"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in news:E9OdndpoQ8FseQ3VnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:
That's also true, but it doesn't negate what I said. The two are not mutually exclusive. There are probably many additional variations on the general theme, and combinations thereof, as well. I don't ever pretend that I'm writing some sort of comprehensive thesis - that simply can't be done in a venue such as this, even if one *is* an expert/scholar in the particular topic being discussed - I only try to offer one or a few examples of whatever I'm trying to illustrate, as thougt experiments and/or points to consider.
Sure there are men like that. There are plenty who beleive they have a divine right to reporduce by rape, too. But certainly not ALL are like that. ((Same goes with women - self-centeredness, willful ignorance, and other negative traits which I'll just summarize as "overall suckiness" are by no means the exclusive purview of any particular chromosomal configuration, gender iddentity, or sexual preference.)) I just think that one needs to be receptive to individuality/individuals, and be wary of the very-human tendency to generalize - I say "very human", because generalization, after all, is a very useful tool for making sense fo the world - teh human brain categorizes and organizes what it perceives; that's part of how one learns from experience - one encounter with an angry wasp (as an admittedly simple example) is enough for one to quickly generalize that experience and stay as far away as possible away from *all* wasps. As in all things, extremes tend to be at best not useful, and at worst destructive.
That's pretty much my main point: be wary of generalizing - it's human, it's part fo learning, and we all do it, but taken to an extreme, it's often not a good thing.
It might be what you intended, but what I perceived in your post *seemed to me* to be a sense of fatalism or determinism. That's not intended as any sort fo a"put down" or any such nonsense, it's just *what I perceived*, and I can only address what I perceive.
That's why I try to talk to the points people make, and avoid tha ll-too- populat Ad-Hominem Attack. It's just a factthat this is a very imperfect form of communication, becasue all one sees is typing - no body language, no facial expressions. Also, differences in writing styles and vocabulary can in and of themselves lead to mis-communication. So it's very easy to miss a writer's intent. THat's not at all a matter of someone being "stupid" - people who are stupid can't produce well-crafted sentences.
So, my main point is just that I don't accept determinism - if nothing else, the fact that I'm here disproves it, and I therefore have something of a compulsion to express my wariness of it, when I perceive it. That being said, however, I also know at least some of th huge obstacles that exist in terms of (1) realizing tht choices exist; (2) understanding how to make choices; and (3) getting into a position, be it financially, socially, psychologically, and so on, to make a choice. The obstacles aren't insurmountable, and yet, there *is* such a thing as accountability, but circumstances have a large influence.
If I misread, then I'll admit the error; I certainly accept "some". Heck, some people also choose self-destructive lifestyles despite have a great many advantages, and even good parents. IOW, true, some are just whacked in the head.
I'm not trying to split hairs. I was going on my perception, and if I
*misread* what you wrote, all I can say is that that's not the same as intentionally trying to twist your meaning.Arrrgh, don't shout.
I'ts not "right" versus "wrong" per se; I'm saying that what might appear to someone in one culture as being one thing might in mean something very different in another culture, and that people in general, and I'd hazard to guess especially uneducated peole, tend to have rather huge blind spots where things like tradition and culture/cultural history are concerned. THat's as true in First World societies as it is in Third World societies. All I'm saying is that one has to separate tradition/culture, from things like laziness and willful ignorance - culture and tradition *are* slow to change, however, education can influence certain aspects of it in a helpful way; OTOH, a deliberate and conscious decision to be lazy and remain ignorant (and/or pursue self-destructive actions) is almost impossible to change.
So, of course I'm not going to say I'm "wrong" in pointing out that all poverty (and/or other bad personal situations) around the world can't be chalked up to personal choice; I'm also not saying there is no such thing as choice. I'm saying that *education* (which was the original point I was addressing) can't work if one works on the assumption that poeple are only poor becuase they choose to be, becasue it just isn't that simple.
Assuming they perceive that they can.
THat's a whole different question. Also, there is the problem that all too often, "help' means "send food and money" - when that does nto include educating people re: how to help themselves, all that results is dependency, which in turn mostyl seems to turn into resentment.
THat's certainly valid and admirable.
Again, tho', my own intent wasn't to attack, and it was a miscommunication on my part if what I wrote came across as such. At this point, I better understand what you were saying, and I think we're actually in agreement, and what occurred was a comn\bination of "communication clash" (different styles and so on) and misperception.
OK, that was a really bad example on my part, I'll take ownership of that.
No, all I meant was that, when someone grows up with such deficiencies, they tend to have inadequate decision-making skills.
Provisions could be made, yes, but many die without any assistance - ina way, their decision is "am I more likely to die here, or die while trying to get there". Those are the sort of poeple I feel badly for. THey were living their own lives in their villages, basically on their own, maybe a little trade with some distant town, and were disrupted because of this or that group of genocidal maniacs. But as above, nto saying you said this or that, but just pointing out as a continuation of my own thought, "help" isn't jsut doing the usual and throwign food and money at them - that's at best a stopgap measure; real help is giving them a hand to get back to living their own independent lives.
That makes it very difficult. I didn't say imposible. It's a factor that ahs to be taken into account when one is an educator.
All one can do is try. I just believe in the "try" part. Sometimes it takes effort, is all. It's just a personal matter of hope.