Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!ukma!uflorida!usfvax2!tscs!gerard
From: gerard@tscs.UUCP (Stephen M. Gerard)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Soviet Access to Usenet
Message-ID: <213@tscs.UUCP>
Date: 2 Dec 88 05:12:49 GMT
References: <7649@well.UUCP> <8081@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <17651@gatech.edu> <8114@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <268@lloyd.camex.uucp> <2331@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: gerard@tscs.UUCP (Stephen M. Gerard)
Organization: Total Support Computer Systems, Tampa, Florida
Lines: 35

In article <2331@cbnews.ATT.COM> lvc@cbnews.ATT.COM (Lawrence V. Cipriani) writes:
>			Would you offer help to someone from the Soviet
>Union?  I will not knowingly offer help to someone from the Soviet Union.

Aw come on!  Helping Ivan Average Russian to get his/her version of "less" or
"star trek" working would not be a crime or even immoral.  Last time I studied
biology (admittedly over 10 years ago), Russians were made of the same stuff we
are.  They only have to coexist with their government like we have to coexist
with ours.  I refuse to condem an entire group of people just because their
government does not agree with my way of thinking.  We all have some level
of disagreement in our views.  If we truly believed that the government
did absolutely represent the moral fiber of its citizens, we would not
be friendly with any Germans, Japanese, or Italians, since they were the
axis powers during WWII.  People are people no matter what their government
believes.  There are some Russians that aren't worth helping as there are some
Americans that are not worth helping.  Once everyone realizes this,
perhaps we can truly find our mutual interests and persue peace.

>>Before they they push the button, let them first contemplate the
>>serious prospect of USENET withdrawl.
>
>Yeah right, get real.  I'm certain a USENET withdrawl would be at the
>bottom of their list of concerns.

The Soviets that would benefeit from USENET would not be the ones pushing
the button.  I believe that most rational humans realize that pressing the
button would cause an end to the world as we presently know it.

I would welcome a free flow of information with the Soviet Union.  I think
both sides would find out that the other is not as bad as we have been lead
to believe.  USENET access would give thousands of westerners a chance to
talk to real Soviet citizens.

Just think, we could find out if the line to buy bread is really an two hour
wait. :-)