Quote: "There are only 90,000 people out there...."

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Thu Oct 24 01:11:12 UTC 2013


On Oct 23, 2013, at 4:58 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> Writes Hickel (208):
>
> "We had established military bases in Turkey and Spain without right of
> eminent domain. What right did we have to invoke eminent domain on the
> Micronesians? They had little enough land for their own needs, and their
> very livelihood depended on that land and the surrounding ocean. They
> wanted to work with us, They told me on Saipan that all they wanted was a
> voice in our decisions.
>
> "But Kissinger's answer in Rogers's office was: 'There are only 90,000
> people out there. Who gives a damn?'
>
> "I did. In fact, I was totally shocked by this remark. This seemed to me an
> inhuman approach to a situation involving human beings. …"
>

Well at least someone with that cramped, ungenerous, and inhumane spirit would never qualify for a Nobel Peace Prize.  What's that?  Oh.  Never mind.

LH

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