DB> I keep hearing this word responsibility... it makes me want to puke! 
 DB> I don't owe you anything. I pay my bills, carry my own weight and 
 DB> really don't care for your society which lied, stole and and cheated 
 DB> the American Indians out of their land. Broken contracts and less than 
 DB> civilized intent toward your hosts on this continent... this is the 
 DB> result of what you call responsibility.  
   As long as you feel compelled to live in the society, to use any of the 
facilities that we are all taxed in order to supply, and, for that matter, to 
make debts and pay bills you have given a part of yourself to it - and a part 
of you is owed and owes it.  We are a far reach from what happend 
(historically speaking, properly, in the light and mores of the times) in the 
times that you cite - and it is not reasonable to single out a particular act 
or period and comdemn everything that follows based on that act in that time. 
"It was another time in another place and anyhow the wench is dead" comes to 
mind here.  I don't feel the least bit culpable for anything that occurred 
before I was born - I had nothing to do with it, and the most that I can 
reasonably be expected to do about any of it is nothing - only to assure that 
for whatever influence I might have, to work to assure that it doesn't happen 
on my watch - secure in the knowledge that regardless of my success or 
failure,
some revisionist will come along in the future and decide that I was wrong.
   You don't owe me personally anything, and you strike me as a responsible 
and honorable person - and one who adheres to whatever rules are in place to 
get certain things done.  With that in mind, you DO own a part of this 
society,
since you ARE a part of this society - but society, like ecology, weather, 
morals, mores, languages, land masses, and seascapes is constatntly changing 
based on things situational, and I don't feel that condemning everything that 
follows a questionable act that occurred in the past, when all these things 
were not as they are today is either useful or necessary.  I think we can 
agree that lots of thigns are regrettable, but lacking time machines the ONLY 
thing we can do is work towards not permitting recurrence.  As long as we 
have 
people we'll have those who are immoral by the standards of their times, 
those 
who are avaricions, murderous, honorable, deceitful, and just all around 
horses asses.  Eventually they get replaced by something else.  I'm not going 
to break my head over what was - it hurts and does nothing - but I will 
expend 
efforts in directing a future in whatever way I can.
   I hope this doesn't come off as a personal attack, for it si not so 
intended.  For now, I'll shut up.
   
   bob
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