What's with the ribon stickers? | Off Topic | unofficial empeg BBS

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#240695 - 15/02/2005 14:06 Re: What's with the ribon stickers? [Re: bonzi]
RobotCaleb pooh-bah Registered: 15/01/2002 Posts: 1866 Loc: Austin	Quote: I think that the last time that troops following their orders, constructive or not, had anything to do with freedom of your country (as you imply) was during WWII. I would argue that simply the act of maintaining an active military contributes every day to us keeping our freedom.
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#240696 - 15/02/2005 16:03 Re: What's with the ribon stickers? [Re: Daria]
wfaulk carpal tunnel Registered: 25/12/2000 Posts: 16706 Loc: Raleigh, NC US	Quote: their service is no less valuable than previous generations I suppose that depends how you define valuable, from whose point of view. Certainly their lives are no more or less precious than those serving during WWII, to pick an example. All life is worth saving. But if they're sacrificing themselves for something that's worthless (to exaggerate), what does that mean? Well, if you spend a million lives to get the results of World War II, you get some value to each life. But if you spend 1000 lives to get nothing, well, those lives are less valuable insofar as the reward ganed from their loss. On the flip side, are not squandered resources more valuable than those spent meaningfully? Would you rather have back that $500 you spent to get an empeg or that $10 that fell out of your wallet last week? So maybe they're more valuable. _________________________ Bitt Faulk
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#240697 - 15/02/2005 16:07 Re: What's with the ribon stickers? [Re: loren]
wfaulk carpal tunnel Registered: 25/12/2000 Posts: 16706 Loc: Raleigh, NC US	Quote: Hah. I hadn't seen that anti-magnet site. I've got the same sentiments towards yellow bracelets. Yeah, that sort of self-aggrandizing lip-service cheeses me off, too. I just don't understand what the thought process is: "I'll buy this ribbon/armband to show my support, plus some money goes to them!": This person just wants to show off. "Some money goes towards them, plus I get this fancy ribbon/armband!": This person either puts some value on the show-off effect, or is too stupid to contribute directly to a charity. I don't know that I like any of those points of view. _________________________ Bitt Faulk
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#240698 - 15/02/2005 16:25 Re: What's with the ribon stickers? [Re: wfaulk]
Daria carpal tunnel Registered: 24/01/2002 Posts: 3937 Loc: Providence, RI	Quote: But if they're sacrificing themselves for something that's worthless (to exaggerate), what does that mean? Well, then we should appreciate them all the more, for if true it means they are willing to pay the ultimate price for no net gain to their country. One would assume, though, that they do not themselves have such a defeatist attitude, though I agree with your assessment of the likely result. Quote: On the flip side, are not squandered resources more valuable than those spent meaningfully? Would you rather have back that $500 you spent to get an empeg or that $10 that fell out of your wallet last week? So maybe they're more valuable. That's a glib way of looking at it, but I can't really dispute it.
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#240699 - 15/02/2005 16:29 Re: What's with the ribon stickers? [Re: Daria]
wfaulk carpal tunnel Registered: 25/12/2000 Posts: 16706 Loc: Raleigh, NC US	Obviously, I'm putting a finite value on something that of limitless worth, but I'm not so good with my infinity-related math. _________________________ Bitt Faulk
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#240700 - 15/02/2005 17:02 Re: What's with the ribon stickers? [Re: RobotCaleb]
julf veteran Registered: 01/10/2001 Posts: 1307 Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands	Quote: I would argue that simply the act of maintaining an active military contributes every day to us keeping our freedom. While I actually agree with your statement (with some small caveats), I have to point out that that's probably what Saddam said, too....
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