[lit-ideas] Re: Irene's experiment...

Irene -
You asked for some examples of how society is life-affirming. You asked because 
you were sure no one could give you a good answer, weren't you?

Well, Mike gave you a lot of good answers.

Your response was to nullify them with silly comments about genocide. As if 
because there are bad things out there, the good things don't count.

Julie's right. You  need an anti-depressant. 

Stan Spiegel
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Andy Amago 
  To: lit-ideas 
  Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2006 10:30 AM
  Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Irene's experiment...


  Just because there are some positive things, things that have taken centuries 
to achieve, doesn't mean that the overall tendency isn't anti-life.  I said in 
the original post that we're probably better than some of the world.  And 
worse, in that some of the world actually takes care of its people, I'm talking 
about the socialists who are taking the world to hell in a handbasket 
(socialism is all but a curse word in this country), and the one (one) country 
on this entire planet, Sweden, that actually outlaws hitting those who can't 
hit back.  And that's the government anyway, which conservatives protest is too 
big.  The government in this country is now a do-nothing organization owned by 
and existing for the benefit of industry.  It's also been co-opted into 
generating war, with the people's blessing, albeit through ignorance, such as 
being led by Annie Myelroie's book, nonquestioning and endorsement by Congress 
and media, just plain ind ifference, wishful thinking, generating bottom lines 
for Haliburton, and so on.  And let's not even mention Vietnam.

  The private sector, industry (composed of people) has no compunction 
whatsoever against downsizing (read: putting you out on the street to starve), 
against promoting predatory lending then foreclosing (endorsed by newly created 
bankruptcy laws), against ripping off the public and the environment whenever 
it can get away with it.  The 1% of the population of the U.S. that holds 35% 
of the wealth (repeat: 1% of the population owns 35% of the wealth of this 
country) has not the slightest compunction against taking taxpayers' money.  
What that 1% of the ultra wealthy are given comes out of your below enumerated 
social programs.  And you say Katrina.  Those people are still homeless.  
Medicare, a taxpayer funded program, is looted (repeat: looted) by pharma.  Who 
are the 1%?  Who is pharma?  Are they not people?  Are the 50,000 species that 
are disappearing each year not being destroyed by people?  Are the rainforests 
shrinking at something like an acre a second not being destroyed by people?  
Was slavery, the Civil War, then Reconstruction, the root of all our racial 
social woes, not done by people?  You also don't address at all the fact that 
if society were so life affirming, why would they greet birthdays with 
derision, downright hatred, instead of joy that someone is alive, etc. etc.  

  Certainly, we have made strides.  The world is more civilized today than at 
any time in history (imagine that).  But it can't stop itself from genocide 
until it's done so much of it it's simply had enough.  I consider genocides to 
be pretty anti-life.  Do you?  White people had their genocides, many in the 
20th century, of themselves and inflicted on others.  Now Africa is having 
theirs.  Iraq is having theirs.  We in the U.S. see sex with children as evil, 
but some representatives in the U.S. Congress (Foley, Florida) indulge in it.  
In white civilized Belgium (?), they're talking about legalizing it, or have 
legalized it.  In much of the world sex with children is no big deal, just the 
way things are done.  Everywhere it's a *legal right* to hit those who can't 
hit back, which is to say, humans in training, or for that matter, women.  
Humans in training aren't even human; they're prope rty to do what owners 
(read: parents) want with.  We've made strides in that child protective 
agencies can take children away from parents, but only if there's grotesque, 
verifiable abuse or drugs.  And those agencies are not being enlarged.  They're 
always struggling.  

  There's looking on the bright side, Mike, but then there's being blinded by 
the bright side.  If you need to convince yourself that humanity is so 
pro-life, please don't do it with a string of government programs that are at 
best underfunded and at worst bemoaned as causing budget deficits and the like, 
and even cut when nobody's looking.



  ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Mike Geary 
    To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Sent: 9/29/2006 11:49:54 AM 
    Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Irene's experiment...


    AA:
    > Now some examples.  From anywhere you choose,
    > television, radio, medical care, government, shopping malls, you name it. 
    > Give me some examples of how society, I think the word is appropriate,
    > affirms life.

    Society itself is life-affirmation, don't you realize that?  But here are 
some breakdowns:  



    Government.  (I only know the U. S. so I'll keep to it)  
       
             1.  The Constitution affirms, life, liberty, the pursuit of 
happiness.  --  An affirmation of life.
             2.  The Bill of Rights -- each of which is an affirmation of life.
             3.  Child labor laws -- an affirmation of life.
             4.  OSHA --  an affirmation of life.
             5.  Public education -- an affirmation of life.
             6.  Minimum wage -- an affirmation of life.
             7.  Welfare -- an affirmation of life.
             8.  Medicare and Medicade --  affirmations of life.
             9.  Social security -- an affirmation of life.
            10. Building codes -- an affirmation of life.
            11. Workmen's compensation -- an affirmation of life.
            12. Center for Disease Control -- an affirmation of life.
            13. Labor laws -- an affirmation of life.
            14. Health Departments -- an affirmation of life.
            15. Fire Departments -- an affirmation of life.
            16. Police Departments -- an affirmation of life.
            17. Public Works Departments -- an affirmation of life.
            18. Sanitation Departments -- an affirmation of life.
            19. Government itself is an affirmation of life.

    Non-Governmental Organizations 
             
                 The list of non-governmental organizations and only those 
dedicated to environmentally sustainable development, human rights, or women in 
development  -- all affirmations of life -- is huge.  You can check it out 
here:  http://docs.lib.duke.edu/igo/guides/ngo/db/a-e.asp

    Lists of Groups and Social Organizations that are affirmations of life:
             1.  Environment  
http://usparks.about.com/cs/environmentalorgs/a/conservationac.htm  and 
http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~brach/Ecology-WWW.html
             2.  Help Center -- Hurricane Katrina -- all life affirmaton  
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/katrina/help.center/
             3.  Local Mission Centers -- every city has organizations 
dedicated to helping the homeless -- life-affirmation
             
    Every thing that is not destructive of life is life affirming.  Television, 
especially PBS, can be very, very life affirming with it's information sharing, 
it's documentaries, it's music, it's dramatic programs,  etc.  Jesus!  Speaking 
of whom,  every festival both religious and secular is an affirmation of life.  
Every traffic light is an affirmation of life.  Every garbage truck is as well. 
 Every stray cat fed by a sympathetic person is an affirmation of life.  I 
could go on for days.  You amaze me.

    Mike Geary
    Memphis

Other related posts: