HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bfrg9732@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Brian F. Redman)
Subject: The Contented Majority
Summary: Welfare for the rich and for the "haves."
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 00:48:53 GMT
Keywords: treachery trickery deceit deception


        The Tyranny of the Contented
        ============================

Review of an article in the September/October 1992 Utne Reader


---------------------------------------------------------------

The article begins by citing a statistic: In 1989, 12.8 percent 
of the American population was living below the official poverty 
line.

The article then turns its attention to those living *above* the 
official poverty line. "The income of this favored community, or 
much of it, is made relatively secure by a variety of public and 
private supports." Examples of such supports include Social 
Security, farm income supports, and "guarantees against loss 
because of the failure of financial institutions."

The article points out a moralistic hypocrisy in all this. "Where 
the impoverished are concerned, government support is seriously 
suspect because of its adverse effect on their morals and work 
ethic... [However] the conventional wisdom appears to be that the 
affluent can withstand the adverse moral effects of being 
subsidized by the government..."

According to the article this favored group, although not a 
majority of citizens, "...are dominant among those who actually 
vote: they are the contented majority... [This group] can be very 
angry and very articulate when it seems their state of self- 
satisfaction is invaded."


The article then lists what it sees as three basic 
characteristics of this "contented majority.":

1) They believe that they deserve their "success"; that what they 
possess is the product of their own "personal virtue, 
intelligence, and effort." This translates into a belief that the 
poor also deserve their lack of "success."

2) To this "contented majority," there is no real urgency in 
regards to public issues. "The cost of today's action falls or 
could fall on the contented community." This attitude prevails 
even if the *distant* consequences of inaction look alarming.

3) The poor must increasingly rely on the government for 
elemental services, whereas the "contented majority" has the 
economic power to obtain these services on their own, if 
necessary. This prompts the demand of this "contented majority" 
to "get government off the backs of the people."


The article concludes that "Because the contented are a majority 
[of the voting block], Democratic presidential candidates must be 
no less vigilant as to their desires than the Republicans. No 
action on behalf of the poor... can be taken without feeling the 
backlash of those comfortable Democrats opposed to higher 
taxation."

So, what about the rest? What about those who are not part of the 
contented electoral majority? "The Democrats pursue the same 
contented votes as the Republicans; accordingly, why bother to 
decide between them?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Synopsis/Review by Brian Redman
"Ah yes, Armageddon. I remember it well."
From: harelb@MATH.CORNELL.EDU (Harel Barzilai)
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: 3RD WORLD RESOURCES V8 N3: BOOKS: NICARAGUA
Date: 4 Sep 92 23:49:25 GMT


        The following is from the quarterly magazine, THIRD WORLD
        RESOURCES: A QUARTERLY REVIEW OF RESOURCES FROM AND ABOUT THE THIRD
        WORLD; subscriptions to the 24-page hardcopy edition are $35/year
        (organizations) and $35/two years (individuals). For rates outside
        North America, write to: Third World Resources, 464 19th Street,
        Oakland, CA 94612-2297 USA. See also their conference `twr.nl' on
        PeaceNet, or email to tfenton@igc.org (Tom Fenton) 
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Topic 123       BOOKS, 8:3 - 1992       Response 10 of 16 
tfenton 
twr.nl  11:09 am  Jul  8, 1992 
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

***<NICARAGUANS TALKING: CASE STUDY MATERIALS FOR SECONDARY  
SCHOOLS.> Duncan Green. Latin America Bureau, 1 Amwell St.,  
London EC1R 1UL, England. 1989. 133 pp. L4.95/$12. ISBN 0- 
906156-50-5. Photographs, graphs, charts, illustrations,  
list of resources, maps. 

Latin America Bureau has done educators a great service by  
publishing this workbook by Duncan Green that uses  
interviews, photographs, cartoons, and statistics to give  
14-16 year-old students a look at Nicaragua through the eyes  
of its inhabitants. 

Teachers can "dip into" nine self-contained sections to  
stimulate discussion of topics such as measuring  
development, North-South trade links, land reform, life  
under Somoza, the Sandinista revolution, and the history of  
U.S.-Nicaraguan relations. The book is ideal for geography  
and history classes. 

Although the workbook has some specific references to  
Britain, its many diverse learning activities will have a  
universal appeal. Teacher's aids within each section and  
word-boxes highlight and define new vocabulary. Materials in  
the spiral-bound workbook are free of copyright and thus can  
be photocopied  for classroom use. 

<Nicaraguans Talking> is entertaining as well as  
educational. The use of direct quotations encourages  
students to search for the truth by taking the side of a  
Nicaraguan peasant or an American general. A superb  
workbook! 
Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.politics.misc,soc.culture.latin-america
From: drm@esl.com (Don McGregor )
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: Re: Cuba nuke program
Date: 14 Sep 92 15:39:11 GMT
Reply-To: drm@esl.com

In article <65729@cup.portal.com> atfurman@cup.portal.com (A T Furman)  
writes:
>>There are also rumors of a split between reformers and hardliners in the  
>>ruling party. There have been recent dismissals of high-level officials,  
>>including Castro's son, who managed the Cuban nuclear program.
 
> Impossible.  You obviously haven't been reading Harel's posts.  Castro
> is the Messiah.  He would never even conceive of doing anything as
> ghastly as nuclear power.  It's all a myth concocted by Exxon and the
> Rockefellers.
> 
Let alone hire his son for a high-ranking government position.  Nah,  
there's no nepotism in the Socialist paradise.

--
Don McGregor
drm@esl.com
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: Re: Health care will-o-wisps
From: demon@desire.wright.edu (Stupendous Man)
Date: 4 Sep 92 13:50:11 EST
Organization: Demonic Possesions, Inc.

In article <dliebman.1cnu@terapin.com>, dliebman@terapin.com (David Liebman) writes:
> In article <1992Sep3.121449.3891@desire.wright.edu>, demon@desire.wright.edu
> (Stupendous Man)
> quotes discussion on the canadian health care system
> and then proceeds to assure us that:
>>
>>       The whole, entire point is that the Canadian style health care would
>>not work here in the US.
>>
>>       The US system needs reform, but the Canadian model isn't it.
> 
> if you have no additional data to present, if you have no further
> analysis, if you have no particular criticism, if you have nothing to
> offer us save a vapid reiteration of your initial assertions --

	I guess it's a good thing that the net doesn't exist to serve you, and
that you seem to be immune from your own advice, eh?

Brett                                                      
_______________________________________________________________________________
Proconsul Computer Consulting                                        CHA-CHING!
Better, Cheaper, Faster					       (Pick any two :)
Disclaimer:								   NOT!
From: Eugene McElroy <emcelroy@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Date: 08 Sep 92 14:25 PDT
Subject: Discrim. in N.Ireland
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1296500343:000:1515
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!emcelroy    Sep  8 14:25:00 1992


From: Eugene McElroy <emcelroy>
Subject: Discrim. in N.Ireland

            Religious Bias Rises In Northern Ireland
                             ******

     Recently published figures show that religious
discrimination in Northern Ireland is rising again. Male
Catholics are now 2.6 times likely to be unemployed as
Protestants--back to the position they had in 1971, after a
period of slight improvement.
     The male youth unemployment rate, which is high for
protestant workers at 19.6 percent, is double for Catholics with
a staggering rate of 39 percent in the 16-25 age group. Catholics
are only half as likely as Protestants to be in managerial or
professional jobs, and are over-represented in semi and unskilled
manual labor.
     To challenge discrimination, the government in 1989
introduced a new 'Fair Employment Act' which offers high levels
of compensation to workers who have been discriminated against.
     In a recent case Mary Duffy, a temporary laundry worker who
was refused employment because of discrimination secured 25,000
pounds sterling in compensation for injury to feelings. This is
the largest amount ever awarded under this heading.
                             ******
taken from Labour Research
          August 1992. Vol. 81, Number 8.

LR is available from:
                               LRD
                       78 Blackfriars Road
                    London, England  SE1 8HF
                            ********

for further info on Ireland in Peacenet, see reg.ireland.

Newsgroups: alt.activism,alt.individualism,alt.pagan
From: monstman@bluemoon.rn.com (Kevin A. Keefe)
Subject: Ohio Ethnic Intimidation Law
Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[024])
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 92 22:31:12 EDT

Ethnic Intimidation Law
loel@bluemoon.rn.com (Loel Larzelere) 04 Sep 92 07:06:27 EDT writes:
>
>orson@bluemoon.rn.com (Craig Smith) writes:
>>
>>>   COLUMBUS, Ohio (UPI) -- The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled the
>>>state's ethnic intimidation law is unconstitutional because it is
>>>an infringement of the right of free speech.
>>>
>>> <Lots deleted ...>
>>>
>>Okay, but then the question comes down to, "what is the intent of
>>a cross burner?" To intimidate, yes? Are their laws against
>>intimidation? Yes, there are. Existing laws will suffice.
>> 
>>It seems extremely odd to me that those who write and support
>>these "hate crime" laws are the same people who say that you cannot 
>>legislate morality.  Is not racism a moral question?
>> 
>>Double standard, is it not?
>>
>You miss part of the point.  The same people who write these
>"thought crime laws", along with being the same people who say
>you can't legislate morality (or at least not traditional
>morality) are also the same folks who wish to ban firearms at
>any cost.
>
>Part of what they wish to accomplish with laws of this nature
>is to make it extremely easy to 'slip up' and inadvertantly
>perform a felony, and thereby lose your right to keep and bear
>arms for your _personal_ defense.
>
>It makes them quake in their paranoid boots that somebody who
>doesn't agree with them should have _any_ power over them, whether 
>it be the power to enforce the peaceful enjoyment of thier home,
>the power to keep another from looting their household, or the
>power to change the legislature at the voting booth.
>
>Probably makes them paranoid that someone should hold an opinion
>that is different from theirs.  But heck, this is what this
>Republic is all about ...
>
>Remember ... bigots vote, and probably with greater frequency than
>the peace and harmony crowd.
>
Man...talk about paranoid...you are one weird dude, loel.
 
You've got much nerve to call the peace and harmony crowd paranoids.
You are the one who exibits extreme paranoia.
 
Wake up dude - the number one group promoting gun control are
the police.
 
I'm one of the peace and harmony crowd and I DON'T support gun
control. I wish the right to bear arms, if for no other reason
than to protect myself from facist assholes like YOU.
 
You don't know diddly-squat about "The Republic." Why don't
you take the bullshit to another .sig and leave the REAL
activists alone?
 
BTW, this week marks the beginning of the third year of the
National Gun Control Act. Happy anniversary!
 

Kevin A. Keefe                 Politically Correct, and damn proud of it!
monstman@bluemoon              "Only two things are infinite, the universe
monstman@bluemoon.uucp          and human stupidity, and I'm not sure
monstman%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com  about the former." - Albert Einstein
Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.environment,alt.save.the.earth
From: greenie@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: ANOTHER Live Online Conference
Date: 10 Sep 92 19:38:18 -0500
Organization: Carnegie Mellon Computer Club

Sorry about the last blunder... I got my wires crossed.  Here's the blurb
on the next conference...

----------------

I'm posting this message for the Conference Hosts;

The IDS World Network will be holding a "live", CB-Simulator chat conference
on the 1992 election and the candidates.  Topics currently being considered
include The Economy, Healthcare, Education, Family Values, Abortion, and
"World Leadership Role".


The *NEXT* discussion will be on Friday, September 11th, from 7:00 PM 
EST to 8:30 PM EST.  The topic will be: "The Economy"

We invite everyone to participate.  CB Chat discussions on the IDS World
Network are completely free.

To reach the IDS World Network, TELNET to ids.net [155.212.1.2].  If you have
an account already, you're all set, although you can apply for one by signing
on with GUEST as a username.

