[Terry Johnson]

Okay.  Like Todd I've tried to delete every non-Oils post to this
list.  But this is stupid.

Anyone who buys this is stupid.

Boycott American goods?  To what end?  We Americans work hard at what
we do.  This debate isn't about the war anymore--its about your
unlevied anti-American sentiments based on ignorance and deniability.
When you make a brash statement such as this you are pointing your
sentiments point blank at me.

Always remember... America feeds the world.  We spend a higher
percentage of our GNP on foreign interests than anyone.  I wish
sometimes our government would stop handing out my tax dollars so
much and let the world fend for themselves; not because I don't like
the rest of the world, but to simply demonstrate that bad-mouthing us
so much is starting to hurt our feelings.  When it comes down to it,
we supply food for most of the Middle East, Central America, Canada
(at least the non-bread products), and of course Africa.

These aren't just little facts I read in a paper; I see it everyday.
I grew up on a farm in the Southern U.S.  My grandparents farmed.
Their grandparents owned a plantation.  I don't farm myself.  I gave
it up when I left for college.  But because I don't farm doesn't
leave me unaffected by your comments.  I still live in the same area
as I did in my youth.  Many of the families around me still survive
on farming.  I teach their kids high-school science.  It is the taxes
from their incomes that pays my paycheck.

The Middle East needs our food to survive.  Do we need their oil?
Probably.  It takes a tractor to work a modern-sized farm.  So our
governments set up a food-for-oil trade last decade.  It worked
great.  No strong desire to go to war from me!  Each side got a fair
trade with no complaints I ever heard of.

That's not the only place we get our oil from, though.  And they
aren't the only people we feed.  The world must have trade to keep
our individual economies from collapsing.  This is the point I think
you are unaware of.

When you make a statement such as, "The only thing to do is...
boycott American goods," I take it personally.  That's my livelihood.
You may not know it, but it's yours, too.

I have more to say, but at this point it would just be rutted in
doggishly-pointed rhetoric, much as I've seen many on this list
degenerate do over the last month.  Do yourself a favor and find a
dark site, lay back, count shooting stars for a couple of hours, and
imagine the world as it should be...

Clear skies,
--Terry




-----Original Message-----
From: powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu
[mailto:powderworks-admin@cs.colorado.edu]On Behalf Of Erin Oneill
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 11:34 PM
To: a_thomas@bigpond.net.au
Subject: Re: [Powderworks] Fwd: The war ... not funny


I've seen the Age articles etc. already.  Scary stuff.  The only
thing to do is to make people as aware of this as possible and
boycott american goods etc (which I largely do anyway - as much as I
am aware of buying american goods! Asia and Suth America.

Oh the joys of it all.

Erin.