Joe, You believe in an idealized and rather naive view of society. The truth is much different, controlled mainly by special interests for their own benefit with benefits to the rest of society only sufficient to quell revolt...
Always has been such to greater or lesser degree and likely always will be... Edgar On Dec 11, 2012, at 11:01 AM, Joe wrote: > RAF, > > I disagree with your "simply" statement. I find it simplistic. > > In a DEMOCRATIC society -- which India is -- a social contract among the > people establishes a constitution and a government. The imposition of taxes > and even taking of lands as "eminent domain" for social purposes is a > function of Legislature. Such taking did not happen in the case of the lands > that were given for occupation by the Untouchables, which you feel impressed > by. I am also impressed by the donors' generosity (or motivation by guilt; > or, worse, income- or real-estate-tax-avoidance incentive). > > But, now, I know that people directly connected with tax payments and takings > often feel ripped-off, and say they do, but they forget in that instance > about the social contract. And, I claim so do you when you write... > > > ...TAKEN by the government, which is simply THEFT > > It's a small point, which I extract from your appreciative comment about a > small piece of Subhana's teisho, but I think it betrays a mis-understanding > of the social contract on your part, or else you are letting your personal > anger about something take center-stage. Do you listen to a lot of pot-boiler > AM radio in daytime in USA? Does hatred and lack of understanding of the > social contract pollute all the *rest* of your "politics", too? It's an > important point, RAF. To consider. Not to expound upon here, however. > > You think you are an Individual, but in fact you are also a member of Society. > > All this leads back to Zen practice, you know, and -- we hope -- to Awakening! > > With wishes, > > --Joe > > -> R A Fonda <rafonda@...> wrote: > > > > Joe, > > > > I was very impressed by this: > > > > > By the time Vinoba had reached the conference, two thousand acres had > > been given back to the poorest villagers. Inspired by Vinoba's work, > > Vimala also walked across India from east to west and north to south and > > eventually ten million acres of land was given back to the landless poor > > without a single hand from the bureaucracy. < > > > > Two important factors here: > > > > The land was FREELY GIVEN, which is a true act of compassion > > > > The land was not TAKEN by the government, which is simply THEFT > > > > Too many people consider themselves compassionate because they are > > willing to empower the government to steal from some to give to others > > they consider more deserving. > > > > I concede that some people deserve to have assets confiscated because > > they stole from others. For instance, Jon Corzine stole some of my > > hard-earned retirement funds, but since he is a crony and fund-raiser > > for Obama, not one penny of his ill-gotten gains have been taken for the > > benefit of those he victimized; he remains a billionaire and has never > > even been charged with a crime. If I could take his money and distribute > > it to those from whom he stole, I would do so, but that would simply be > > justice. To feel so 'compassionate' toward the poor that I help to > > empower the government to steal money from productive people to give to > > others is neither justice nor compassion. > >
