triumphs
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Re: Is there anywhere in the world...?

To: Jeffery Howard <nhoward442@charter.net>
Subject: Re: Is there anywhere in the world...?
From: "Michael D. Porter" <mporter@zianet.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 02:56:12 -0600
Cc: Randall Young <Ryoung@navcomtech.com>, triumphs@autox.team.net
Delivered-to: alias-outgoing-triumphs@autox.team.net@outgoing
Organization: Barely enough
References: <NOEDJDCNFBCNELMBFNFEIEMBFBAA.Ryoung@navcomtech.com> <003a01c332ec$cef46660$6400a8c0@opelousas.charterala.com>
Jeffery Howard wrote:
> 
> Randall,
> You may assume what you will.  While you only know what you have found on
> line, your vision is very limited.

Well, isn't that an assumption on your part? I like visiting Naw Orlins and 
have sucked the heads of more than a few crawfish when there, and have always 
had a good time at the Jazz and Heritage
Festival. Is that enough for me to say I'd never live anywhere else but 
Louisiana? Naw.

It's good for you. Let it be at that.
 
> I have been to California and it is a very nice place.  It is not a place
> that I would choose to live.  For a number of reasons it is a beautiful
> place, but alias, there are people there that find it necessary to control
> other people with their idea of right and wrong.  They try to inflict their
> view of the world as it should be on everyone else.

Randall's arguments about Rayne are probably, statistically, on the mark. You 
respond as if this is not true--that, from the above, it's a matter of 
inflicting another view on others. You know, truly,
if you investigated, you'd find similar statistics showing Louisiana somewhere 
near the bottom of all the pertinent statistics on health and general 
welfare--I know because I see New Mexico and
Louisiana as near neighbors in many of those statistics.
 
> While I appreciate the differences in people and places, it appears that you
> have never left your hole in the wall except to make others look bad so as
> to make yourself look better.

There is a maxim among lawyers that one never asks a question in court for 
which one does not already have the answer. I think Randall already set you 
straight on that matter.
 
> You have my sympathies.  You ARE a pathetic individual.

The operative question is always, why? Why is Randall pathetic because he 
pointed out some of the weaknesses in your community? If I wanted to probe the 
matter further (and I do not), I could probably
find many more deficiencies, statistically.

Y'know, this thread started out with a rather simple complaint to which was 
affixed another, larger, plaintive cry which all of us utter at some point in 
life--isn't there some place that's perfect? 

The simple truth is that there is no perfect place for everyone (if there were, 
it would fill up quickly and would then become a truly unpleasant place). 

We all end up settling in places which are comfortable for us in one way or 
another--it may be a matter of the scenery, or that we could never bear to 
leave a home town, or that a job plunked us down
in a place where we had to make choices about making a living and supporting a 
family or living a freer, less encumbered but more precarious life.

But, what seemed to missing in those estimates of places to live is the matter 
of community. So many people, everywhere, have lost some sense of community, 
have grown isolated and separate from what
it means to live amongst others of divergent views, and still get along. 

Everyone wants to talk about taxes, etc., but if those taxes were overly 
burdensome, to the point where one could not live, there's always the 
opportunity to leave and take one's chances elsewhere.
The prospect of doing so is always daunting, so it's infrequently the cause for 
people picking up and moving to some other place.

In all of this, there should be some thought about community and what that word 
means--even here, on this list, since it is a kind of community, however 
virtual it may be. People will disagree--on how
best to repair a Triumph, or where it is best to live. If you stay where you 
are, including this list, because of your understanding of community, why, 
then, you have no reason to either leave or
attack others, because of your relation to that community.

And, anticipating the argument, I've lived in, lessee, Texas (five places), 
Arizona, New Mexico, California, Washington, Louisiana, Mississippi, Michigan 
(three places), Florida (two places),
Massachusetts (four places), Indiana, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey and the UK.

Community. That's what really counts. What a concept, huh?

Cheers, all. 

-- 
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM 
[mailto:mporter@zianet.com]

Never let anyone drive you crazy when you know it's within walking distance.

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