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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1974)
J Page 2 THE BATTALION FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1974 Government The economic reply Eliminate the root of all evil By MIKE PERRIN Sherry Smith is a personable, idealistic, and very involved candi date for governor. She runs on the Socialist Workers Party ticket and says she is anti-capitalist. But she should be antigovern ment instead. All of the abuses at tributed to capitalism by Ms. Smith are actually in the lap of govern ment. She says that capitalists are in control of society and that they have an unfair advantage over workers because of their ability to influence political decisions. Insofar as this says that any government is corrup tible and inevitably so, she is cor rect. The answer is not to get rid oi capitalists so that workers can con trol the government, but to get rid of government so workers can con trol capitalists. They already do to an extent. But big business or big labor or big anything with money can gain more control of a society by grabbing the government. The way to make sure that no unfair use of government occurs is to get rid of government. Without government, there could be no farm subsidy program, which aims to keep farmers in the same relative position in the economy they held in 1910-1914, the “golden years of agriculture”. Neither could we have limits on oil imports to make bigger profits for oil companies. Neither could we have regulatory agencies whose primary aim is to keep competitors from en tering an industry and enable pro ducers to get together, and collude and use the law to back up their collusion. Government is the only agency which can compel people to do things they don’t want to do. In fact, that is government’s only function, since we don’t have to compel peo ple to do things they want to do. You must support government by com pliance and taxes or face prison, fines or other punishments. Gov ernment does not have to sell itself—it can compel compliance. Shoe manufacturers cannot make you buy shoes; Swanson can’t make you buy Swanson frozen dinners. But government provides a method where shoe manufacturers can de clare that THIS is the way to build shoes and any other way won’t be permitted. Or Swanson can get the government to say that THIS type of frozen dinner must meet so and so standards. In all cases, the regula tions obstensibly protect you and me from unhealthy or shoddy pro ducts. But in fact, it produces a standar dized array of mediocre products and prevents more efficient and more ambitious promoters from in troducing their products, thereby limiting the supply of these pro ducts and holding up profits. A good example of an unregulated industry is calculators. Electronic calculators have dropped in price steadily since their introduction; quality and design has improved. AND they are not subject to gov ernment regulation. Prices have been rising for some time in the fol lowing areas: transportation, food, clothing, in short, all regulated areas. The more the regulation, the sharper the increases. The consumer is king without government—no one can compel him to do anything he doesn’t wish to do; no one can prevent him from competing in any area he wishes ex cept other consumers if he does not please them. Profit is sought but can only be obtained by pleasing the buyers; no artificial way to rig the markets exists. Efficiency and plenty are the bywords of the Socialist movement; they are the results of anarchy. Power must flow from the bottom up, not the top down. And this is true only where the top is voluntar ily supported. When we vote, we don’t volunteer to serve that candi date for four years—we agree to allow someone to coerce us and our neighbors into things which we and they don’t like. We only get to choose our keepers, not the way the jail is run. So when Sherry Smith says that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans, she is right. She is right when she says that government now has abuses. But she is wrong when she says that human nature must change to pro vide plenty for everyone. The solu- Coasters tion is at hand—do away with gov ernment altogether and let society have the adaptability it needs. To the extent that a vote for the Socialist Party is a vote against things as they are, vote Socialist. But think anarchist. By Rodney Hammack “Did you guys hear about some clown who yelled ‘Raid,’ at the Adult Library Club last night? Boy, some of the customers beat the hell outta that guy!” Listen up Candidate a funny man Editor: Enclosed is a clipping from the Oct. 24 Waco Tribune-Herald re porting on Republican candidate for governor Jim Cranberry. “Jim Cranberry told the follow ing Aggie joke to Waco Lions (Lions Club). This lady discovered huge rats in her basement. Quickly she thumbed through the yellow pages and called Aggie Exterminating Co. ‘This is an emergency,’ she shouted into the phone. ‘Big vicious rats are taking over my basement. Please hurry!’ A big van truck pulled up in front of the house a few minutes later. The doors burst open and out charged 20 Aggies in uniform, complete with knee boots and rifles with fixed bayonettes. They charged into the basement. Two of the Aggies were killed. Eight were wounded. Six defected to the other side and two came out with war brides.” The last thing we need in this state is a governor with this attitude toward our school. Anyone as pre judiced, ignorant of facts and ill- mannered as this guy has no busi ness asking any Aggie (or anyone else) for his or her vote. All too often we have to try to be polite and listen to people run A&M down but this is one time we have the opportunity to register our dis-. gust by voting for someone other than Dr. Cranberry. R. H. White ’47 W-1 again Editor: In regard to Beadling’s letter on Oct. 22: First, Beadling never stated whether she was a member of the Corps or not. As a member of the Corps my thoughts are from first hand knowledge. Her statement of giving the girls admiration caused me to ask what for? For joining the Corps? I see nothing extremely admirable in that. The admiration she speaks of comes not from within the Corps but from the people who view it. I say respect earns respect. When they show respect for A&M, the) Corps, and for their upperclassmen, + I am sure they will receive the ac ceptance due them. Until then, actions such as run ning during the playing of the “Spirit of Aggieland,” blowing ofl" upperclassmen or shuffling along and muttering a “Howdy” will get them nothing but contempt. I also hope the day females are admitted to the Aggie Band that the entire band will consist of a mini- skirted tuba player. The Aggie Band is too fine an outfit to ever be changed. Keith Hairell ’76 JESSE JAMES STATE TREASURER Let’s Re-elect JESSE JAMES STATE TREASURER HIS PROVEN RECORD MERITS YOUR VOTE AND SUPPORT During the past 12 Months JESSE JAMES STATE TREASURER 1. Earned Interest on State Deposits in over 1200 Texas banks $ 51,673,755.19 2. Collected cigarette tax 242,366,191.70 j 3. Earned interest and dividends processed and collected in Bond Division 260,525,502.76 4. Escheat & other taxes 2,603,672.39 Total major direct collections (Treas. Dept.) S557,169TlT9.04' LET S VOTE FOR AND RE-ELECT JESSE JAMES STATE TREASURER Pol Adv Paid for by Jesse James Box 12404 Capitol Sta. Austin. Texas 78711 €bt Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor on re 9 uest Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of Station, Texas 77843 the university administration or the Board of Directors. 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