Rob (Thu, 29 May 2003 22:11:02 -0500) quoted: > >From http://www.davidbrin.com/privacyarticles.html : > > Carrying this theme forward is another (and more carefully written) Futurist > essay pointing out that citizens themselves were the most effective elements > of our civilization's defense on 9/11. The only actions that actually saved > lives and thwarted terrorism on that awful day were taken amid rapid, ad hoc > decisions made by private individuals, reacting with both resiliency and > initiative -- our finest traits. Could this point to a trend for the 21st > Century, reversing what we've seen throughout the 20th... the ever-growing > dependency on professionals to protect and guide and watch over us?
I agree, when I came to Canada in 1973 I was appalled to find out I had to file an itinerary of where I was going to be while camping / canoeing at the Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/. Imagine, me coming from a thirld world country where when you go out to the boonies, you take full responsibility for what you're doing (that included having weapons with you in case of attacks by wild animals or "bandidos"). The latter would be subject to being taken to court for shooting (in both cases) a wild animal in this Northern Civilized Society. Naturally I understand the wardens would go out to find me if I didn't reach a specific point by the time I said I'd be there. But my point is if you are not willing or are not capable of taking responsibility, you have no business being there, stay home and watch TV while drinking beer and eating chips! How many times have you seen somebody in the subway being molested in some way while eveybody just looks away hoping a cop will show up? I have intervened on one occasion where a lady was being fondled, by stomping on the guy's feet and saying "oops, I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" while she would move out of the way. We have in fact delegated our safety to others and if we take matters in our own hands we risk being labelled "vigilantes" and going to jail for it. I remember a trip I made from Toronto to Los Angeles. I was in a real hurry so I decided to get a CB to listen in to reports of where the highway patrol traps were. What I didn't know was that there existed a CBetiquette which I didn't follow and without elaborating further got me into trouble with one of the truck drivers -- and he and his buddies didn't have anything pleasant in stock for me. It is only when I reached Oklahoma City that I decided to head south to Texas to buy a shotgun (IIRC the only state at the time 1980, where you could do that without licensing requirements). I took route 100 (I think) which got me past Carlsbad back to Arizona where I again came across my new "friends" and after prominently displaying my acquisition to the truckers as I passed them by, the CB promptly started warning "hey Billy Joe, you better call this thing off, the California Kid is going to stand his ground." The point of this story is that at every possible police station they invariably told me that there was nothing they could do, that threats did not constitute physical harm or intentions thereof -- their hands were tied -- only if I was actually beaten to a pulp or killed would they be able to do something, duh! So I did something myself, even though I could still have been beaten to a pulp or gotten killed. > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2945900.stm > > Two flight attendants are being treated in hospital after being attacked by > a man with a sharpened wooden implement on board a domestic flight in > Australia. > Australian Transport Minister John Anderson said that the man, in his 40s, > had headed towards the cockpit and threatened to crash the plane. [...snip...] http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id=A6D4E1BD-1C3B-4798-A55E-727446651CDA or http://makeashorterlink.com/?L131522C4 "A former Canadian soldier helped foil an Australian airline hijacking yesterday, tackling a man armed with a pair of wooden stakes, then giving injured staff and passengers first aid. Derek Finlay, a former member of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, launched himself at the hijacker as he repeatedly stabbed a flight attendant." [...] If I understood the message "Could this point to a trend for the 21st Century, reversing what we've seen throughout the 20th..." the above, from a different source, would add credence to that statement. It seems however that Americans are shooting themselves in the foot by allowing TIA, Patriot, and all the other either quasi- or totally-fascist measures, that have been discussed in other threads, to take effect. Oooh, and I'm forgetting the pacifists as well, i.e. the lobby against guns. Remember, it's not guns that kill people, it's people that kill people. Of course I don't condone the idea that if somebody rapes your daughter you should go out on a shooting spree to get the guy. Or do I? It eventually becomes very confusing because on the one hand we want the rule of law to prevail, yet sometimes that same rule does not equate to *justice*. Sounds like "Catch-22" to me. Have a great weekend! Cheers! -- Han Tacoma ~ Artificial Intelligence is better than none! ~ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
