Page 2/ r fhe BattaliorVThursday, April 2, 1987
Opinion
:X-
Americans easy prey because of low self-esteem
There is a dis
ease that is threat
ening the well-be-
i ng of every
American. It’s not
AIDS. It’s not
d rug abuse. It’s
not immorality.
It’s low self-es
teem.
A typical Amer
ican has to put up
with a lot of prob-
Karl
Pallmeyer
lems these days, and the biggest prob
lem facing Americans is the constant at
tack on self-esteem.
ing is to make the consumer feel inad-
quate unless he or she buys a certain
product. Once the consumer buys that
product, he or she is then made to feel
inadquate because he purchased that
product and not another.
Aside from the constant bombard
ment of commercials, movies, music and
literature are being used to destroy self
esteem by promoting conformity. “Top
Goon” had one message — join the
armed forces so you can be just like the
cute people in the movie. Every song on
the radio sounds the same for one rea-
to get people to want the same
A person can’t turn on the TV with
out seeing dozens of attacks on his self
esteem. Every commercial says some
thing like: “You smell — use this soap,”
or “You’re fat — come to our gym,” or
“You’re ugly — use these cosmetics,” or
“Your clothes look stupid — shop at our
store,” or “You’re nobody unless you
have a credit card.”
thing. And when was the last time you
put down Stephen King’s newest book
of the month in favor of a book that
challenged your mind?
The social issues of the day deal with
conformity and the destruction of self
esteem. Being an individual is shown as
bad or, in an ironic twist of the matter,
the thing to strive for as long as every
one strives to be the same individual.
It seems as if the purpose of adverds- The AIDS scare has been turned into
U.S. leadership with integrity?
Sitting in my ,
apartment,
talking with a
smart friend of
mine the other i
Ken
Hendrickson
Guest Columnist
night, it struck me that in my lifetime
there has been (maybe) one president
of the United States who appeared to
have been concerned about the Con
stitution. James Earl Carter’s admin
istration, however, collapses under
the weight of economic distress, the
Iran hostage debacle and an electoral
defeat in 1980 of landslide propor
tions. In fact, no president has left
the White House clean since Eisen
hower (five years before I was born),
and it was later discovered that he
was responsible for the Bay of Pigs
invasion of Cuba and escalation of
U.S. activity in Vietnam.
Since Ike, and since my birth, the
country has seen Johnson, Nixon,
Ford, Carter and Reagan. (Kennedy’s
administration — 1961-Nov.,1963 —
preceeded my lifetime. He too, how
ever, was responsible for a U.S. esca
lation in Vietnam and the assassina
tion of Diem, among other things.)
stated policy of no negotations with
terrorists (not a criminal act even if
an ugly lie) and purposely circum
vented U.S. law as enacted by Con
gress (definitely a criminal act). So
far, the best answer for this given to
the American people is “I can’t re
member.” Security advisers Oliver
North and John M. Poindexter have
scrambled for the Fifth Amendment,
and North has gone so far as to ini
tiate court proceedings to determine
the constitutionality of investigations
into his own possibly criminal activ
ities. Many seem ready and willing to
take advantage of the protections of
fered by our Constitution — few ap
pear willing to abide by its restric
tions. Look hard, there are our own
leaders, the people to whom we
should turn our eyes with respect.
These people are examples for our
young.
Johnson secretly bombed targets in
Vietnam, initiated the era there of di
rect- U.S. combat involvement and
purposely lied to the American peo
ple to protect his policies.
Nixon, in his career, participated
in everything from smear campaigns
and witch hunts to conspiracy to con
ceal a felony.
Ford suddenly became president
after Nixon’s resignation and par
doned his predecessor even though
no charges had yet been pressed.
Carter seems to have been the ex
ception. Though guilty of shoddy
staffwork and political ineptitude,
there exists as yet no evidence that his
administration participated in extra
constitutional activities during his
term as president.
Recently, it has been revealed that
the Reagan administration has been,
for a period of almost two years, en
gaged in clandestine, at times illegal,
transfers of weapons and cash with
the governments of Iran, Israel and
the leadership of the Nicaraguan re
bel Contras. My question is, why does
the American public bother to elect
presidents under the current system?
