From: Wilson@nowhere.invalid   
      
   On 2/15/2026 2:22 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   > On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 14:19:32 -0500, Wilson    
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 2/15/2026 1:37 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>> On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 13:25:10 -0500, Wilson    
   >>> wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 2/15/2026 1:18 PM, Noah Sombrero wrote:   
   >>>>> On Sun, 15 Feb 2026 09:44:05 -0800, Dude  wrote:   
   >>>>>> On 2/15/2026 7:40 AM, Noah Sombrero wrote:>>> You can't simply go   
   around announcing that libertarianism is a   
   >>>> principle and therefore   
   >>>>>>> true.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Who are these "libertarianism" of whom you speak? Apparently, you've   
   >>>>>> never even seen a photo of The Statue of Liberty. Wait! What?   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> The sol poem   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,   
   >>>>> With conquering limbs astride from land to land;   
   >>>>> Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand   
   >>>>> A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame   
   >>>>> Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name   
   >>>>> Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand   
   >>>>> Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command   
   >>>>> The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she   
   >>>>> With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,   
   >>>>> Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,   
   >>>>> The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.   
   >>>>> Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,   
   >>>>> I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"   
   >>>>   
   >>>> That poem was added to the statue of liberty after it had been erected   
   >>>> as part of a private fund-raising effort. It does not define the meaning   
   >>>> of the statue, the creators intention for making it, or the reason the   
   >>>> nation of France gave it to the US.   
   >>>   
   >>> Or actually it does.   
   >>>   
   >>> Let's hear it, why do you think france put that statue on a boat and   
   >>> shipped it across the atlantic?   
   >>   
   >> "The Statue of Liberty, officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World   
   >> (La Liberté éclairant le monde in French), was a gift from the people of   
   >> France to the United States, formally presented in 1884 and dedicated in   
   >> 1886.   
   >>   
   >> Origins and Motivations   
   >>   
   >> French political thinker, historian, and abolitionist Édouard de   
   >> Laboulaye first proposed the idea in 1865, shortly after the end of the   
   >> American Civil War and the abolition of slavery in the US. Laboulaye   
   >> admired the American republic and its constitution, and he saw the   
   >> monument as a way to:   
   >>   
   >> - Celebrate the enduring friendship and alliance between France and the   
   >> United States, particularly France's crucial support during the American   
   >> Revolutionary War.   
   >>   
   >> - Commemorate the upcoming 100 year anniversary of the American   
   >> Declaration of Independence and honor the US as a successful example of   
   >> republican government and the abolition of slavery (symbolized by the   
   >> broken chains at the statue's feet).   
   >>   
   >> In the French domestic context, the timing was significant. France had   
   >> just suffered defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), leading to   
   >> the collapse of Napoleon III's empire and the establishment of the Third   
   >> Republic. Laboulaye and other French republicans viewed the gift as a   
   >> subtle promotion of republican ideals and liberty at home, expressing   
   >> hope that these values would prevail in France against monarchical or   
   >> authoritarian tendencies.   
   >>   
   >> The project was a joint effort: French citizens funded the statue itself   
   >> through public contributions, while Americans funded the pedestal and   
   >> installation.   
   >>   
   >> Meaning to the French   
   >>   
   >> To the French, the statue primarily symbolized the universal ideals of   
   >> liberty and enlightenment stemming from both the American and French   
   >> Revolutions. It depicted Libertas (the Roman goddess of freedom) holding   
   >> a torch to illuminate the world with reason and republican principles,   
   >> reflecting France's own revolutionary motto of Liberté, Égalité,   
   >> Fraternité. It was not originally intended as a symbol of immigration   
   >   
   > Yes, that association came a few years later, not that it should be   
   > discarded because of that.   
   >   
   >> (that association developed later in the US), but rather as a   
   >> celebration of shared political values and a beacon of hope for liberty   
   >> worldwide.   
   >>   
   >> In summary, the gift was both a diplomatic gesture of transatlantic   
   >> solidarity and a domestic statement by French republicans affirming the   
   >> triumph of liberty over oppression."   
      
   It's the Statue of Liberty not the Statue of unchecked immigration.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)