From: rrp@cbnewsg.cb.att.com (rakesh.r.patel)
Subject: Re: Interracial Dating, ABCD's, and Dissension
Organization: AT&T
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 14:22:56 GMT

In article <1k2tdu$iul@agate.berkeley.edu> mvij@ocf.berkeley.edu (Manish Vij) writes:
>Rakesh R. Patel writes:
>
>>There is no school like the School of Hard Knocks.
>
>The school of hard knocks is great for teaching you how to survive.  It
>will embitter you, harden your heart, close your mind, and yes, protect
>you.  Precisely the opposite of my ideal human being.  This school will
>teach day-to-day life, not ideals.  I cherish my ideals even as I ignore
>them temporarily while not being able to carry them out: Simon &
>Garfunkel had a great line,
>
>    And every dream comes back to me
>    In shades of mediocrity...

Baap Re! Manish. Stop telling me what others say. What do you Manish?

>Wise coexist in peace.  Let me
>leave it at that most basic level.  This requires tolerance, which requires
>understanding, which requires open-mindedness, which requires humanistic
>(not skills) education to undo the prejudices inculcated in people by
>those around them. 

Let me tell you, as long as there are differences in people, male, female,
young, old, black, white, rich, poor, tall, short, fat, skinny, bald,
full head of hair, conservatives, liberals, idealists, nihilists, or
whatever, there will always be some group who thinks they are getting the
short end of the stick. It is stupid to hope for parity for all of mankind
(humankind for the easily offended) because it will never happen. We
can hope for at least some semblance of fairness at never stop fighting
for it. The important thing, is the struggle - out of the struggle comes
great art, science - and unfortunately great destruction and pain. That is
the human cycle. Being a good Hindu :), I believe in Dharma. I suppose I
didn't get enough of Erasmus :)
 
>>I don't think anyone has to be taught equality of man. It is just an innate
>>feeling. If one has to be taught equality, what a shame.
>
>Bullshit.  I would never have suspected such idealism from you.
>
>If children were left alone, fine.  But children are taught
>prejudices and intolerance.  Teaching equality is an unteaching of unreasoning
>hatreds.

If you have to teach morality and ethics so diligently, we are lost.

>Listen to what I am saying.  I never said only liberal arts students are
>educated.  If solidly math/science students learn other than math/science
>on their own, they too are educated.

My little cousin playing in the sandbox knows all about ethics and morality
and kindness from playing with the other kids. I don't need some dead poet
to teach me a universal truth.

I don't what to argue over the definition of education.
 
>I am saying that people who do not learn any human-ness, whether in class
>or out of class, are uneducated, because the non-human subjects are skills.
>That is a definition.  You may disagree with the definition, but I would
>love to see you prove that the study of history is a skill while the study
>of IC design is a wisdom.

Study of history is like reading a story. Bunch of dates and a lot of dead
guys. You read into it what the author wants you to read. Don't get me 
wrong, I love history - no better soap opera around - but if you are saying
that history will teach me some great truth - I don't think so. I don't 
differentate between IC design or history. I read and make of it what I 
want, with the help of the author - off course.  Besides, don't you know
history is written by the victors?
 
>By the way, if you EVEN try to classify me as a long-haired Cal dreamer,
>you can take my PRACTICAL BS-and-MBA short-hair-required application software
>business-in-two-years and shove it down your throat.

What happen to all that idealism?? Shanti, Shanti, my dear Manish! :)

I hope I don't see you TV in a few years bitching about too many illegal
immigrants, or how the government is taxing the shit out hard working guys
like you and giving all the money to the poor and homeless, etc.

Om Shanti,

Rakesh Patel
Newsgroups: alt.culture.us.asian-indian