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<p>And as one of Frank's readers, I highly recommend it if you have
any nostalgia at all, or curiosity about what made Frank Frank!</p>
<p>I doubt it will motivate ME to write my own as Nick encourages,
though I suppose I could just collate my FriAM reminiscences and
that alone would probably qualify... <br>
</p>
<p>The first chapter, I suppose would be "canned ham and a cowbell"?<br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAA5dAfrsmxPfzBXF8FjqMTSNPtiCfsCc5Sdsj8nr3VkPwL8j=g@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div dir="auto">A link to the photo is in a separate email. I
wouldn't mind going back. I wouldn't care about not having
published more papers.
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto">Say, this is a good moment to pitch my memoir
about my childhood in New Mexico.</div>
<div dir="auto"><br>
</div>
<div dir="auto"><a href="http://amazon.com/author/frankwimberly"
moz-do-not-send="true">amazon.com/author/frankwimberly</a><br>
<br>
<div data-smartmail="gmail_signature" dir="auto">---<br>
Frank C. Wimberly<br>
140 Calle Ojo Feliz, <br>
Santa Fe, NM 87505<br>
<br>
505 670-9918<br>
Santa Fe, NM</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 3:54 PM
<<a href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" style="word-wrap:break-word"
lang="EN-US">
<div class="m_-6915505942743643652WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal">OOOOPS! No photo!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for your observations. Let’s
say everybody like you were sent back to that boxcar.
There would be a revolution, right? Blood in the
streets. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">N</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick Thompson</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com" target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="color:#0563c1">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid #e1e1e1
1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Friam <<a
href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam-bounces@redfish.com</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Frank Wimberly<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, August 27, 2021 3:56 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> The Friday Morning Applied Complexity
Coffee Group <<a href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam@redfish.com</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [FRIAM] "All [persons] are created
equal"</p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">A
photo of me, my oldest cousin, and my grandfather
taken at that time (WW2). That's a railroad boxcar
used as a temporary residence for transient railroad
workers.</p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">---<br>
Frank C. Wimberly<br>
140 Calle Ojo Feliz, <br>
Santa Fe, NM 87505<br>
<br>
505 670-9918<br>
Santa Fe, NM</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 1:45 PM
Frank Wimberly <<a
href="mailto:wimberly3@gmail.com" target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true">wimberly3@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid #cccccc
1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in
6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">During WW2, while my father was
serving in the Pacific, my mother and I lived with
her parents in a little village in the mountains
of rural New Mexico. We lived in a two bedroom
house with running water but no bathroom. Heat
was provided by a wood burning stove that was used
for cooking as well. There was a battery powered
console radio. I was between 4 months and 30
months old. I was bathed in a galvanized washtub
and I remember that. We had no shortage of food
nor clothing. My grandfather worked for the Santa
Fe Railroad as a section foreman and had a secure
salary. I remember being happy but, for the most
part, I was oblivious. A kid that age isn't happy
if the adults, particularly his mother, aren't
happy. After my mother and I moved away from
there after the War we visited often until I was
five. I remember my grandparents enjoying life
for the most part. </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">To live like that today would
require me to give up almost everything I have.
