Higher learning rag slams Guns

[Donny]

Had bought the June 2000 issue of Scientific American because of a couple of articles in it. The front cover had a minor headline, "Special Report: The New Face of War."

Here's the link to the issue, and you decide.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/2000/0600issue/0600currentissue.html

Subtitled are such articles, "A Scourge of Small Arms".; "Invisible Wounds"; "The Human Cost of War"; ""Children of the Gun".

As we all know, and something conspicously missing from any of the articles, is that people don't start wars, politicians and governments do. And in countries mentioned in this article those people are broke-dirt poor. How can they afford FAL's, or M16's, or RPG's? Not to mention thousands of ammunition for those arms? Something is missing from this picture, and they know it.
But the uninitiated would simply swallow this as a wealth of goodness. And eliminating guns will not deter greed, distrust, contempt, or political and religious differences among people.

What'a also of interest is mention of our Fuhrer's intention to sign into more treaty's with the UN affecting Small Arms controls on a world-wide scale.

Best Regards,



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The most foolish mistake we could make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms;
History shows that all conquerers who have allowed their subjected people to carry arms have prepared their own fall.
Adolf Hitler
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"Corrupt the young, get them away from religion. Get them interested in sex. Make them superficial, and destroy their rugged- ness.
Get control of all means of publicity, and thereby get the peoples' mind off their government by focusing their attention on athletics, sexy books and plays, and other trivialities.
Divide the people into hostile groups by constantly harping on controversial matters of no importance."

Vladimir Ilich Lenin, former leader of USSR

 

[Tecolote]

Donny,

Academia is a stronghold of very Liberal types. Only a few Conservatives dare wander into those fields. Therefore it's natural that they would write articles in support of the UN and against the rights of private gun ownership. The do gooders have long tentacles that stretch all over the world. Harvard sent teams of legal specialists to help some Central American countires in their transition to peace after years of civil wars. The fist thing they did was insist that these countries abolish their versions of the 2nd Amendment. Private gun ownership was the single greatest thereat to peace they claimed. Luckily most of these countries refused, their citizens realized that it was the lack of private gun ownership that made them easy prey for dictators from both the left and right.

BTW Can you give a source for that great quote?

------------------
So many pistols, so little money.

[This message has been edited by Tecolote (edited June 18, 2000).]

 

[DAL]

"...eliminating guns will not deter greed, distrust, contempt, or political and religious differences among people." So true, but it will make it easier for the larger group to foist its will upon and persecute the smaller group, and isn't that what life's all about with many people around the world, even here?
DAL

P.S. If that quote is true, Lenin really took the saying "divide and conquer" to heart. But what else could he do? The communists were a small group of elitists whose views weren't popular and couldn't stand up to scrutiny on their own, so they had to create demons and sow dissent and controversy through misinformation and outright lying. Does that game plan remind you of anything that's happening in this country today on any variety of topics?


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Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.
GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, NRA

[This message has been edited by DAL (edited June 18, 2000).]

 

[andyb]

Tecolote: I always thought that academia was some kind of nut. Guess that's true, huh?

I'm still trying to understand why these folks want to give up rights - what do they get out of it ... particularly when the hob-nailed boot come to their neck? Are they considering themselves immune? Safe? Doesn't work that way as far as I can see.

 

[Bam Bam]

Thanks for the Heads-up Donny, time to sharpen the quill.

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Academics for the 2nd Amend. - if interested,
I'll give you contact info.

By the way, the group has conservatives, liberals, libertarians in it. All focused
on the RKBA.

Since, I'm cranky today - give up this criticism of liberals. People are either anti-RKBA or Pro-RKBA.

Also remember that two academics, Kleck and Lott have given us the best weapons we have today to preserve the RKBA. Without these
two kind of lefty guys, you would be left
quacking about the militia clause to an audience that doesn't give a crap and would happily abolish the RKBA except for the utilitarian self-defense argument.

I don't have to accept a lot of conservative horsepoop to support the RKBA.



[This message has been edited by Glenn E. Meyer (edited June 19, 2000).]

 

[Cypselus]

Also not a conservative or a libertarian. In fact I consider myself pretty far left, but I am a strong RKBA supporter. But along with owning and toting guns, I just happen to believe in things like abolishing the death penalty and mandatory minimum sentences, keeping inheritance taxes, and instituting a social wage and single payer health care. I support feminism, and I understand the political arguments behind vegetarianism, though I don't practice it myself.

I will don my asbestos suit and prepare for the onslaught.

 

[Oleg Volk]

Cypselus,

So we disagree on his or that. Big deal. You support my RKBA and vice versa...that's all I care about at this point.