Why not just accept openly that any
one becoming president will seek
threafter to effect his/her policies re
gardless of the will of the people. Is
this really what we’ve come to?
The United States is a complex
country. It has for years proudly
hailed itself as a bastion of freedom,
equality and rule by law. Yet, should
we as Americans be satisfied with
freedom to disobey and deceive We
the People? Should we be satisfied
with the equality of power, as exer
cised by those who would lead us?
Does “rule by law” merely mean lip
service to duly passed and enacted
laws simultaneous to their flagrant vi
olation? Whose laws rule here?
Where would the United States be
and what would our government be
telling us today if not for a radical,
fundamental Islamic politician in
Iran who announced to his parlia
ment that the United States had been
engaged in secret cash and weapons
deals with his government? Would
we now be asking ourselves about
these acts and their ramifications in
Nicaragua? Should the American
people depend upon hostile foreign
nations to expose unethical and ille
gal activities of their own govern
ment?
We should demand more than that
from our leadership and ourselves. If
we want to continue to hold ourselves
up as a triumph of democracy, we
must live up to the rhetoric. It is in
deed a search for excellence.
Ken Hendrickson is a senior history
major.
When elected, President Reagan
swore to uphold and defend the Con
stitution. Since then, we’ve learned
that his administration reversed its
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The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Loren Steffy, Editor
Marybeth Rohsner, Managing Editor
Mike Sullivan, Opinion Page Editor
Jens Koepke, City Editor
Jeanne Isenberg, Sue Krenek, News Editors
Homer Jacobs, Sports Editor
a massive weapon against the self-es
teem of every American, not just homo
sexuals. Throughout most of history,
homosexuals have been wrongly perse
cuted for their sexual practices. Homo
sexuals were made to feel that they were
somehow inferior or perverted because
of the way they were. Now, thanks to
AIDS, homosexuals are being portrayed
as disease-ridden perverts. Being homo
sexual is not only considered a sin by
some, it is considered a deadly sin.
The sexual practices of heterosexuals
also are being attacked because of the
AIDS scare. A prevailing idea in Amer
ica today is that AIDS is a disease, sent
by Cod, to punish the homosexuals and
those who have casual sex. The Bible
says casual sex is wrong.
The fear of AIDS has caused many
people to fear sex. Fear of sex does not
lead to high self-esteem. Although sex is
not something to be enjoyed indiscrim-
antly, the choice of when, where, how,
why, and with whom should be the
choice of the participants — not the
general public.
The War on Drugs was nothing more
than a war on self-esteem. How can
Nancy and Ronnie Reagan, two people
who have made their lives out of escap
ing from reality, criticize anybody who
wants a little relief from their reality?
If the right wing wanted to do some
thing about drug abuse, it would have
accomplished a lot more if it had
stressed developing self-esteem instead
of setting up witch hunts in the form of
drug testing. If the message had been
“let’s work it out” instead of “you’re bus
ted,” a lot more would have been accom
plished.
Attacking the drug problem from a
moral standpoint is impossible. Any
person who spends his days dreaming
of the life they will have when they go to
heaven has no business criticizing those
who seek heaven via chemicals.
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ested t
;he trial
losing z
loppell
Bren<
:x-emp]
;estified
[o a sub
Religion also is being used to destroy
the self-esteem of the American people.
The fundamentalists oppose any form
of thinking that suggests mankind is ca
pable of anything. In a recent court
case, “The Wizard of Oz” was attacked
by fundamentalists because the charac
ters in the book are told that they can
find courage, intelligence, love ot
way home by looking inside themsd
Fundamentalisits believe that such5
ities come f rom God and that man
not develop any good traits withou
Almighty.
Thanks to the fundamental
Americans are being made to thin
they are useless. Mankind can dom
ing except wait f or death.
If we’re truly Cod’s children,(Si^»j a y S a ft<
pi <>l).tl>l\ looking loi waul to tlitl tt . Iu lc(l t
when we start walking by ourselvet gf Grab;
If America is going to get wd,
American people need to stop tni
be what someone tells them to be
need to balance fantasy with n
Fhey need to believe in themsti
I hey need to look inside beforetlw
tack what is outside, fhey needto
lieve that heaven is made and
bought.
