Re: [NTLK] Paul's ATA drivers and registration

On 11/13/07 2:14 AM, Martin Joseph <NT@stillnewt.org> wrote:
> This is a completely ignorant assessment in my opinion, and is
> extremely disrespectful to all people that have been/are enslaved or
> have died through the dehumanizing treatment that accompanies slavery.

Leave it to Martin Joseph to compose a provocative and calloused response
like this.

My comments stand. And they are not, nor were intended to be, dehumanizing
to others. Mr. Joseph's comments, in contrast, are constructed to beat on
others (specifically me).

"Excessive control" of peoples lives, regardless of era, regardless of who
does it, regardless of the badge it wears, is wrong. Period.

> This kind of pap is usually spouted by white men.

Yet another provocative and insulting comment, put forth only to antagonize
and produce heated debate. I am inclined to ignore such foolishness, but I
will deal with it...

Jewish people have light toned skin and yet they've been enslaved off and on
since the time of Moses. And no, it is not degrading to people of other
skin tones for me to state such a historical fact. Skin color is largely
irrelevant to slavery throughout history, as it was to the Romans (who
enslaved peoples of many nations they conquered). This is not saying people
of color were never enslaved, nor is it saying they never suffered. They
did. That's a fact. And it should never be allowed to happen again, in any
form, to any people, by any person, government or corporation.

But I can't stop here. I feel compelled to state for the record that I am a
firm believer that there is no such thing as "race." Comments such as
"white" or "black" are often racist in nature. Eight people came off the
Ark, and everyone on the planet today, regardless of the tone of their skin,
are related. Whether others choose to believe that story or not, I believe
it. Therefore, there is no race on planet earth but the human race. And
no, I do NOT believe that the human race evolved from lower level species,
as racist Darwin contended (the title of whose book is racist in nature: On
the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of
Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life). No people are higher or lower
than other people, nor are any "favoured" by so-called "Mother Nature."

Therefore I can truly say that so-called "race" had no place whatsoever my
initial comments, but "race" appears to be a major point of Mr. Joseph's
remarks.

Getting back to the point, my comments about the evils of many companies
stand. I believe that companies must have a limited right to dictate what
goes on at their companies, but no rights to control every aspect of their
employees lives. To afford companies such rights is not only wrong, I
personally feel it is criminal.

I know this evil first hand here in Japan, where companies are given free
reign to dictate virtually anything. I hate smoking and wish it were banned
in all companies, but I disagree that a company should have dictatorship
power (as they do in Japan) to prevent an employee from doing so in the
privacy of their own home. If you can ban smoking at an employee's home
(because you can smell it on their breath), you can ban private projects
like Paul's (because it "could be" a conflict of interest), you can ban
waxing one's car (because it takes up too much of the employees time, better
spent on either sleeping or working on company projects at home), you can
ban alternative lifestyles (because it could lead to a disease that will
affect health insurance), you can ban quite nearly anything! And once you
ban everything, you truly do have control over every aspect of that person's
life. That's partly why over 30,000 people per year take their own lives
here in Japan. Many of these poor people feel they have no way to expect
the clutches of their job that truly does "enslave" them. And sadly, for
many Japanese, moving jobs is either not an option or moving merely changes
the name of their taskmaster.

So no, Martin Joseph, I will never retract my statements or comparisons
about something an evil so wrong as this. This type of corporate evil is
horrific, plain and simple. The complete control of men's lives, outside
that of God Himself, is wrong. Nevertheless, there is clearly nothing Paul
can do about his situation, so I will live it at that. Thank you, Paul, for
all your efforts to date. They are greatly appreciated by the Newton
community and will be for many years to come.

--James Wages

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Received on Mon Nov 12 18:05:08 2007