ù Quoting Ron Taylor from a message to Ryan Bagueros  ù 
RT> * You have CHOSEN to use marijuana.  Some of us believe that it is   
RT> detrimental to your well being.  You don't.  Nevertheless, it is   
RT> your choice to use it.
And will it be my choice if I am ever *arrested* for using marijuana? A 
pretty 
stupid example to start out with, Ron. I suppose it will be my *choice* to go 
to jail, right? The key there is that "some of us believe..." Maybe you 
forget 
that the police actively hunt drug users, to justify their own bloated war 
against it?
RT> * You have CHOSEN to enter into a lease for living space so that your 
RT>   freedom to travel is hampered.  Now you blame the landlord for what 
RT>   you freely CHOSE to do in the first place.   Your choice.
Ah, I see. MY fault. I was such an idiot for not seeking out that perfect, 
LEASELESS apartment (that everyone else is also looking for). Your right, my 
choice was to either live on the streets (when my previous lease was up and I 
was kicked out of that apartment) or take the standard deal of a 12-month 
lease. 
RT> No question, at times we find ourselves in situations where our 
RT> choices are limited, like your apartment problem.  But, these 
RT> situations are directly related toa time when we DID have a choice 
RT> and made the wrong one.  Even now, you still have choices in that 
RT> situation.
Of course, everything could be drawn into that simple idea, huh. We could 
even 
blame the blacks for the systemic racism against them in the 50's and 60's - 
they HAD a choice, they could have moved to Africa, or maybe they shouldn't 
have tried to go out to eat, they wouldnt have had to sit in the colored 
section, huh. Everything is easy to say was a mistake in hindsight. 
Maybe if that 13-year-old kid wasn't sick of working at Kroger's to support 
his
family and hadn't decided to mug a drunk rich person going through their 
neighborhood one night, they wouldn't be spending life in prison, only to 
become an even more hardened criminal, etc etc. 
I agree that many of the middle- and upper- class have tons of choices in 
life.
But I will say that you are trying to deny the effects of racism and classism 
and sexism on the lower class as a whole - and you will always fail. If you 
think those forces aren't present, you are either naive & ignorant, or a 
liar. 
--- FMail 1.22
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