But I feel nostalgic for that time and fond of
those memories.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">---<br>
Frank C. Wimberly<br>
140 Calle Ojo Feliz, <br>
Santa Fe, NM 87505<br>
<br>
505 670-9918<br>
Santa Fe, NM</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, Aug 27, 2021, 1:23 PM
<<a href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote style="border:none;border-left:solid
#cccccc 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in
6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in">
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, of the privileges you
enjoy and list, how many would have to go
away before you life would be no longer
“decent”?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To be honest, Idon’t know
what I am fishing for here, but for some
reason the answer to that question seems
important to me. I guess, I am thinking that
the notion of a decent life, like that of a
essential worker, hides some caste
implications within it. That some of us are
of a nature that they SHOULD be satisfied
with less than would satisfy me. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">N</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick Thompson</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div style="border:none;border-top:solid
#e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Friam <<a
href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam-bounces@redfish.com</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Pieter Steenekamp<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, August 27, 2021 3:06
PM<br>
<b>To:</b> The Friday Morning Applied
Complexity Coffee Group <<a
href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam@redfish.com</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [FRIAM] "All [persons]
are created equal"</p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Nick,<br>
<br>
Thanks for asking how I would characterize
the life I'm leading. My life is just
great, I'm satisfied with my life. My need
for food, safety, love and self-esteem are
to a large degree met. Actually, I would
rate myself on the self-actualization
level on Moslow's hierarchy. <br>
<br>
It's not about me, there are many people
in South Africa who's basic
physiological needs like food and
safety are not met.<br>
<br>
Pieter </p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, 27 Aug 2021
at 20:28, <<a
href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="border:none;border-left:solid
#cccccc 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in
6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pieter, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If, in your ideal
world, their lives are “decent, ”
how would you characterize the life
that you are leading. The way you
talk sounds a bit like the way we
talk about “essential” workers
here. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">N </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick Thompson</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div
style="border:none;border-top:solid
#e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in
0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b>
Friam <<a
href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam-bounces@redfish.com</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Pieter
Steenekamp<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, August 27,
2021 1:49 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> The Friday Morning
Applied Complexity Coffee Group
<<a
href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam@redfish.com</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [FRIAM] "All
[persons] are created equal"</p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dave wrote <i><span
style="font-family:"Comic
Sans MS"">Why this
obsession with "equality?"</span></i></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I totally
agree. But in South Africa we
have a large portion of the
population that do not have food
on the table every day and I
simply don't think it's right.<br>
<br>
So, my view is that instead of
obsessing with "equality", we
should obsess that those on the
bottom of the economic ladder
should at least have decent
lives.<br>
<br>
Pieter</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, 27
Aug 2021 at 19:11, <<a
href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="border:none;border-left:solid
#cccccc 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in
6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dave, </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think
of mathematical abstractions
as aspirations. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks
for meeting me on my own
ground, here. You will
recall that my original
project was to try and
discover what the
metaphysical foundations
might be for my strong
negative response to the
idea that castes are
tolerable. What MUST I
assume in order to think as
I do. I have for many
years suspected that the
fundamental difference
between comfortable BHL’s
like me and comfortable
conservatives is that we
liberals see our comfort as
arising from good luck, and
they see their comfort as
arising from their merit.
Now, all metaphysics is
non-sense, except insofar as
it explains and encourages
an approach to other people
that is … um …. Good. I
think than mine encourages
me to approach people less
wealthy than I, not as
people deserving of their
fate but as people who have,
in some sense, made me a
gift. Thus if there is
kharma, it should be that
the fortunate “should” pay
for the correction of any
absence of randomness that
intergenerational transfers
might inflict on the
children of the poor. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I lay
this out in this naïve way
because I thought it might
provoke a strong (and
perhaps equally naïve)
reaction from Sarbajit which
would make it immediately
clear what different places
we are coming from.
Sarbajit may not answer, in
which case I am left having
revealed my naivete
metaphysics to you bozos
with all the consequences
that must follow. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now
remember, nobody ever
claimed that all [persons]
are <s>created</s> equal.
I think that we all will
agree that all persons are
created equal [ in] <s><span
style="color:red">and </span></s>that
they are endowed … with
certain unalienable rights
…” “– i.e., they should be
equal before the law. Our
differences lie between
these two poles. I take the
“and” seriously, and think
that, above and beyond the
legal rights implied by the
“endowment” conveyed by the
second clause, they have an
obligation of humbleness and
gratitude to all those what
have their good fortune
possible, and that, at the
very minimum that obligation
should be expressed in an
overtly redistributive tax
policy. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But even
if you don’t accept the
further implications of
severing the two clauses in
the way that I do, the
notion of equality before
the law demands much more of
the rich than they currently
pay. For instance, when J.
