[extropy-chat] Re: riots in France

[Jack Parkinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dirk Bruere
To: Jack Parkinson
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 5:11 PM
On 11/9/05, Jack Parkinson <isthatyoujack at icqmail.com> wrote:
Dirk wrote:
>>So, who blew up the trains?
>>Was it little old white ladies?
>>However, I think I can stand behind the statement that 'not a single Black
>>citizen bombed the trains in London'.

>>>Any statement that begins: 'All Moslems/blacks/Irish/Poles... (insert
>>> favorite despised minority here) is just a confession of personal
>>> prejudice, bigotry and ignorance...

>>Well, death to your straw man - because I didn't say 'all'.
Dirk

>>No, you didn't - but if you meant your comments to be restricted to the
>>actual perpetrators rather than the groups they (putatively) represent -
>>then you phrased your critique pretty badly.

>The average Moslem is as much to blame for what's happening as the average 
>Communist was to >blame for the excesses of Communism. Or the average 
>Fascist to blame for the excesses of >Fascism.
>How's that?
Dirk

Yes. That sounds good. Since the average communist/fascist was not at all to 
blame for the excesses of those regimes. And I would bet that the average 
Moslem around the world also knows nothing about the riots in France - or 
even that Moslems live in France in any significant numbers...

Average people are rarely to blame anywhere for anything in fact - except in 
sometimes being too passive. In the (admittedly disputed) maxim attributed 
to Edmund Burke:  'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that 
good men do nothing'.

All excess is by definition an aberration from the average. All radical 
polarization of thought, opinion and practice is also NOT average by 
definition. Terrorism, violence, murder etc are also NOT average - these are 
extremes of the human experience.

Average people are ok. They are good citizens. They educate their kids, 
mostly uphold the law, and mostly pay their taxes. But God help any 
government that thinks it can get away with nominating a section of the 
community as the permanent sub-average the rest of society can exploit. 
Sooner or later they will bite the hand that claims to be feeding them.

That 'hand,'- is all those people who say that poverty wages are better than 
no wages, a leaky roof is better than no roof, no proper medical treatment 
is still better than being dead. In France it is the second-class 
pseudo-citizenship of the North African 'inexpulsables.' Those who cannot be 
legally expelled or deported - but who are definitely unwanted - except as a 
source of cheap labor.

Denying these people equality of education, social status and job 
opportunity is just lighting the fuse - trouble must come as sure as night 
follows day..
Jack Parkinson