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Politics : Moderate Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: rrufff who wrote (5769)	1/15/2004 12:48:16 PM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 20773

Just a very general observation from reading some SI political threads: I am always astounded how many people who never get out and see the world much, seem to believe they know exactly what's wrong with every corner of the globe and how to fix it. I wouldn't try to tell someone in rural Colorado how to handle local environmental issues - I have no experience in that - much less draft broad prescriptions to "transform" entire foreign cultures. But the practice seems to be in vogue now. And much of the venom directed at non-Americans comes from people who don't seem to travel, know many (or any) foreigners, speak other languages or even follow non-American news sources. Local and global are both great. No reason either one ever has to be exclusive.

To: rrufff who wrote (5769)	1/15/2004 7:27:02 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20773

I think it was Pascal, but not sure, who had a student who came to study with him. Told the student to talk a leaf and come back when he knew all there was to know about the leaf. The next day the student came back. Pascal (or whoever) told him that maybe in a year he would know all there was to know about the leaf, or maybe not. There is so much for us to study, know, do, that is right under our noses. People whose lives we would be enriched by knowing much more deeply. Children in our communities who need an adult to read with them, or just to spend time with them. Worlds in ponds left by the rain. If reading is our door to the world, there are more wonderful books available through our libraries than we could read in several lifetimes. I have not yet begun to exhaust the opportunities for learning, and for improving my life, that are available within ten miles of my home. Until I have done that, why go further?