Re: CHAT: Multi-Lingos

On Wed, 23 Aug 2000, Oskar Gudlaugsson wrote:

> It's that nothing is being done, and Westerners should snap out of the mind
> control that they, their own media and politicians keep on themselves.
Hear, hear.

>   It's this pervading naivity, mass denial, over-simplification, repression
> of human thought potential - it's all of those that I perceive as the
> world's greatest threat.
In short, the tyranny of the dull mind, as American novelist Tom Robbins
calls it.

>   After a bunch of countries had held speeches telling their views (most of
> which were predictable and unoriginal), I held my speech. Most of the
> Western leaders had been advocating the independence of East-Timor,
> withdrawal of Indonesian forces, etc, as they all do in the real world. I
> put forward my view that this was naive and ill-thought-through (not quite
> so bluntly though). I pointed to other restless parts of Indonesia, asking
> if the delegates had considered the consequences of Timoran independence;
> very possibly, those other parts of Indonesia would demand their rights, the
> federation would break apart, and stability would be lost in the entire
> region. Chaos, bloodshed, and misery would ensue.
As opposed to the chaos, bloodshed, and misery Indonesia has been generating
in East Timor for the last 25 years?

>  Also, none of the other options in governments are any better.
As Winston Churchill said.

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
"[O]n the whole I'd rather make love than shoot guns [...]"
        --Eric Raymond