From:	Patrick Goodman <remo@***.NET>
Subject:	Re: Southern Intelligence
Date:	Fri, 11 Sep 1998 21:38:15 -0500

From: Bruce <gyro@********.CO.ZA>
Date: Thursday, September 10, 1998 3:12 AM

>>Atlanta. Charleston. Macon. Jackson. Mobile. Biloxi. Since
>>(if I recall correctly) backround count is at least partially caused
>>by the outpouring of extreme emotion, usually borne of suffering, I'd
>>venture to say that the area around any of the old plantations,
>>whether absorbed into a metropolitan sprawl or not, is going to have
>>higher than normal BG count.
>
>The question arises of how long background count is likely to last.

I think it's at least partially dependent on how long the events that
contributed to it went on. Also likely to be proportional to the suffering
or outpouring of emotion that led up to its existence.

>I cant see any but the worst sites of slavery and oppression
>retaining a BGC for as long as you ae describing. In Awakenings they
>describe the Polish Death Camps as places of sadness and suffering.
>Major League difference in intensity of opression and much more recent.

Also a major league difference in the amount of time it went on. How long
was Auschwitz in operation, anyway? Twelve years at the outside? Slavery
existed for centuries in the deep South, and the atrocities committed here
in the South, while on a smaller numerical scale, were just as evil as
anything done in the Nazi camps.

And if the slavery angle isn't enough, how about the War Between the States?
You think there's not a background count in places like Antietam or
Gettysburg or Shiloh? I stand by my original statement: There are going to
be places in the South where the background count is going to be staggering.

>Although racism is likely to linger in people hearts I would say
>that the process of reconciliation and truth will have saved the
>South by the 2050s.

Your faith in human nature is commendable. It's sadly misplaced, but it's
commendable. I think that if Shadowrun has shown us anything it's that
hatred and prejudice are even more prevalent in the 2060 era than it is now.
And Southerners are slow to change. I know; I am one, after all, and have
lived among them most of my life. Reconciliation? Truth? Don't hold your
breath.

>What submission are we discussing BTW?

It started out as a discussion for a possible NERPS: Intelligence book, but
kind of mutated into Target: CAS or something similar.

---
(>) Texas 2-Step
El Paso: Never surrender. Never forget. Never forgive.