Grumman-581 wrote:
On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 14:04:16 -0500, "Gig 601XL Builder"
wrDOTgiaconaATcox.net wrote:
That isn't political correctness, which I hate, it is common human decency.

**** "common human decency"... The only reason the pilot is alive
right now is that *my* family wasn't on that flight and killed by
him...

Revenge killing is one of the worst aspects Filipino culture. It is
endemic. Here we have mayors who shoot police officers over some
argument at a funeral. Then the feud starts. The body count climbs,
business flees, and the survivors are living in cardboard boxes.

So, if your family had been on that plane, and you would have gone to
the hospital and killed the pilot as he lay in his hospital bed, and
then his family would have come after you, and yours would go after
his, and the next thing you know you have the end of civilization. But
at least you would have had the satisfaction of revenge. All your
relatives would be dead or in prison. Their houses would be burned to
the ground. The same for all of the pilot's relatives. But at least you
would have had your revenge. You would have Israel and Palestine. The
IRA and UVF in Ireland. The Shiites and the Sunnis. The Campbells and
the Montroses. The Hatfields and the McCoys. Everybody grab guns and
have at it. Yes, sir. Never mind that it ends with a few ruined widows
and orphans struggling to survive in a blasted wasteland. You'll have
taught those guys a real lesson.

The one thing that separates us from primitive headhunters is that we
do not live like that. We have the rule of law. We have civilization.
We do not go out and take somebody's head simply because one of his
relatives took the head of one of ours. If you have that attitude then
all social and economic progress becomes impossible. This is what kept
Scotland and Ireland poor for centuries. It keeps Palestine and the
Philippines poor today. It is why we have Somalia and Sudan and East
Timor. It encourages corruption, depresses the economy, and makes it
dangerous to even deliver the mail.