2
Opinion
llr The Battalion
Thursday, March 21,199
Troubled times
Bush's path leads us
to violence, poverty
H
ow is America
faring in the early part of 1991?
Consider this ...
A man whose only alleged crime (for
all intents and purposes) is speeding 55
miles per hour in a 40 miles per hour
zone is assaulted by three policemen
while a dozen other officers look on.
We all know the story. Two weeks
ago, L. A. police officers, exemplary
symbols of America's love affair with
law and order which overshadows
justice, literally kicked the ever-living
hell outta Rodney King, a black man.
King's all-white assailants and
audience each proudly donning LAPD
blue never expected their little get-
together to become so publicized.
Captured by a Sony video camera
and now indelibly imprinted in all
compassionate Americans' minds are
the seven minutes of unbridled hate
and violence the police maliciously
wreaked upon King.
King's skull was broken in nine
places due to the unilateral assault. He
was first shot with a Taser stun gun (a
weapon that shoots two barbed darts
which immobilize the victim via electric
current) and then beat, stomped on,
clubbed and kicked well over 50 times
by three officers.
What does it all mean? For one, it
means that no one can deny the course
of institutionalized violence our
modem culture is directing us toward.
Who'll be the next to cough up $5.50
to cheer on Michael). Fox's further
glorification of police and societal
violence?
But here I digress. No one denies
that the United States is one
wonderfully efficient and masterful
purveyor of violence around the globe.
Please do sing along:
With some arms arms here, and
some military training there, here
some death ... there some death ...
everywhere we exploit.
Who do we turn to, when this course
of action has the inevitable effect of
backfiring on us?
The nation has resoundingly called
for L. A. Police Chief Daryl Gates's
resignation.
Can anyone argue that the person in
charge of such an unpredictable (except
in its well-documented patterns of
racism) agency need not be publicly
contrite and tender resignation?
Well, friends, as one L. A. officer
astutely pointed out, this L. A. incident
was but a product of our times not an
anomalous aberration.
Yes, it was despicable and
reprehensible, but it was as the same
time indicative ... a vile indicator of the
troubled times we're in. In this honest
cops own words:
"The rising crime rate, the decay of
school systems, the deterioration of
family structures and increasing
unemployment have all conspired to
make our jobs so difficult. The social
conditions in which we operate are
complex."
Who, then, ought to take
responsibility for this whopper?
One cannot help but point to the
main man (who is also in charge of
another entity out-of-control, namely
our country), and I do not mean John
Danforth Quayle.
Andy Yung
Columnist
N
o, it's none other
than Danny-boy's best friend, George
Herbert Walker Bush who serves ex
officio as the buck stopper.
George promised a kinder, gentler
America. Well, let's have a look-see at
his "programs" and cipher his progress
Bush was to be the "Education"
President.
Instead, he has NO strategic plan for
pedagogical improvement or even
headway. He's playing musical chairs
with education secretaries while the
availability of student loans is
constricted further.
(Incidentally, I guess that in all his
chic secret societies at Yale he learned
the value of the classics, so while the
ranks of the poor swell, he tells the
hungry to keep a stiff upper lip, read
their Homer and await their
enlightenment and empowerment.)
Bush was to be both the "Energy"
and the "Environmental" President.
Interested in his accomplishments?
Don't look too hard.
Bush's executive career has seen our
national debt balloon while we
refinance the kaput S&Ls. No doubt
these are results of his shrewd financial
management (he, like all millionaires,
is formerly a businessman, don't you
know).
Bush wanted to veto the increase in
the minimum wage (which hadn't been
updated from $3.35 in over eight years
while the price of living skyrocketed).
I guess the quarter or so an hour
(which means so much to struggling
wage-earners) was too much to bear on
his capitalist (yes, that's in No Capital
Gains Tax!) friends.
Bush wanted to secure equal
opportunities.
He ended up with the honor of
presiding over the nation at a time
when wealth disparity is at its all-time-
greatest. Apparently, we do have
enough dough to reinstate the dubious
Star Wars program, however.
He also vetoed the 1990 Civil Rights
Bill. We don't have a race problem, do
we?
Bush wanted to win the war on
drugs. Well, let's see. He anxiously
rocks back and forth, hugging his
asinine symbolic panacea, the death
penalty, while wooing the NRA and
allowing body-armor piercing assault
weapons, silencers and handguns to
overflow our streets.
I'm sure the police officers of our
nation are grateful for his vigilant
concern.
On the other hand, George Herbert
Walker Bush has indeed secured
himself a name-sake street sign in
College Station — mark one up for
him.
Andy Yung is a junior political science
major.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Lisa Ann Robertson,
Editor —845-2647
Kathy Cox,
Managing Editor — 845-2647
J ennifer J effus,
Opinion Page Editor — 845-3314
Chris Vaughn,
City Editor — 845-3316
Keith Sartin,
Richard Tijerina,
News Editors — 845-2665
Alan Lehmann,
Sports Editor — 845-2688
Fredrick D. Joe,
Art Director — 845-3312
Kristin North,
Life Style Editor — 845-3313
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-sup
porting newspaper operated as a community
service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College
Station.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are
those of the editorial board or the author,
and do not necessarily represent the opin
ions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty
or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion is published daily, except
Saturday, Sunday, holidays, exam periods,
and when school is not in session during fall
and spring semesters; publication is Tuesday
through Friday during the summer session.