Oleg

 

[Battler]

Oleg: He doesn't, really.

Without the fundamental right to own property, how in the he** can you own a gun?


Battler.

 

[KAC556]

I've read many of their issues. They should change their name to "Politically Correct American," or "Junk Scientific American."

Of course, "Truth" has never been on of their strong points.

 

[sarge83]

I work in academia and encounter anti's daily. Had one PHD actually tell me they should ban all guns, except her little .38, she needed it for protection. I asked her if there was a reason she was something special? No reply just a huff and off she went. Not only do they work on RKBA but their history revisionism is down right scary. Have had some luck and converted a few. Amoung the staff at the college level I have found several pro-gun folks.

 

[Oleg Volk]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Battler:
Oleg: He doesn't, really.
Without the fundamental right to own property, how in the he** can you own a gun?

Battler.[/quote]

Good point (and it has occured to me that few socialist progams can be implemented without brute force). I was trying to be polite...and I do hope that some of his view would get re-evaluated as he finds his present rights in conflict with his desired ends.

 

[George Hill]

Unfortunatly the higher the education the tighter the closed mind.

 

[Oleg Volk]

Hmmm...my present efforts toward a Master's degree might harden my fragile little mind ever more and close it to all things I dislike now...like thugs and their helpers.

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

George, that's horsepoop. Have you surveyed academics?

Certainly, the TFL isn't all Ph.Ds and there are as many raving loonies and closed minds here as anywhere.

Having worked in the academic environment, it is clear that the politics of the academics usually mirror that of the local area.

TX and OR folks were similar to the general RKBA views of the state.

If you don't like people who got an education - tough. My parents didn't graduate high school and I got a Ph.D. and published in some of the best scientific journals out there.

Without the lawyers working for the RKBA and academics like Kleck and Lott - the RKBA is screwed.

Rant

 

[Battler]

Oleg: Socialism is full of contradictions. You can't actually be a socialist without holding some conflicting views; but private gun ownership is a commienism no-no at so many levels.


George Hill: Actually, I think they DO get a more open mind.

I will agree with what I have been told - that my stance against socialism/pro freedom /anti big government of any kind, and my utter contempt for opinions counter to this, is closed minded.

It is open minded to give a lie, stupidity, or a fallacy the same consideration as a fact, closed minded to reject the illogical even if it feels warm and fuzzy.


It is illogical that we have been punished for the last year for what 2 wackos did at columbine (even if no extra laws/heat occurred, we have all been paying extra for guns/ammo and to NRA etc. where appropriate).

It is also illogical (but admittedly not unwelcome) that we have "earned a reprieve" largely due to Rosie O'Donnel being a big stupid hypocrite.


All IMHO.


Battler.



[This message has been edited by Battler (edited June 19, 2000).]

 

[Battler]

Glenn: Good points; but. . . .

When's the last time you had a conversation with an Austin UT student?




Battler.



[This message has been edited by Battler (edited June 19, 2000).]

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I've done surveys of TX college kids
(not UT Austin - I grant you) but they
are remarkably progun.

In fact the percent that say they want CHLS and to buy firearms when they are adults is higher than general population.

Most surveys show that gun owners have more education than the norm anyway.

I'd bet a survey of the UT Austin undergraduate population would look pretty much like the general population or at least
not wildly anti-RKBA.

Ever meet the Microsoft Gun Club from Seattle, highly educated and very RKBA.

When I took LFI-1 in Dallas, Damn that was a very professional class.

I get tons of kids who want to work on my projects. Half my advanced stat class went to the range with me in Oregon. More would have but couldn't make on our field trip day.

And they were PSYCH majors.

 

[Battler]

I would imagine a lot of anti-gun sentiment is fear and ignorance (well, what IS anti-gun sentiment without fear and ignorance).

Bet you wouldn't want to profile SOCIOLOGY majors

Thanks though, your post cheered me up a bit - my image of students (granted, I did university in another country where this was DEFINITELY true) was that they spent all day marching around with a hammer and sickle flag.

Half of a PSYCH class going shooting? Impressive. Yet I see them cracking down in the news etc. on "taking kids shooting" for being politically incorrect. There isn't enough fear and (and from) ignorance in the US for gun bans enacted in other countries. "How dare you rob them of their ignorance!!"


Battler

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

In fact, one of the students was on the school newspaper staff and we were written up in the paper. There was a picture of me standing in front of a B-27 target.

Where I work now, we have a group of professors who are shooters. The campus cops ask me to go to the range with them.

I wonder if all the guys who rail against the professoriate and education would argue that their kids don't get one.

Are there some schools where there is more antigun sentiment - sure, there are.

Are there some skills that are so conservative that I couldn't work there - sure.