My mother was born on the reservation in North Carolina....an Eastern Cherokee. I thought I might share that information with you so that you might better understand why I often make comparisons to what other oppressed peoples have had to endure at the hands of the Imperialists as you mention. I make the statements that I make in this regard with a full UNDERSTANDING of what it is like to be on the receiving end so to speak because I happen to know the historical facts in this instance.
I don't look at abuse in terms of degree any more than I look at evil in such a way. It all is abuse... and it all is evil when not done with the directive to do unto others PRECISELY what you would desire them to do unto you. If you don't treat people the way that you like to be treated then you are what I term A SPACE INVADER! If you try to impose your will upon another... you are in fact invading their space which is also known as trespassing. It is wrong because you would not want anyone trespassing on your will. To me.. poverty is both imposed and accepted... it is a give and take situation. I have been EXTREMELY poor... poor enough to where I was eating what was being thrown away by others. Sometimes eating the garbage of the wealthy was some of my best eating... lol. I have now... for the past 10 years been living far below the US poverty standards for a family of three with a total monthly income of $600. That is $200 per person monthly. However... I am not poor... I don't feel poor... don't act poor... and do not live like a pauper because I have learned to become so self sufficient that what others would consider unworkable in terms of income is more than enough for me to have extra to share with those even less fortunate than I. I raise MOST of my own food... live off the grid... utilize solar and wind power as well as the abundant natural resources available in the wilderness of the North Cascades Mountains in which I live and have raised my son. I homeschool my boy and care for a disabled husband. If I lived in the city... I would not be able to live as abundantly as I am able to now. I count my blessings that I have so very much to be thankful for when there are so many that have so very much less than I. At least I am not getting shot at or bombed at this time. Poverty is also a state of mind. If I had to imagine who were being the MOST abused people on the planet at this time.. it would not be the communists or socialists but Africans... Palestinians... and Iraqis because they are being murdered en-mass for simply living in a geographic location that is sought after by various agendas. They are being murdered not even for their beliefs but where they live. But... like I said before... I tend not to focus on who is getting the worst of a raw deal but rather that there are those getting a raw deal PERIOD. What I can do it to not support this type of activity and certainly refuse to engage in it myself. Norma J F Harrison wrote: yes, and so are you and I. It's not everyone but us who is being abused by imperialism. Especially abused are the communists, the socialists, whatever their nationality or etc. THE poor makes it sound like it's genetic - Poverty is an imposed condition, imposed by capitalism, which is not a victimless crime. THE lame, THE old, THE marginalized - nuh unh We is us, not the and them. -- "People whose lives are barren and insecure seem to show a greater willingness to obey than people who are self-sufficient and self-confident. To the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint. They are eager to barter their independence for relief of the burdens of willing, deciding and being responsible for inevitable failure. They willingly abdicate the directing of their lives to those who want to plan, command and shoulder all responsibility." ~Eric Hoffer “The True Believer” http://www.cosmicrose.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/XgSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ----- / o o \ ===OO=====OO============================================= (4)Portals (2)News Wikis (2)Conferences - No BuSHIT! Start here: http://pnews.org/ (On Internet since 1982) http://pnews.org/PhpWiki/ (West Coast News Wiki) http://g0lem.net/PhpWiki/ (East Coast News Wiki) ========================================================= FIGHT THE RIGHT! ================== Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rhetoric-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
