Very eloquently written post and I agree with you 100 %. This thread has not died on Ridecamp and should not. I also wish we had the huevos to investigate these allegations and make the right moral choice as a National Team.
Kim
In a message dated 10/22/2004 1:01:02 PM Pacific Standard Time, anyone@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
This thread isn't necessarily "dead". I've had trouble coming up with a reasonable comeback to what Marianne said. Because we personally didn't know about the slave trade, that means because we've supported the US gov't, from what she's said, it sounds like I'm complicit. And that because we don't understand the desperate situations in much of the world, we should support slavery as a reasonable alternative to overpopulation, world hunger--or that it is acceptable in certain cultures. No. Sorry. This is directly connected to the sport I love, because the people who allegedly are responsible for this slavery are hosting our world championships and sponsoring events here. And the reason it's reached the radar now perhaps is because it's all in the name of SPORT. Not wartime atrocities. Peacetime atrocities. Now that I know, I can't keep silent--at the same time, now that my fellow sportmen know where I stand, I'll shut up here.
Consider indentured servitude--and how it's different from slavery. Someone agreed, somewhere to a term of service in exchange for something. And the service includes a reasonable standard of living. Millions of us have done that by serving in the US forces, for instance. You aren't "chattel".
I'm donating some prizes to the raffle for our local US team member's fund raiser tomorrow night, and am deciding whether to attend. I've supported her efforts thus far, contributing saddle fitting, etc., but boy, I wish we had the huevos to investigate these allegations and make the right moral choice as a National Team. We've done it before, at the Olympic level. Why is this any different?
