Friday, October 21, 1933
Pen 3 4
Daily Ncbrcskan
'"'W. Letters
4
757atf7 Luthzr-ftwi Jh
Jen 15. BZ9-April 19&B jrr
drtqm lives ort -7 .50
dots the nightmare.
wise move toy i&eag&B
You can bet on it Ronald Reagan
will be a candidate for president in
1984.
In fact, in the eyes of the law, he
already is a candidate. Monday, he
gave his approval to the formation of a
Reagan-Bush re-election committee.
Although the authorization does not
everything Reagan says indicates he
intends to be a candidate.
Because of this, many are wondering
why Reagan continues to delay his
formal announcement.
For one thing, it may be politically
advantageous for Reagan to let Demo
crats fight it out as long as possible
before he enters the ring. Any split that
developes among the Democratic can
didates can only help him when the
general election rolls around.
More importantly, once Reagan for
mally announces his candidacy, the
majority of his time will be spent on the
campaign trail, not in the White House,
and every decision he makes will be '
questioned as election-year politics.
In short, Reagan's effectiveness as
president will be diminished severaly
once he makes the announcement For
that reason, it is in the best interests of
the entire country to delay the an
nouncement for as long as possible.
In fact, Americans probably would
be relieved if all candidates delayed
their decisions as long as Reagan has.
The presidential campaign in this
country b too tens cr.d rr.y fcs part of
the reason for pathetic election turn-v
Americans are so bombarded with
election propaganda that when it
actually becomes time to cast a ballot,
many of them have lost interest
So, while other candidates are busy
with their campaigns, it is refreshing
to see the incumbent putting off his
re-election bid as long as possible. "
Despite the persistence of some
journalists to get an announcement
from Reagan, he seems to be doing the
best thing. Even if he waits until Feb
ruary to formally enter the race, he
still will have plenty of time to present
his views and respond to his critics.
But in the meantime, he can run the
executive branch without being involv
ed in the politics of a campaign.
TJw faces of bigotry
I feel compelled to respond to the
letter by Audrey Christopherson
(Daily Nebraskan, Oct 17) which so
thoroughly chastised Neb Fords and
myself for our archaic views. I will not
respond to her attack on Professor
Forde; 111 leave that to him. But I
would like to say a few things about
. her attack on my views.
First of all, Christopherson says
"(James Watt's) joke about the differ
ences (among people on the board)
shows clearly a mentality that would
prefer not to make room for Ameri
cans who are not abkbodisd white
males." She does not expand any
further upon this thought My first
question is: What joke? Watt merely
pointed out the various minorities
that made up the board in question. Is
this a joke? Did it seem funny to you? I
dont believe he even laughed when he
said it.
Why does saying that the board is
made up of what it is made up of show
bigotry? It is my contention that Watt
was attacked for his statement simply"
because he is James Watt instead of a
liberal democrat I suspect that if Sen.
Kennedy (or better yet, the Rev. Jesse
Jackson) had made the same state
ment, people would have perceived it -as
"praise for a step in the direction cf
equal rights." Why b it that spying the
words "black", "woman", "jew" and
"cripple" shows bigotry if one b a con
servative Republican?
V.S.,.,1'. College of Arts and Cc&nccs
DeCamp in '84
In reference to the column (Daily
Nebraskan, Oct 1 8) on the Republican
Party's problem cf finding a senatorial
candidate for 1C34, 1 believe there b a
positive outlook and answer for the
people of Nebraska. ;
Being from the district which
elected both Virginia Smith and John
DeCamp, I can readily say that the two
have many of the same ideas and
views. Smith b not going to run, so it's
time for the Republican Party to get
behind and support John DeCamp's
candidacy for U.S. senator. For six
years Nebraska has been plagued with
a Democratic senator who has con- ,
tributed little to the expansion of agri
culture and Industrial Interests in our
state.
What we need b a change, and the
Republican Party, along .with the
entire state cf Nebrtika has three
options: one, support no one and let
Exon slide through tlx more years of
doing nothing two, vote for Mike Frost
or three, support a rr.in who wont be
afraid to support Nebraska and the
views of its people. That man is John
DeCamp in '04.
