Slouch by Jim Earle “This is a new first. He told me he could not make class because he had to talk to his counselor about how he could improve his grades.” Opinion 80s: tough decade The 1980s begin in a month. Or are they already here? They might be. Irving Kristol, a conservative, says the next decade will focus on foreign affairs, not domestic issues like the ’60s or “me” like the ’70s. “The 1980s have alreay begun,” he said at a student conference in Atlanta last week. “They began earlier this month in Tehran. America is realizing— the hard way— it does not control the world, or even the major resources it needs to prosper. And Kristol says this will force the United States into drastic action to secure vital energy. “The U.S. can’t grow in the ’80s without military action and our policing of world economic order. ” In other words, Kristol predicts the country will go to war to protect its gas-guzzling autos and increasing Gross Na tional Product. But Kristol is a neo-conservative, and as such paints the worst picture possible. “The world is in the process of falling apart,” he glooms. He ignores the changes Americans, both citizens and businessmen, can make to redirect the scenario. Certainly, the country cannot afford to continue importing about half its oil — 8 million barrels a day. But we don’t have to go to war to get it, either. A recent Harvard Business School study showed Americans can “make” millions of barrels a day through conservation. Through the 80s we will be forced to adjust our lifestyles to use less energy, and we must also adjust our national ego. The rest of the world is catching up, and we can’t tell it what to do anymore. The ’80s have begun. It will be a tough decade, but not an impossible one, Mr. Kristol. the small society by Brickman \\ao-fer