That's September 11th, 7PM EST on the IDS World Network CB Simulator.
telnet ids.net [155.212.1.2]
From: dean@vexcel.com (Dean Alaska)
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: Re: The Crimes of Nicaragua (II)
Date: 10 Sep 92 14:48:43 GMT
Organization: VEXCEL Corporation, Boulder, CO

In article <1992Sep9.184510.15710@iti.org> aws@iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) writes:
>In article <1992Sep8.055032.4328@vexcel.com> dean@vexcel.com (Dean Alaska) writes:
>
>>> During the revolution the Sandinista movement has widespread participation  
>>>  from all sectors of the population, inlcuding the middle classes and  
>>>  smaller business enterprises.  After the revolution the Sandinista party  
>>>  lurched Left and purged itself of more moderate elements.  The Sandinista  
>>>  movement of 1978 and the Sandinista movement of circa 1984 were very  
>>>  different creatures.
>
>>I agree with this, but I don't think these points are in contention.  A lurch
>>to the left that is supported by the majority is not a totalitarian
>>situation.
>
>We don't know how the majority felt about this. This all happened years
>before there where any elections.
>
>Let's compare the Sandinista and American revolutions:
>
>The actions of the Sandinistas cannot be regarded as the actions of
>a group committed to democracy. Indeed, many of their public statements
>indicated they regarded elections as 'window dressing' for world opinion.
>
>If there is any doubt, just compare their actions with the US or any
>country which recently transitioned to democracy.
>
>  Allen
>-- 
>+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>| Allen W. Sherzer | "If they can put a man on the Moon, why can't they     |
>|  aws@iti.org     |  put a man on the Moon?"                               |
>+----------------------227 DAYS TO FIRST FLIGHT OF DCX----------------------+

I have never said the Sandinista revolution was a perfect 
model.  I have been trying to straighten out the record so that the
_relative_ strengths and weaknesses can be assesed.  There is no doubt
that the American revolution was very different.  Some points do need
to be made:

	1) The wonderful elections in the US after the revolution did not
	include women or blacks.  As such, our elections were not any more
	representative than Nicaragua's in 1984 and not too much more
	representative than non-elections in 1980.

	2) The loser in the revolutionary war was fairly graceful in
	accepting defeat.  This made it much easier to permit
	loyalists full participation.  Had the British started a
	covert terrorist war, I would bet the loyalists would not have been
	accepted so easily.

	3) The US revolution left most of the power structure intact.
	Only the very top was removed.  The Nicaraguan revolution
	intended to make much more significant changes to remove
	a feudalist system.  Conditions
	in the US in 1787 would have been much different if the
	common artisan, farmer and merchant were rebelling aginst
	England _and_ the local eiltes.
-- 

		dingo in boulder	(dean@vexcel.com)
Xref: sparky alt.activism:16145 talk.politics.misc:44702 news.admin:7552
From: rchilder@us.oracle.com (Richard Childers)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.politics.misc,news.admin
Subject: Re: In GATT They Trust (II)
Date: 11 Sep 92 00:52:24 GMT
Organization: Memes-R-Us
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.

kd1hz@anomaly.sbs.risc.net (Michael P. Deignan, PhD-to-be) writes:

>Welp, here's an article which I've found, posted to at least *6*
>newsgroups (which I've found sofar.) 
>
>But, not just posted once, mind you, to six newsgroups - posted several
>times (i.e. multiple copies on your news filesystem), each with a different
>Newsgroups: line - clearly in an attempt to decieve people from knowing
>how many newsgroups the article is really cross-posted to.
>
>Given that this individual is constantly misrepresenting facts regarding
>MAP, and has lied to everyone on the net as to "reducing crossposting",
>I ask the rhetorical question: How can we believe anything he posts?

Because although he is biased he does not appear to be dishonet.

Unlike those of his detractors who stoop to the most trivial of reasons
to criticize Harel, I find Harel's postings, while redundant, to be well
below the threshold at which I become intolerant. ( Of couse, I think the
B-CPU crowd could have received more tolerance, too. I guess I'm just
tolerant of opposition ... I'll probably be first against the wall for
holding such an opinion. :-)

-- richard			( yet another self-educated HS dropout :-)

-- 
=====
-- richard childers		rchilder@us.oracle.com		1 415 506 2411
         oracle data center  --  unix systems & network administration
                    Klein flask for rent. Inquire within.
From: silvers3@husc8.harvard.edu (Jolyon Silversmith)
Newsgroups: alt.activism,soc.college,talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: The Big Lie (PC)
Date: 9 Sep 92 01:04:02 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Sep8.210403.15477
Organization: Harvard University Science Center

In article <1992Sep8.184804.28505@oracle.us.oracle.com> mfriedma@uucp (Michael Friedman) writes:
>
>>POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: What it really means. 
>
>>Grabbing the mantle of free speech to  
>>champion the right of punks to hurl words like "nigger" is to  
>>profane the purpose and spirit of free speech.  
>
>Just wanted to focus in on this little bit.
>
>If free speech doesn't cover words like "nigger" then where, exactly,
>are the limits?  Perhaps anything that Harel thinks is fascist, for
>example the Republican party platform?

