From: Arjen Kamphuis (mountain@knoware.nl)
Date: Mon Aug 25 1997 - 16:40:49 MDT
Gee whiz, that sure stirred up something...
At some point I had the nerve to write:
>> Maybe it would be worthwhile to try to break the armrace between a number
>> of citizens and American law-enforcement agencies.
>
> that would be fine, arjen, but the fact of the matter is that
> all the cases that WaxYack or whatever his name is mentioned
> -- ruby ridge, waco, gordon kahl (i am quite familiar with all
> the above), as well as many he didn't mention -- move being the
> one that comes to mind firt ... were all US Gov't "show cases".
>
> the fact of the matter is, none of the above incidents were
> precipitated by violence on the part of those which eventually
> got immolated.
Really??? Hmmm... OK I guess I'll just have to look into this, if what you
say is true: any idea why US-cops are so trigger-happy?
> your suggestion that "if americans got rid of their guns the
> gov't would have no reason to crack down on gun owners" is
> tantamount to saying that "if uppity women don't insist on their
> right to vote than the gov't won't have to crack the heads of
> suffragettes."
I do not think that is what I meant, but in an arms-race everybody suffers
a lot and the person that evetually loses, loses big-time (ask any Russian
economist).
> i respect that the dutch don't own personal firearms. i'm
> glad that it works for you. i wager to guess that there are
> a large number of other differences between your country and
> the USA. i suspect that looking at those differences will
> give you an idea of the REAL causes of crime, and why the USA
> suffers so much.
That is certainly very true. For instance: over here people drive like
crazy (another way to get rid of their agression?), not very smart in a
country with a Pop.density of 1000+/Sq Mi. We have a LOT of traffic
accidents. I've been in three serious ones myself (could also relate to my
way of riding my ATB ;-).
In response to Den Otters 'rant' (learn a new word every day):
The Dutch judicial system pisses me off on a regular bases too, but if gun
ownership in Holland is ever made 'free' I'll be taking a very long
vacation to a safer place like Cambodia or Afghanistan or such since most
Dutch folks are as clued up on firearms as my goldfish is on Post-Kantian
ethics (not that I own a goldfish, but you get thet point). After six
months or so our unemployment-rate should be nil, as well as our housing
shortage.
>The immigrants are responsible for a disproportionally great percentage of
>crimes (what a surprise!) according to recently published police statistics
A (yeah yeah - pinko)suggestion (sorry I have to say this):
What if you relate Crime-rate to average income (immigrants are on average
very poor by dutch standards)? Might be interesting. Rich people generally
don't commit violent crimes - they have too much to lose.
>(there was quite a fuss about this, because the results weren't
>"politically correct". The sanctimonious Dutch are *very* squeamish when
>it comes to "ethnic issues", maybe even more than you guys...)
This is what is known as our "Anne Frank Syndrome". The genocide on Jews in
holland was more effective than in any other country (exept Poland) because
Holland was such a neatly organized country. Of the 125.000 Jews living in
Holland less than 10.000 survived the war. Ever since then being called a
'racist' or 'nazi' means instant social death in Holland.
Thank's to John Clark, I couldn't have said it better myself.
In spite of many things (not least of wich is the 60% income tax) I
wouldn't trade my Dutch passport for any other in the world. Hey, Den wanna
come over for a beer or something?
But all the political stuff aside, I suspect many Americans want to hold-on
to their guns because they just LOVE shooting them. And (suprise, suprise,
against better judgement) I must agree. On a few occassions I have had the
pleasure of blasting away with an AK-47 (Pakistan), two Clock's
(Switserland) and an M-16 (Wisconsin). Yes, it's fun. It's primitive.. but
I can't deny it.
We could say a lot more about this, but I think maybe we should do it off
the list and make some room for more hard science (where on earth do y'all
find the time to write all this stuff?).
Just to warm some 'All American' hearts (but no less sincere!)
Thank you America:
For doing in Bosnia what Europe should have done in '93
For Winning the Cold War for us
For paying for that (Well, 90% anyway)
For ending a World War (1945)
For ending a World War (1918)
For the Wright Brothers
For the Telephone
For kicking England out of America (Ha! serves them right for stealing
manhattan from the Dutch ;-)
Don't abolish the US state yet, whimpy European politicians need it to sort
out their mess every 20 years or so.
Greetings,
Arjen Kamphuis
Utrecht - Holland
<Mountain@knoware.nl>
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