Mail subscriptions are $20 per semester,
$40 per school year and $50 per full year:
845-2611. Advertising rates furnished on re
quest: 845-2696.
Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed Mc
Donald, Texas A&M University, College Sta
tion, TX 77843-1 111.
Second class postage paid at College Sta
tion, TX 77843.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas
A&M University, College Station TX 77843-
4111.
<9 Wi the mm
new
Open yourself up to the world
Last night, due to insomnia, I found myself exercising
my index finger by switching through television channels. I
came across an education report on Channel 33 on Pat
Robertson's "The 700 Club." As an instructor at this
University, what I saw instilled such an emotional reaction,
I resolved to write this piece.
The report concerned the teaching of cultural pluralism
in this nation's universities. Cultural pluralism seeks to
teach history, geography, art history — what you will —
within the context of not only the white, male-dominated,
European, Judeo-Christian experience, but also from the
point of view of other world cultures — African, Southwest
Asian, Southeast Asian, Russian, etc. Many of the more
radical proponents of this point of view see the Judeo-
Christian heritage as inherently racist, sexist and
homophobic. Many are also Marxists or Neo-Marxists.
Admittedly, then, there is a radical (and I propose, quite
healthy) component within this movement. However, to
many more who teach this in a more moderate manner, the
value of cultural pluralism is simply that it teaches students
that we and our culture are not the center of the universe. It
teaches that our culture, our world-view, is only one in a
myriad of human ways of viewing the world — a myriad of
religions, languages, symbols and value systems. If we can
understand the world we live in, then we can understand
the role that we play in it.
So, sounds like a sound and rational point of view most
would say. Wrong, according to Robertson. For him and
those who subscribe to his point of view, teaching this sort
of stuff is a grave danger to our American way of life.
According to Robertson, it is anti-white, anti-Christian and
Marxist, seeking to turn all human beings into raving
socialists. What really bugs Robertson and fundamental
Christians is that cultural pluralism questions authority. It
questions the supreme authority of the Judeo-Christian
tradition. It questions our country's messianic quest to
become the unbridled leader of the world. It brings
problems of racism and sexism out of the shadows where
they have been pushed so we do not have to be bothered
with them. It addresses the great gaps between the
developed and underdeveloped countries and, indeed, the
disparaties in wealth within our own country. It addresses
the insane pollution of our natural environment. Moreover,
it suggests that we have the power to voice our opinions
and do something about the wrongs in the world.
The simple fact is that fundamental Christians, many
Republicans and the people of wealth who control things do
not want to hear or be bothered with any of this drabble.
Things are fine the way they are, they say; and besides,
aren't students intelligent enough to hear differing views
and then decide for themselves? No, according to
Robertson, "most entering college freshmen cannot read or
write" and they are extremely impressionable. That is an
insult to you and your intelligence, my friends.
The problem as I see it is that fundamental Christians in
this country are going over the edge in their line of thinking.
Moreover, they are afraid of losing their support because of
the recent scandals and because people are wising up to the
Timothy Anderson
Reader’s Opinion
load of rubbage they constantly bombard us with. Am I
saying that religion and Christianity is a total mockery and
waste of time? Not at all. On the contrary, it has been
shown that radical Protestantism (and, you see, that is
really what it is) has been and still is very valuable to
capitalist growth. It played a large part in forging the value
systems of northwest Europe and the United States. It
encourages saving. It takes the sin out of making and
risking money on speculative ventures. It encourages hard
work as the answer to salvation and wealth. We probably
could not have arrived at our present prosperity without it.
It is also extremely nationalistic, a very ygluable tool with
which to build a nation-state. We are a nation of radical
Protestants and that has brought us a long way.
Fundamental Christians are all over our radios and
televisions. Millions of dollars are sent to them to support
their ministries which, I admit, often support worthwhile
charitable causes. And if you do not believe that we are the
most nationalistic country in the world, just check out how
many American flags are flying around campus the next
home football game.
So what is the problem with all of this if it has brought us
so far? The problem is that we as a nation are closed-
minded. The fundamentalist right does not want to address
any problems that there may be in our system. Nor do they
want anything but white, Judeo-Christian beliefs taught to
you and our children. Once, this was OK, even
advantageous in the formation of a capitalist nation-state.
Now, it is highly dangerous. Now things have changed.
The world economy has changed. The United States has lost
the economic dominance in the world it has enjoyed for
more than 50 years. The only way that we are going to be
able to reach preeminence again is to address economic and
social problems at home and to understand our position in
the world. We must know how other cultures view the
world and how they view us. We must face up to the fact
that our own country is culturally pluralistic and that that
fact should be advantageous to us rather than a handicap.
In the end, the future can be prosperous for our nation.
Most of us fail to realize how lucky we are to live in a sodety
where different points of view can be expressed without
fear of retribution. Although inequalities still exist for
women and minorities, the economic and educational
opportunites offered to one in this country are manifold.
Relish in that fact and take advantage of it. Take a foreign
language, enroll in a class in African history or geography
and open yourself up to the world. Let the world open itself
up to you. What the fundamentalists really tell you is to
reject everything but your own European heritage, to close
the world off from yourself. The next time you hear one on
the radio or see one on television, listen and really think
about the future they suggest.
Timothy Anderson is a graduate student in geography.
itch
by Nito