Message-ID: <199704060159.UAA07761@shell.monmouth.com> Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 20:59:57 -0500 From: Wilbur Streett <mailto:wstreett@MONMOUTH.COM> Subject: Re: Power Politics To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
At 11:01 AM 4/6/97 +1100, you wrote: >Hi Wilbur,
>
>If you feel that you have made your own life, and that you can attain
>any position in society that you choose - work hard and aim for the
>stars and all that, then you are fortunate. You are right to some extent
>that you have made the life you choose. This is not necessarily
>transferrable to the rest of the planet's population, however, because
>some are battling extraordinary odds.
Like I was..
>True, a lot of what holds people back is what's in their minds, and
>true, they can be seen to be largely responsible for keeping it in their
>minds, but on the other hand, unless you have experienced an existence
>where you were born without enough food and resources to gain the
>optimum benefits from your surroundings, have been told subtly and
>overtly since your first day on the planet that you will never rise
>above a certain level because you are
>black/female/ugly/poor/pacifistic/sensitive, or lived in a country where
>it is practically illegal to defend yourself, you will remain ignorant
>of the struggles that keep the majority of the world's people powerless
>and subject to the whims and fancies of the minority power mongers.
I was born to an enlisted man, and a woman that spent part of her childhood in a concentration camp. While my father's family had money, they gave none of it to him, preferring instead to give it all to his sister, and send him off to military school... I have suffered more misfortune then I'll ever share with you for a multitude of reasons.. and I'm still able to overcome those odds. That is only because I NEVER GAVE UP!
BTW, you don't know what country I came from, or what the color of my skin is.. or for that matter, what my sex is.
I have walked a mile in my own shoes.. and the truth is that the power is in the people, and that we decide our own lives.. just are you are deciding yours..
You are the one that chooses to believe that there is a "level" in society that you need to climb up.. the reality is that every life has it's positive and negative side. Most of the rich people that I know aren't very happy.
Wilbur
----------------------------------------- Putting a Human Face On Technology ;-) -----------------------------------------