P. Morgan IX runs over the
faithful k-9 companion of
the homeless Max Morgan and
Max decides to sue, J.P. can
pay the requested amount,
including Max’s court costs
and be done with it. If he
decides to contest, then
both parties should pay into
the court costs in
proportion to their wealth
and the lawyers should be
assigned at random. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To the
extent that the list is
laced with libertarians, I
don’t expect much sympathy
from the list for any of
this. If one thing unites
libertarians, I would wager,
it is the idea that people
get what they deserve, or at
least, that they have the
right to hang on to whatever
they get. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So,
Dave: What is your naïve
metaphysics? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick
Thompson</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"
target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</span></a></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<div
style="border:none;border-top:solid
#e1e1e1
1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in
0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b>
Friam <<a
href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com"
target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam-bounces@redfish.com</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Prof
David West<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday,
August 27, 2021 11:17 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a
href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"
target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">friam@redfish.com</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re:
[FRIAM] "All [persons]
are created equal"</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">OK,
curmudgeon and
misanthrope that I am, I
still must ask:</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Why
this obsession with
"equality?"</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Outside
of the abstraction of
math, no one thing is
equal, in any sense, to
another, let alone all
members of a set of
things being equal to
each other.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Narrowing
our attention to human
beings. it has already
been noted that the
dimensions of potential
inequality are myriad.
It would be impossible
to "equalize" all
dimensions
simultaneously, so pick
one, income for example,
and equalize on that
dimension.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">To
what end? What outcome
would you expect to see?
Why would it not be the
case that every possible
outcome would result in
persistent
"inequalities" because
all the other dimensions
of difference would
swamp your 'independent
variable' of income?</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">No
two human beings are
created equal, let alone
all "men." (sic) But the
unfounded conviction
that this must be 'true'
demands the invention of
myth to explain why it
is not. And those myths
are, in my opinion,
harmful and divisive.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">I
agree with Pieter (and
probably everyone else
on this list) that the
current state of income
inequality is evil and
untenable. But, I would
disagree with any means
of rectifying the
situation that is
grounded in any kind of
myth of individual human
"equality."</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">davew</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri,
Aug 27, 2021, at 1:34 AM,
Pieter Steenekamp wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt"
id="m_-6915505942743643652m_-6336081830317335666m_2782945502161850858gmail-m_-726961152989544442gmail-m_600939801068286562qt">
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">If
you just look at the
world then "all
[persons] are created
equal" is just
nonsense. What I like
to focus on is what
can we as a society
do, and what can I
personally do to move
towards making all
more equal? It's
obviously not
practical to expect
heaven on earth, but
IMO the current state
of inequality is just
not acceptable, but
that's no reason to do
nothing. For now I
just address the first
one, what can we as a
society do?</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">The
current state of
politics is to a
large extent driven by
ideology and I would
like to see a movement
towards a more
practical, and humble
approach. Like an
approach based on the
philosophy behind the
2019 economic Nobel
prize winners
Banerjee, Duflo and
Kremer. Their approach
to reduce global
poverty is
experiment-based,
taken from science. </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I
quote from <a
href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/camilomaldonado/2019/10/14/nobel-prize-in-economics-won-by-trio-tackling-global-poverty/"
target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.forbes.com/sites/camilomaldonado/2019/10/14/nobel-prize-in-economics-won-by-trio-tackling-global-poverty/</a>
:</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Their
work, which tackles
one of humanities most
pressing issues, is
based on the idea that
to battle poverty, the
issues should be
broken down into
smaller pieces and
studied via small
field experiments to
answer precise
questions within the
communities who are
most affected."</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another
quote:</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Poor
people are supposed
to be either
completely desperate
or lazy or
entrepreneurial but
people don’t – we
don’t try to …
understand the deep
root and
interconnected root
of poverty." -
Esther Duflo</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I
don't mind if
anybody wants to
understand the deep
root and
interconnected root
of poverty, it's
just that I
personally, like
Esther Duflo, like
to focus on what to
do about it.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pieter</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">On
Fri, 27 Aug 2021 at
05:07, <<a
href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
target="_blank"
rel="noreferrer"
moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="border:none;border-left:solid
#cccccc
1.0pt;padding:0in 0in
0in
6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<div>
<div>
<p>Dave,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is, of
course, exactly
the opposite of my
creation myth in
which the slate is
wiped clean after
every generation.
