Pago 4
Daily Nebraskan
Friday, March 9, 1G34
1 o n o Tl
J o o
r
ri Head 1L So IbadV to' iMjraMy
The AT?iy York Times reported last weekend that
Roberto D'Aubisson, a riht-wing candidate for
president of El Salvador, still is active in directing
the activities of El Salvador's death squads.
It has also been reported that the commander of
the Second Brigade in El Salvador's army ordered
the execution of four American nuns.
That was four years ago and the accused murder
ers have yet to be brought to trial.
Let's face it. The government of El Salvador is
made up of hoodlums and gangsters. They make Al
Capone look like a saint. And these are our allies.
A reasonable person (and there doesn't seem to
be many of them around these days) might ask why
the United States has chosen to support such a
government.
The best answer our government can give us is
that the government of El Salvador isn't communist
and must not become communist.
This is the kind of narrow-minded, asinine think
ing that has guided our foreign policy since the end
of World War II.
Only a fool wo'ild argue that the average Nicara
guan was better off under Somoza than he is now.
Certainly the Sandinista government has commit
ted human rights violations, but look at the overall
picture. The illiteracy rate has dropped dramati
cally. Health care has improved and people are able
to make a decent living.
We have to recognize that evil exists at both ends
of the political spectrum and it should not be the
business of the United States government to sup
port foreign leaders merely because they are
anti-communist.
If an El Salvador, a Guatemala, tortures and
murders its citbens, the United States should cut off
all aid to that government, not only military, but
economic as well. Often the economic aid is just as
important to the survival of a government as the
military equipment and training it receives.
The tragedy of all this, besides the pain these
governments are inflicting on their people with the
help of the United States, is that it is also a betrayal
of the American people and the ideals they hold.
Jeff Goodwin
if i jvHrn 11 1 r
, If I X. I l J V MOM-CVWSTlAHSyN J i t f
Changes in human relationships
outweigh high-tech advancements
Any serious study of the future
should focus on the really fundamen
tal changes in store for us, i.e. changes
in the relations between people.
Although the latter is less easy to
grasp, it is more important than sim
ple technological and material change.
A look at the differences that exist in
our world today will illustrate this.
( 1 Krishna
) Madan
Here at UNL we have foreign stu
' dents who come from villages that do
not have electricity. Yet some of these
students are now studying advanced
electronics.
It only took them a little time and
effort to master the technological and
material differences between their na
tive communities and that of Lincoln.
The same would be true if we could
transport a European from the 12th
Century to modern America
Our time-traveller would be sur
prised by cars, airplanes and compu
ters at first but would soon learn to
master them if she were given the
required training.
What our time-traveller would find
most bewildering would be the rela
tions that exist between people in
modern America. ' '
She would be surprised by the inde
pendence of women, the existence of
the vote and the lack of closeness
among friends and members of the
family. It would take her a lifetime to
adjust to these things.
Since historical change is accelerat
ing tremendously, we might be sim
ilarly surprised at the nature of Amer
ican society 50 years from now. In
order to lessen this surprise, wre need
to understand some trends in our
society.
The first is the natural desire of
women to contribute their talents in
areas ouside of the family. This is put
ting a severe strain on the nuclear fam
ily since it is hard for two working
spouses to take care of their children
and do household chores.
Three developments are relieving
this strain. The first two are the in
creased use of daycares and the growth
of "babysitting pools" in which parents
take turns taking care of each other's
children.
These developments are important
because they mean that a significant
percentage of the early rearing cf the
child is increasingly being done out
side the home.
The third development is the emer
gence of new non-blood social units in
which people of different ages and
marital statuses live together and take
turns with the chores, help with the
children and, sometimes, pool finan
cial resources.
The second major societal trend is
the construction of multi-family dwel
lings in which families share a home
that contains private bedrooms and
bathrooms but common kitchen, din
ing and living room areas.
The result of all these trends and
developments is that the nuclear fam
ily will be broken down and replaced
by a quite different basic social unit.
As people learn to live together, help
each other out and share, a new con
sciousness will emerge that will be
opposed to the extreme individualism,
selfishness and competitiveness of cap
italist society.
Representational democracy the
political backbone of capitalism will
come under attack. It will be destroyed
not by guns but by computers which
will enable citizens to communicate
with each other and vote directly.