America needs better self-esteem
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Jimmy Carter for president, agaiij
I’ve had some
goofy ideas in
the past, and
maybe this is an
other one, but I
would like to see
Jimmy Carter
back in the
White House in
1988.
There are a
number of rea
sons I feel this
Lewis
Grizzard
way:
1. Jimmy Carter has been president
before. It would be nice to have a pres
ident who has presidential experience.
I think Carter knows what he did
wrong when he was in the Oval Office
before and that he wouldn’t make the
same mistakes again.
2. I’m not overly excited about any
of the others who have been men
tioned as presidential possibles for
1988.
I don’t like Cary Hart or George
Bush, and Bob Dole strikes me as
maybe having a mean streak.
I have a suspicion that Jack Kemp
uses extra-hold hair spray, and I sim
ply can’t see the United States with a
president named Babbitt.
Can you?
Imagine Barbara Walters interview
ing him:
“Pwesident Bwabbitt. . .”
Who would Pwesident Bwabbitt get
for his press secretary? Elmer Fudd?
3. In retrospect, Jimmy Carter didn’t
do as bad a job as president as we
thought when we picked Ronald Rea
gan over him in 1980.
-He got Israel and Egypt to kiss and
make up.
-He didn’t order the invasion of a sin
gle Caribbean island.
-He championed human rights.
-And, as far as we know, he didn’t
sleep through a single crisis.
4. I realize this may not be that sound
a reason to want a certain individual to
be president, but Jimmy Carter gives
good White House parties, too.
I was invited to the Carter White
House for dinner, and later, I was in
vited to the Reagan White House for
dinner.
I had a nice time on both occasions,
but I must admit I felt a lot more at
home at the Carter affair.
The Carter party took place in the
backyard of the White House. They
and 1
served barbecue and beer
didn’t have to wear a tie.
The entertainment was Willie Neb
I never will forget sitting there,ai
moon hovered over the Washing
Monument, hearing Willie sing, ff
cious Memories.”
It was a religious experience,
The Reagan party was much fanoi
The ladies wore evening dresses and
men came in tuxedos, and Henry
singer’s wife dumped her cigari
ashes on the floor during the prM
ner cocktail party.
I have no idea what we had to
and the entertainment wasamanf
ing a cello.
I have nothing against the cello,
anybody who plays one, butinacn
think I would prefer a Willie N(
man making important decision'l
someone who would invite a
dinner. I
If Jimmy Carter became presi
again, I think his brother Billy wo#
more than happy to wait in thetn» |
this time.
Elmer Fudd simply has no
politics.
Copyright 1986, Cowles Syndicate
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TV 77R4‘3-4 1 1 1
il Call
"
Solution is to do nothing
EDITOR.
Scheduling protest
EDITOR:
It really doesn’t surprise me that The Battalion takes a
stand on prison reform right alongside Judge William
Wayne Justice. He is the guy who says the poor losers in
prison aren’t getting enough cake, ice cream and TV.
Justice, along with The Battalion editorial board, seems to
think prisoners are being abused. It seems to me that
people who kill, rape, steal and otherwise deprive innocent
people of their constitutional rights should have no
constitutional rights. What is your problem, people?
Prison isn’t supposed to be fun! Don’t you see the logic in
that? If someone sees prison as an undesirable place, they
are less likely to commit the crime which would put them
there.
The Traditions Council would like to make deal its
purpose behind the senior finals protest petition and |
correct the inaccuracies in Loren Steffy’s column in the 1
March 31 issue of The Battalion. T he goal of the petition 1
was and always has been to protest the scheduling of the I
faculty’s proposal. T he Traditions Council has always
realized that senior finals are inevitable. The main concett i
has been to protect the Aggie traditions, commencement, |
commissioning and final review, which the Faculty
Senate’s proposal will jeopardize, or eventually destroy. I
Missy Simms ’90
V
.V
Bryan Jones ’87
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The
serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make ever) tjfrf
maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include
sification, address and telephone number of the writer.