CNN.com on Remailers

Blanc blancw at cnw.com
Thu Dec 20 02:12:19 PST 2001


>From Sunder:

"Certainly power does corrupt, but you've got to think that at one point in
their lives before they became G men, they had it in mind that they were
doing something good and wholesome in working for Uncle Sam, and
protecting Americans and the American Way of Life (as defined by the
Declaration of Independance, the Bill of Rights, etc.)"
-------------------

They may have had noble motivations and ends in mind, but there are
problems:

Just because they have sworn to obey and protect doesn't mean they read or
actually understood the Declaration, the Constitution, or the Bills.  Even
if they had Goodness For All in mind when they took up their public roles,
it doesn't mean that they would know how these ideas look in action, what
the right methods are of applying these principles.  They may only have a
vague idea of the reason for these documents' creation, of the events
surrounding them, or of the reasons and cause for the creation of this new
nation.

These things, and the concepts in these documents, are not well studied in
public schools, and when 'G men' and such others take up their jobs, they
are not required to study them thoroughly or demonstrate an understanding of
their meaning.  Furthermore, there are other influences at work in the minds
of people which can affect their translation of these documents - influences
like religions which motivate & convince individuals to go beyond the
politically allowed boundaries in order to try to make people become "good"
against their will, or like philosophies which would provide an
interpretation of "propriety" that is counter to what is in these founding
documents (as in the pursuit personal happiness).  When philosophies and
religions (not to mention mental limitations like those exhibited by
you-know-who) clash with the political philosophy in the Constitution, and
especially when none of these things are well examined, but only vaguely
held, there is bound to result all sorts of contradictory distortions in the
applications of the lofty ideals.

You would think it should be a simple thing to leave others alone and make a
valid stand against injustice, but the problems of haphazard education, the
lack of serious consideration of these ideals, as well as the other elements
mentioned, create complexity and inconsistencies, as well as disrespect,
which are difficult to overcome even with the guidance from Wise Men of Old.
And nothing can replace an active intelligence and educated sensitivity,
important ingredients for maintaining reality in the present, even in a
"free" world full of program manuals from the past.

  ..
Blanc





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