OT A poem from the Days of the Vietnam War..just as relevant today

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

These days,like you,I am an expert in disbelief.

War in Vietnam and peace in America

have imbued us with a God-like detachment.

a perpetual handicap which interdicts most lies,

For us,

neither the president,nor the emperor wears clothes.

It begins with simply this:that each man goes to his war

as he goes to his love,alone.

And from neither does he return as before.

For love and war exist at the edges of the human experience

and either way,man grapples with his universe

at the very limits of social restraint.

His cultural upbringing too weak to govern

in the provinces of the darkness

and the dawn.

To survive in combat

a man must turn

from the teachings of other men

and come face to face with himself.

For some it is a joy

to come to know such a man as he is.

For others,it is a nightmare

which recurs as long as he may live.

Steve Mason

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), December 30, 1999

Answers

I know first hand the pay-off of all the wars in which Americans have served since WWII . War is man against man, a mirror, conflict without substance.Pain without gain. The "war" with AI, the child of humanity's intellect, is the quintessential mirror:Y2K is the result of our own carelessness and callousness. It will be interesting to see how we deal with the payback. Do you think we'll learn?

-- Charlie (cml@wkmail.com), December 30, 1999.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