Gerard J. Keating
sophomore
Eribusiness
No deposit, no return
Having recently arrived at UNL from
a small college with a total enrollment
less than the course I'm presently
teaching, IYs had to make a few adjust
ments. I didnt mind too much paying
$35 for a parking permit that permits
me to park in a lot that b usually filled
to capacity with people that did not
pay the 35 for such a permit (the old
place gave me a permit free, but there
weren't too many cars either), I
minded a little more not getting an
opportunity to see the No. 1 college
football team in the country in action
because ens has to purchase the tic
kets in advance, before I arrived at my
new jcb (the old place also gave out
football tickets to the faculty because
they welcomed their support), but
what really crushed me were the key
Now if you think about it, a person of
tzzzizT irr.pcrtrr.c2 thtn me (which
includes practically everyone Pve met
so fr) would have to have quite a few
mere key3 than I have (some measure
cf a person s importance can be gamed
by knowing the number of keys that
person passesscs), and that would
represent ccmsrvc-tivcly a deposit of
say tZO, If that p crson stayed on for 25
years before retiring that sum of money
would earn interest in the amount of
crouand CCO. During the same time,
cf course, the principle (your deposit)
would have depreciated to a value of
some five bucks bzztd on today's infla
tion rate. The solution? Perhaps they
could make keys out cf plastic and
then you'd cut them in half like ex
pired credit cards.
RickGillis
ardhtant professor
life sciences
IIztq liters ca Vz2 5
t loses sigh
Happinessfound in objects, not relationships
Alienated Wes
One of the most severe problems facing people in
the West today b alienation. The future of the entire
world depends on how well Westerners are able to
identify the sources of their alienation and deal with
them.
In order to describe alienation, one has to bcin by
identifying some of the basic human needs apart
from the satisfaction of basic physiological urges.
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists have
identified one such need as the desire for meaning
ful, social and interpersonal interaction. Another b
the need to be creative. '
t OI F
eal
lee
(
These two are related, and modern Western
society b generally incapable of satisfying them. The
result b that the individual Westerner Izth a pro
found sense cf alienation and frustration in her
attempts to be creative and to form meaningful,
The most fcccie form cf alienation occurs in the
workplace.' Human are- nziVLiz'Zy creative
and they 12:?. to feci a connection-to the fruits cf
their !.il-:r. Ilorevcr, the product created by the
v.xrljcr in the factory belong net to her but to the
owner.
Alienation b still a problem for the non-factory
workers, whether she be a'bureaucrat or a busi
nesswoman. Here, she b alienated from engaging in
meaningful cooperative activity with fellow hu-
The businesswoman b not concerned about the
welfare of her customer, on the contrary, she b
interested only in squeezing the last penny out of
her. The bureaucrat does not engage in meaningful,
collective deebbn-making but merely takes and
gives orders in a semi-milltarbtie organisation.
Alienation exbts in social relationships because
the family b disintegrating and no alternative social
form b taking its place as the bedrock of society.
Instead of groups of friends living together and
sharing their experiences, we have a steady increase
in the number of single households. In many cases,
the only companionship for these individuals are
various domesticated, dumb animals.
. As a result of these various alienations, Western
society hes become thing-criented rather than people
orisntcd. Westerners now grin their main satisfac
tion from ownership and uee cfthLi rather than
frcm neanirc'ul relationships with people.
. ' Thb tendency h celf-rcinforcing because things
cm never crcvida the satisfaction thr rp!-t5.
. .v.v,nw-
"ed, the Westerner goes
cut end I more thin -3 h crdcr to become happy.
Thb fetish with thini h found not only with phys
ical objects but also with portions cf prestige. In the
pursuit cf better pay or ccreer advancement, Wes
terners (cspecieJly Arr.erieexs) Kprcsi themselves
and their families and cCecti;- end their present
relationships with frienf 3. They el:e tend to substi
tute the satisfaction c!:rl.'.:.i Lxra v;crk or hobbies
for that which corses t;c relationships.
All of the above ccr.tribute to the difficulty of
forming meaningful enduring, rcruantie relation
ships. Things, careers, hobbies and general social
alientation get in the way.
In addition, the individual eepecially the man
b taught to be strong and ss-sufTicient This
makes it harder to express r.nd t o understand feel
ings and to deeply care for ethers,
Alienation was one of the reasons for the rbe of
the Nazis, who gave the German nation a sense of
belonging and identity. The Nar.ii exploited aliena
tion by molding it into r.uiienellstie, regressive
impulses directed cgainst rr.incrlties and foreign
countries.
In the West today, alienation b responsible for
miktanatic, Star Wcra-typa cr.tcrtair.n:rr.t and gun
boat diplomacy directed r r,:t C; :.tr:Jmcricans
and psopla in the Lclb Lent.
This sort cf ir.tl:r.lie.t:en v. ; net rrrvent Third
crld people frcm deag tl 2 esurees cf their
a-enation. If Weeterr.ers rcv.M c-ir.3 progres
sive Third Wcrli moverr.er.t-, tlj ce i!i learn how
to deal with their cv.-n Venation ret! :r then letting
it ignite worldwide ccnH--grctisni -