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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>One way to reduce the dependency and the
superiority is for each of the world's countries that want to help to
independently and genuinely ask:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"What support can we provide?"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It may not necessarily be food.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paul</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=artsilva@mail.eunet.pt href="mailto:artsilva@mail.eunet.pt">Artur F.
Silva</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, September 21, 2001 2:44
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Food against terrorism</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>At 17:04 20-09-2001, Jim Metcalf wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite type="cite">To all in the Open Space
community:<BR><BR>Please help me spread a powerful idea to combat
terrorism.<BR><BR>I'm proposing a simple idea for a radical response to
terrorism in our<BR>country. Please think about it in terms of "if your
enemy is hungry, feed<BR>him; if your enemy is thirsty, give him a drink"
(Romans 12:20). After all,<BR>loving those who hate us is the sweetest form
of revenge.<BR><BR>My idea is simple: Send to Pakistan and Afghanistan vast
amounts of food.<BR>Feed the hungry! House the homeless! Ignore the Taliban
if necessary. Buy<BR>the food from American farmers. Send it with
international cooperation. Do<BR>good to those who hate us. We will refuse
to fight terrorism with our own<BR>state-sponsored terrorism. And then we
must listen to the poor of the world<BR>to understand how they would
construct a better world for their children.</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I have some mixed
feelings with this proposal, Jim. On one side I tend to <BR>think that, yes,
this can make a difference. Exactly as in Chris daughter's <BR>"suggestion".
<BR><BR>The problem is that when we feed someone we assume a sort
of<BR>superiority (at least of wealth) that is not necessarily well
accepted<BR>in some less affluent countries. The point is that our
"help"<BR>can be interpreted not as true love but as "revenge" as you have
also <BR>pointed:<BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite type="cite">After all,<BR>loving those who hate us is the
sweetest form of revenge.</BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Then, by choosing Pakistan and
Afghanistan as recipients we are <BR>assuming that those countries and not
individual criminals are the targets.<BR>And in what concerns Pakistan, that
is being blackmailed by the occident <BR>to enter the war, as they are almost
in bankruptcy and need the "help"<BR>of the occident, our offers can be
considered part of the "help" the American<BR>government has promised to the
Pakistan government. (It would be <BR>different in case of private donations
to Iran, Iraq or Cuba...)<BR><BR>Lastly, I am afraid that private and public
"help to the poor" (individuals<BR>or nations) can be part of the problem and
not so much part of the solution, <BR>as occidental help will maintain the
dependence - as it has always happened <BR>in history. They can think "those
Americans are always trying to show <BR>that they are richer than
us".<BR><BR>Having said all that, I must say that this one is the first form
of "concrete action"<BR>I have seen and maybe it will introduce a more human
perspective of the <BR>problem - at least the leaders of the occident will see
that much of their citizens <BR>are concerned with the life of the peoples
that will probably be under attack.<BR><BR>After all, I think that I support
the proposal in spite of my mixing
feelings...<BR><BR>Regards<BR><BR>Artur<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>