Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd
Please read the Ten Steps above which talks about how to decrease that opportunity.
|
Well, I'm certainly glad that people like that are at least thinking about it. And some of those points are a good start. But I think we have problems that are more fundamental than things that can be fixed with a few policy changes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd
It *is* enough to get by. If you go to school and learn, you will get a job that pays you enough to survive. You probably won't become a millionaire, but you will get by.
|
Except that most poor people can't afford a decent education. And they don't have time to spend on high school because they're busy working to try and put food on the table. I'll agree that the American social system is more flexible than most, but it's hardly the representation of the Protestant work ethic that most people present it as.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd
Did you read the page about all his lies? That's what I call "simulation."
|
Moore did have some dubious information in Bowling for Columbine. But he didn't make up the fact that America has a lot of violent crimes. Maybe he exaggerated it. Maybe he didn't. But it's still there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd
How do you know that? Do hunter/gather societies keep books? I've taken my share of anthropology classes, and even hunter/gather apes murder each other sometimes.
|
They don't have books like we do. But we do have anthropologists who study these people. These societies also leave physical evidence of their activities. You can tell how a person died by looking at their remains, after all. The ethnographic literature and the fossil record are quite extensive at this point.
Now, their societies are by no means perfect. Is there some violence? Yes. But it's very limited, especially compared to the violence we have in America. First of all, most tribal fighting is targeted against a different tribe. That's not really the same as murder. It's more what we'd call a war. And even their wars are on a far lesser scale than ours. Do they have intertribal murders? I haven't read about any so far, but I suppose it's possible. It's just extremely rare. That's because you depend on others in the tribe for survival. It doesn't make sense to kill one of them. And if you do you probably won't be in the tribe much longer. That puts you in a very bad position as it's unlikely a person will last long on his own.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd
Hey, I'm not going to be able to come back for a couple days... but I will as soon as possible. Need to finish up some work since I've been spending too much time here
|
Boy, you've got a lot to learn about wasting your time.
mag