But it would
explain a belief
system in which
well-being was the
deserved reward of
having lived well
in a previous
life. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>While I am here,
please let me
point out that
“equal in law”
seems a rather
constrained
understanding
“born equal”,
given especially
that the passage
goes on to add
equality in law
(well rights,
actually) as an
additional
endowment. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“… and they are
endowed by their
Creator by certain
<span
style="color:red;background:yellow">rights,
including life,
liberty, and the
pursuit of
happiness.</span><span
style="color:red"> </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Where is John
Dobson when we
need him. Could
somebody please
forward this note
to him. I don’t
have his email
address here with
me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thanks, </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nick </p>
<div>
<p>Nick Thompson</p>
<p><a
href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a></p>
<p><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563c1">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</span></a></p>
</div>
<p> </p>
<div>
<div
style="border:none;border-top:solid
#e1e1e1
1.0pt;padding:3.0pt
0in 0in
0in;border-right:currentcolor;border-bottom:currentcolor;border-left:currentcolor">
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b>
Friam <<a
href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true">friam-bounces@redfish.com</a>>
<b>On Behalf
Of </b>Prof
David West</p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b>Sent:</b>
Thursday,
August 26,
2021 10:17 PM</p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b>To:</b>
<a
href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true">friam@redfish.com</a></p>
</div>
<div>
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b>Subject:</b>
Re: [FRIAM]
"All [persons]
are created
equal"</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p> </p>
<div>
<p><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Purely
from my
academic
understanding
of the
subject; the
Nick that is,
at this moment
/ in this
incarnation,
is a product
of karma
accrued and
shed over
multiple
instances of
existence.
Hence, what
you are now is
precisely what
you <u>deserve</u>
to be. All
persons may
have been
created equal
some untold
incarnations
ago and before
they had any
opportunity to
accrete karma.</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">davew</span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><span
style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span></p>
</div>
<div>
<p>On Thu, Aug 26,
2021, at 2:04
PM, <a
href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>
wrote:</p>
</div>
<blockquote
style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt"
id="m_-6915505942743643652m_-6336081830317335666m_2782945502161850858gmail-m_-726961152989544442gmail-m_600939801068286562qt-gmail-m_483865265995499473qt">
<div>
<p>Sarbajit,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If I
understand the
shape of the
globe
correctly, you
are waking up
pretty soon,
and I would
like to pick
up the
conversation
about caste,
if you don’t
mind. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I believe the
proposition in
the subject
line. Given
the many ways
that
proposition
can be
understood as
plainly false,
I feel that my
belief in it
must be
defended.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In what sense
equal? Not in
genes. Not in
uterine
environment.
. Not in
early
nutrition and
cognitive
stimulation.
Not in social
capitol. Not
in financial
capitol. Not
in access to
health care.
Not in
exposure to
future
parasites.
Not in almost
anything that
I can think
of. So, why
is the
aphorism not
just nonsense.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I find, that
if I examine
my thinking in
this matter, a
very primitive
metaphysics
about the
moment of an
individual’s
creation.
What follows
is flagrantly
silly, but
here it is.
On my account,
at the moment
of birth a
soul is taken
out of storage
and assigned
to a body. By
“person” in
the aphorism,
I mean the
combination of
a particular
soul with the
particular
body. These
assignments
are at
random. So,
for good or
ill, no soul
deserves the
body it gets.
I cannot
claim credit
for my genes,
my good
uterine
environment,
my social
capitol, my
financial
capitol, my
bad hip, the
draft
deferment it
provided, my
getting a phd
at absolute
peak of demand
for phd’s, my
good
education,
even my FRIAM
membership.
They are all
consequences
of that
initial,
random
assignment.
Now YOU may
credit me in
some ways,
because
knowing that
all these
advantages
have been
assigned to me
may make me
useful or
pleasing (or
the opposite)
in many ways,
and that may
bring me the
advantages of
your
association.
But <span
style="font-family:Wingdings">è</span>
I <span
style="font-family:Wingdings">ç</span>
do not <span
style="font-family:Wingdings">è</span>deserve<span
style="font-family:Wingdings">ç</span>
those
advantages. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This odd
metaphysics
leads me to
enormous
gratitude for
the life I
have been
allowed to
live and great
sympathy for
rigorous
taxation of
the
advantaged, so
that so much a
soul’s future
is not
determined by
that moment of
assignment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have no
idea what
happens to
this primitive
metaphysics if
I try to
integrate it
with my
monism. The
religious
scholars among
you might
recognize as
some backass
weird
perversion of
Calvinism. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nick Thompson</p>
<p><a
href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</a></p>
<p><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" moz-do-not-send="true">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</a></p>
<p> </p>
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