Thread View: ucb.politics.progressive
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Started by L. William Franke
Tue, 20 Dec 1994 16:50
Re: Support State Sponsored Discrimination: Support Affirmative Action
Author: L. William Franke
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 1994 16:50
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 1994 16:50
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David Prenatt (ez032582@dino.ucdavis.edu) wrote: : Push that rock to the top of the hill! It is not the destination : that we value; it is the journey. For, as we all know, it was in the : PURSUIT of happiness that our forefathers [sic] conceived and brought What's wrong with the word "forefathers"? Do you prefer "foremothers"? "Progenitors"? Is reality too politically incorrect for your superior moral sensitivities? : forth on this continent such a nation (conceived in liberty) and : purported to give EVERY human as his or her birthright. Sigh, Diogenes, if this were the case then why didn't Jefferson and his friends argue for the vote for women, liberty for the slaves, and decent treatment for the Indians (you know, like the kind of treatment accorded the French, English, Spanish, etc.)? Perhaps your prescient assessment is based on something other than the way *you think* things ought to be now and ought to have been then. Maybe your legal training has given you special insight into the minds of 18th century statemen, philosophers, and politicians. If so, then I wonder what special law school courses you've been taking. They never taught that stuff when I was in law school. But thanks for your complimentary sentences. Bill Franke
Re: Support State Sponsored Discrimination: Support Affirmative Action
Author: David Prenatt
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 1994 22:33
Date: Tue, 20 Dec 1994 22:33
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L. William Franke wrote (in pertinent part) in response to David Prenatt: : What's wrong with the word "forefathers"? Do you prefer "foremothers"? : "Progenitors"? Is reality too politically incorrect for your superior : moral sensitivities? A rose is a rose is a rose, Gertrude. As a libertarian, I am NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, an advocate of P.C. propoganda. : Sigh, Diogenes, if this were the case then why didn't Jefferson and his : friends argue for the vote for women, liberty for the slaves, and decent : treatment for the Indians (you know, like the kind of treatment accorded : the French, English, Spanish, etc.)? Some did! But others convinced them that such equal treatment would come in time [Erich Fromm calls this phenomenon an "historical existential dichotomy]. Slavery was a particularly difficult issue, since it had been such a "normal" part of life for thousands of years (much like royalty). Many believed slavery as an institution would die out. Nevertheless, after a moratorium (of 20 years, I believe), the slave trade was outlawed by Congress; violations of this prohibition were flagrant. : . . . Maybe your legal training has given you special insight into the : minds of 18th century statemen, philosophers, and politicians. I like to think so. :-) Let me also say that I am very proud to announce that U.C. Davis has (once again) had the highest bar passage rate for the California Bar Exam (94.4%), beating out Stanford, Berkeley, etc. Many of us here at Davis attribute our overall success on the bar exam to a unique spirit of community and cooperation found nowhere else. Part of that spirit is an unspoken, rebuttable presumption of basic human equality to which virtually all of us stand committed. : If so, then I wonder what special law school courses you've been taking. : They never taught that stuff when I was in law school. Jurisprudence, taught by Professor John B. Oakley. I also highly recommend the text for that class, _Law's Empire_ by Ronald Dworkin. In this book, Dworkin compares the evolution of law to a chain novel, which each generation of lawyers and judges continues to write. : But thanks for your complimentary sentences. You are quite welcome! Sincerely, DFP,Jr. ***** David F. Prenatt, Jr. King Hall School of Law, Class of 1995 University of California Davis, CA 95616 *****
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