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Pastimes : The Boxing Ring Revived -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 10:31:09 AM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7720

I did enjoy that essay, Neo ... Is it your own? It deserves to be published for a wider audience. I am reminded of several people of liberal persuasion that I know well. One is a female professor who has developed a strong cause concerning the exploitation of third-world female factory workers, for whom she has boundless compassion. Yet, she herself is very wealthy and enjoys a commensurately luxurious life style. She seems able to regulate her distress over these disadvantaged women as if by a thermostat, turning it down to zero when she is preoccupied with other causes, such as serving on the membership committee for the elite Ladies Garden Club in her wealthy suburb. I have always been puzzled by this ability not only to pick and choose your causes, but also to be able to carefully regulate your emotional commitment to them by time and degree. It is as if the individual has decided that there is a requirement to allocate a specified portion of one's passion to the less fortunate, and that you can fulfill this responsibility by choosing from a menu of causes and then working out a schedule of convenient times when you will beat your breast and shed tears of lament over them.

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 10:32:19 AM
From: Selectric II	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7720

Good thoughts. Do you suppose that, in part, it is instilled by those great institutions of higher learning, where college students are encouraged by bored and decadent professors to pursue frivolous matters (their pet peeves and interests) to the exclusion -- or diminution -- of getting a broad perspective and learning about what is important? Add to that the wealth of free time on students' hands to pursue these trivial pursuits, and, well, we wind up with one-dimensional zealots with letters behind their names to lend them false credibility.

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 10:43:19 AM
From: GROUND ZERO™	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7720

Excellent essay!!! You make a number of cogent points... >>They start fights over the introduction of provocative material on families and sexuality into the schools, while more than half of high school graduates cannot place the Civil War within the correct half century, nor describe the process by which a bill becomes a law.<< Sad, but very true... most high school graduates these days think the domino theory means the pizza is free if the delivery guy took longer than 30 minutes..... GZ

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 11:15:19 AM
From: willcousa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7720

Neo, just finished your essay. It was superb! It should be widely published.

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 11:32:45 AM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7720

I adore collard greens, having first experienced them after reaching my 30th birthday and a certain level of affluence. (They're marvelous Ethiopian style with injera or juiced with celery and carrots.) Pick something else for your example. <g> Karen

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 11:44:42 AM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 7720

When I get a moment, I will peruse it... I want to give it the attention it deserves... JLA

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 1:50:30 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 7720

Seems that the amen chorus likes your essay. I think it is interesting with some nice phrasing, but troubling. I had some lunch and re-read it to be sure I wasn't just being peckish. Don't think so. But the plain fact is that liberalism has made a travesty of itself, and most people are sick of paying the costs of lightminded self- indulgence. Seems to me that you can make the point that many people indulge interests that are permitted only by great affluence and are, therefore, frivolous. And you can draw the conclusion that society shouldn't have to pay the costs of people's hobby horses, such as police protection for a march. I am having a hard time, though, with the notion that the interests of liberals have less moral standing than anyone else's. As a capitalist and lover of freedom, I'm content to let the marketplace decide, even as I often grumble about its decisions. People make individual decisions to spend their free time and money as they see fit and niche businesses form around those interests. There are lots of things that other people do that I consider a total waste of time and resources--like ice fishing--but the marketplace caters to both their interests and mine. This is the creativity and vitality of our way of life. As long as people are spending their own time and their own money, their interests are theirs to pursue. This is to be applauded, IMO, not disparaged. There are other ways to frame some of the points you make--ways that are more worthy of you. I think that making the generalization that "liberal" interests are bankrupt your key message produces less an essay than fodder for a grass-roots political pep rally. Karen

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 2:46:08 PM
From: jlallen	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7720

I liked the thrust of your essay. Although, I disagreed with one point. I do not believe that humanitarian compassion is predicated in all cases upon relative affluence and compassion... Indeed the very poorest among us often shine the brightest in this regard....in my experience.... Overall, I thought the essay was well done, easy to read and makes a very valid point. AMEN!!!!!!(count me among the chorus) JLA

To: Neocon who wrote (2434)	2/19/2002 4:31:19 PM
From: goldworldnet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7720

Neo, Thank you for your compelling essay. It has been said that there is nothing new under the sun. Regardless of our personal prosperity we all have a great deal in common. Time is the great equalizer and the sun rises and sets on each of us. At the end of our days it is unlikely we will give much thought to many endeavors that occupy the bulk of our lives. Simple pleasures enjoyed with those we are close to are not issues of wealth, but an understanding that we are not alone. Time cannot be stored up, but only spent. The ability to use our time wisely is not determined as much by efficiency as it is by discernment and an understanding of what we place importance on. If we recognize this it is more likely we will find what we need and our time will not have been wasted. All the Best, Josh * * *