Foreign food for thought

[grinninfoole]

A graduate student at my university, who is from Germany, recently posted this message. I thought it interesting, especially as it betrays the expectations of German law....

Quote:
"Does your country have a high standard of human and civil rights?
Find out now with the following check-list!

(1) Any longer detainment is subject to discretion of a justice.
(2) Courts can only be established by law (and not, for example, by
military order).
(3) A suspected or accused person is assumed innocent until proven
guilty by an impartial court.
(4) Law determines, which court a person is brought in front of, and not
the administration or the military.
(5) Only a court can declare an organization a terroristic organization.
(6) A person can only be punished for something, if and only to the
extend it was punishable by law at the time the person did it.
(7) It is possible to appeal against the decision of a court in front of
a higher court."

END Quote.

Comments

[macropixi.livejournal.com]

I can't figure out if they have a high standard or not.

Re:

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

It is a bit confusing. In essence, I think he's suggesting that our government is not acting out of clearly articulated and agreed-upon standards and principles (i.e. laws) in our War of Terror, but rather out of administrative fiat. Unquestionably, the historical record shows that we can not trust our government to do the right thing when left to its own devices. To pick one example, the FBI's long surveillance of Martin Luther King, not because of criminal activity on his part, but because of his human rights activism, gives some indication of how far the powers that be will go. (and if you believe James Earl Ray, they will go farther.) If you are interested, you might read the ACLU's new report on this matter, available at http://www.aclu.org/congress/kingreport.pdf

In reviewing this message, I meant to type "War ON Terror" above, though my fingers may have been more honest.

[wolfy.livejournal.com]

hmmmm interesting it reminds me of the checklist of Communism found in the Communist manifesto.

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

Well, this fellow is in the same labor union as myself, and he's very lefty in his sentiments, so that's perhaps unsurprising. I don't recall the specific passage to which you refer (heck, I don't recall any of the Manifesto well.) What does Marx say? What is he checking off, exactly?

[wolfy.livejournal.com]

page 57

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.


page 58


5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common p!an.

8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction[50] between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.[51]

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc., etc.



Here is the link to the source.....MANIFESTO OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY (http://www.marx2mao.org/M&E/CM47.html)

Re:

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

It reminds me in part of something I read by a fellow named Andrew Ure, who was writing in the 1830s in praise of industrialisation. Apparently, making people work long days at mindlessly repetitive labor was a good thing because it 1) kept the masses disciplined, orderly and peaceful; 2) was healthier and better paying many other manual occupations; and 3) it would surely perfect society by making people into parts of gigantic machines, i.e. factories.

Ure's vision would not be inappropriate for the Borg, and based on what you have just quoted, neither would Marx's. I can see what Stalin liked about it. Parts of it are really frightening, though the distinction between city and country has diminished enormously in the past 150 years, compared to what it had been throughout all previous history.