From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Thu Jun 13 2002 - 20:24:18 MDT
E. Shaun Russell wrote:
> Alex Ramonsky wrote:
>
>> Rich fat westerners with blisters on their asses have not the scars
>> of those who've lived the other way; scars physical, mental and
>> emotional.
>> Now you know why I'm such a bad-tempered, paranoid old fart. : )
>> Ramonsky
>
>
> I might concede you the point that many (by no means all) Westerners
> have had it easy compared to other countries, but without sounding
> overly rude, I have to ask: "so what?" I will agree that I am fortunate
> to live in North America, and I don't really take it for granted; I may
> complain occasionally about Canadian politics, but faced with the option
> of having to live in Tunisia or Uganda, I certainly prefer my relatively
> "rich" and "fat" Western life.
>
> What I *don't* feel is guilty. It is true that in many other countries
> of the world the hardships are exponentially higher than in North
> America and Western Europe. But isn't that largely the "luck of the
> draw" when it comes to where one is born?
Well sure. But as I read it, the point of Alex's post was not
to instill guilt but to point out that drawing conclusions about
what is possible *globally* from only a very relatively well-off
perspective if fraught with difficulties. Especially if one
assumes those other poorer-than-dirt people are lazy, evil or
both. One has no choice about where one is born. But there is
choice in whether we own the task of bringing everyone up to a
good standard of living for participating and contributing today
and in the future. And there is a choice about how we see
others and what we assume.
> I really had no choice in
> where I was born --I would have chosen ten miles to the south of where I
> actually was so that I could be an American. But this Robin Hood
> mentality puts me off somewhat: am I a bad person because I haven't
> suffered as many hardships as a middle African or Eastern European?
No one said that so I don't see why you read it that way.
- samantha
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