horrible, stupid things.
>Rarely does it turn out for the best.

You make an excellent point.  You probably know that the US refused to sign
the treaty of Versailles and made a separate peace treaty with Germany.  In
hindsight, we should have gone further and forced France and England to
scrap that treaty.  In hindsight, we should have helped rebuild Germany,
France and England.  It would have been cheaper than WWII.  Thus the wisdom
of the Marshall plan.