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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (1251)	3/22/2003 3:00:25 PM
From: Doug R	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

The Iraqi's did not ask to be bombed into oblivion in the name of having democracy installed.

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (1251)	3/22/2003 3:10:49 PM
From: Patricia Trinchero	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21614

I think that we should make sure that everyone in this country has those rights before we go off onto foreign shores. People in America live in fear and terror every day and night. We should solve our own problems first.

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (1251)	3/22/2003 10:09:23 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Kind of ironic that those who want to fight for the chimera of freedom in Iraq, want to destroy such freedom here. Isn't it? Do you have any idea what the literacy rate was in America at the time of the revolution? Many people think democracy is doomed where literacy rates are poor. One of the reasons democracy succeeded here was the unusually high literacy rate in America. In New England it was around 90%. In the South, where literacy was lower (but still not as low as in Iraq today), Toryism was much more prevalent. "This rise in the literacy rate was achieved through a sharp increase in literacy of the farmers, artisans, and laborers, who made up more than three-quarters of the population. Literacy among farmers rose from 45 percent in 1660, to 60 percent in 1710, to 80 percent in 1760. This had a powerful effect in ending social distinctions, and allowed the common man to participate in the political debates that led to the Revolution. " "Estimates of male literacy levels during the colonial period, while inexact, nonetheless demonstrate this. Immigrants to all of the North American colonies were more literate than the general population of the countries they left. In New England, the literacy rate was over 50 percent during the first half of the Seventeenth century, and it rose to 70 percent by 1710. By the time of the American Revolution, it was around 90 percent, certainly the highest on earth. " It's a nice dream to bring democracy to Iraq. But democracy follows education, not vice versa. And if you think the US can afford to educate Iraq for the next 10 or 20 years, I suggest to you that the American people won't stand for that kind of financial commitment. They don't even want to spend more on US schools.