Politically and economically, future
society will resemble the council demo
cracy of revolutionary Paris (1871),
Russia (1917-1921) and Spain (1938
1939) more than it does the present.
Commonwealth undermines
faith in state government
As one who first deposited money in
Commonwealth Savings Co. early in
1983, 1 would like to make the follow
ing observations in response to your
editorial of March 5.
First, if I had known the true infor
mation about Commonwealth, I would
Guest
Opinion
not have deposited my money there.
However, it is now apparent that the
true financial information was not
available to potential depositors. Com
monwealth's financial statements were
inaccurate and the state banking
department, which knew of the insti
tution's significant problems several
years ago, would not give any indica
tion of those problems to potential
depositors for fear of a run on the
institution.
I do not think it should be necessary
for a person making a deposit in an
institution such as Commonwealth to
have to question the guarantee of a
seemingly independent insuring organ
ization (the Nebraska Depository Insti
tution Guaranty Corp.), especially one
that was required by law to advertise
the guarantee. I think it is reasonable
to assume that those who made that
law would also make sure that there
was proper regulation of the insuring
organization so that the guarantee
would be met. I sincerely doubt that
many depositors investigate the FDIC
or FSLIC before making deposits in
member institutions.
Even if all the information were
readily available, I think it is unrealis
tic to expect all potential depositors to
be well enough trained in accounting
to be able to fully understand the
implications of all the items on the
financial statements of institutions
such as Commonwealth and the NDIGC.
In fact, part of the rationale for govern
ment regulation is that most deposi
tors would not have such ability.
Secondly, the management of Com
monwealth is, of course, also responsi
ble for its failure, but state government
is not blameless. The state Department
of Banking had responsibility for mon
itoring the activities of Commonwealth
and the NDIGC. Neither worked very
well: The report prepared by John
Miller and David Domina documents
what most reasonable people would
consider at least lax supervision. Mr.
Miller, Mr. Domina and the three mem
bers of the State Claims Board have all
implied the strong possibility of state
liability. Given all this, it is difficult for
me to see how you can conclude that
the state has no obligation to Com:
monwealth depositors.
Thirdly, obviously the state senators
have obligations to their own constitu
ents. However, even if they have no
constituents who are Commonwealth
depositors, it seems to me they ought
to be concerned about the depositors
for several reasons:
The NDIGC has successfully assist
ed other institutions in Nebraska.
A liquidation of the assets of Com
monwealth would have a detrimental
effect on the economy of Lancaster
County and other parts of the state.
As taxpayers, the "depositors of
Commonwealth have contributed to
programs (both state and federal) that
have been beneficial to other than just
their own districts.
The reputation of the state will be
severely damaged if a fair solution to
the problem is not enacted.
Finally, for me, the most disappoint
ing and disillusioning part of the situ.'
tion is the destruction of one's faith in
the good will of people, especially those
governing us. We read about what is
legal or illegal, constitutional or uncon
stitutional. I realize this is necessary in
a complex society in which t nsidera
tion must be given to the fights of all
people. However, I am disturbed that
we read or hear very little about what's
right or wrong, what's fair or unfair. It
does not seem right or fair that the
'depositors should bear the burden of
the mismanagement and possible fraud
at Commonwealth, the inability of the
NDIGC to meet its guarantee, and the
failure of state government to take
timely action.
Warren Luckner
assistant professor and director
actuarial science
, -' 'Letters
Article lacked reality
This letter is in response to Krishna
Madan's column on Soviet "demo
cracy" (Daily NebraskanMarch 2). It
is one thing to postulate that demo
cracy exists in the Soviet Union from
the security of academic conjecture.
Reality is quite another thing.
I am a first:generation American.
My family left the Ukraine in 1949 and
arrived in this country in 1051. Be
cause of their German ancestry, my
grandparents, uncle and father were
to be executed, but fled.
Mr. Madan, it would be easy to en
gage in "scholarly rhetoric" and hurl
my own symbols of thought. Our pre:
mises differ. I do not hate; I am inter
ested in truth. Unproductive bitter
ness creates a Soviet Union. If you
should desire the experiential pers
pective please give me an hour of your
time. I hope to transfer to UNL this fall
when I may find security through pur
suit of academic truths.
I Charles W. Martel
x Concordia College
Seward