This is exactly why the ACLU is (or should be) an advocate of permitting
all forms of speech. Unfortunately, both the right and many factions on
the left take he position detailed above, that they can tell what is
acceptable speech when they see it. This logic doesn't work for pornography
(sorry, a new and controversial issue for this thread) and it doesn't work
here.

However... The ACLU is now involved in an internal conflict over whether to
continue to defend the nebulous area of "hate speech," whatever that is.
Many of the members of the national board do not think so. I think that
reducing this commitment would undercut thye fundamental premise of the ACLU,
that to endanger any aspect of a right endangers it as a wholeThis outcome
is by no means certain, so if you're a member of the ACLU, please tell them
what you think!

-- 
Jolyon A. Silversmith __________________________________________________________
silvers3@husc.harvard.edu            President             "Eternal Vigilance is
Mather House 100              ACLU of Harvard College      the Price of Liberty"
Cambridge, MA 02138 ____________________________________________________________
From: atfurman@cup.portal.com (A T Furman)
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: Re: NYC HA & HUD & CRIME
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 02:35:47 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)

>Tenants feel that HUD winks as money given to the NYC HA is misused.
>HUD employee whistleblowers say "while advising President Bush on the
>Federal Budget, Secretary Kemp mismanages his own." "DIGEST,
>INSPECTOR GENERAL'S REPORT TO CONGRESS NUMBER 27", is a scathing
>indictment of HUD. The digest states "Areas of fraud and
>mismanagement in Multifamily Housing Programs include contracting
>improprieties, embezzlement, bribery, and extortion by HUD employees,
>local officials .... six organized crime figures who were indicted
>after they received $23 million in HUD-funded contracts from the New
>York City Housing Authority using a debarred contractor who set up a
>shell company to obtain contracts."

Egad!  Harrumph!  Corruption in a socialist system!

This is a job for...



         M I K H A I L   G O R B A C H E V ! ! ! 



:->


    Alan T. Furman         | VOTE LIBERTARIAN!!  Marrou/Lord in 92!!
---------------------------+----------------------------------------
  atfurman@cup.portal.sig  |   (800)682-1776 for more information
From: NLG Civil Liberties Committee <cberlet@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Date: 06 Sep 92 19:35 PDT
Subject: Re: Lyndon LaRouche & the Liberty L
Nf-ID: #R:QFS-fv@engin.umich.edu:1034962224:cdp:1296500335:000:1532
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!cberlet    Sep  6 19:35:00 1992



The Rev. James Bevel was brought up as proof that LaRouche could not be a 
fascist. Bevel was indeed an early civil rights leader, but in recent years he
has become very opportunistic. I interviewed him in Chicago when he was being
paraded arounded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon people for his support of CAUSA,
their anti-communist group active in South and Central America. The noted
African-American columnist and academic, Manning Marable, denounced Bevel for
his alliance with fascists. Bevel began working with LaRouche several years ago.   To argue that a group cannot be racist because it has Black supporters, or
cannot be anti-Jewish because it has Jewish members, is to mistake heredity for
politics. Blood line does not determine politics, that's the argument of
eugenicists and Nazis. Biological determinism is the term. Kahane was a fascist
even though he was Jewish. What made that true was his politics of scapegoating.   What many people see in LaRouche are the promises he makes for the "average"
person. Keep an eye on which groups are scapegoated by LaRouche, which persons
populate his vast conspiracies. Key to his schemes are scapegoating of the British monarchy and Jewish banking families. It should sound familiar to anyone
who has studied the European or American fascist movements. Anglophobia and
Anti-semitism (anti-Jewish myths) are core beliefs in fascist theory in the
Eurocentric branch of the ideology, just as anti-Korean and anti-Chinese
bigotry were central to the Japanese variant.
-Chip Berlet