Editorial
f Daily
Nebraskan
Editorial Board
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Eric Pfanner, Editor, 472-1766
Victoria Ayotte, Managing Editor
Darcie Wiegert, Associate News Editor
Diane Bray ton News Editor
Jana Pedersen, Wire Editor
Emily Rosenbaum, Copy Desk Chief
Lisa Donovan, Editorial Page Editor
Passing the buck
U.S. hired gun is looking for money
GI Joe is starting to get expensive and Uncle Sam doesn’t
want to pay the bill.
President Bush is sending two missions this week to
try to raise billions of dollars worldwide toward the U.S.-led
■ economic and military campaign against Iraq.
One of the delegations left Tuesday for Paris, London,
j Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo, The Associated Press reported.
Later this week, another delegation will leave for the Persian
Gulf capitals. President Bush is looking for up to $25 billion,
AP reported.
1 Unfortunately, U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia are not toy
I soldiers. If the current standoff escalates into a shooting war,
the loss of life won’t be compensated for by any amount of
money from those who stand to gain from the U.S. mission.
| The United States used to dictate foreign policy for much of
j the world, acting as its watchdog. Now, it seems. Bush is
trying to continue that role, and at the same lime, pass the
}■ buck.
Asking for money is a cynical way to keep the mission
i afloat. Certainly it lends credibility to the argument that the
U.S. move had a financial purpose: to keep the cost of oil
down. A strong business instinct seems to have replaced moral
indignation at the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait as Ihc motivation
for the U.S. deployment.
When U.S. forces were mobilized, Bush scrambled to
legitimize the move by securing support from the United
Nations and U.S. allies and former enemies alike. It was never
any secret, of course, which nation was the driving force
behind the mission -- the United States.
Now Bush is into the second phase of his plan to pass the
buck: getting those who were cajoled into supporting the
mission to help pay for it.
His logic follows along these lines: Japan and many nations
in Europe are much more dependent on Middle East oil than
the United Stales. So why should the U.S. fool the bill to
defend that supply?
That makes sense. But the logical answer, of course, would
be to suggest that those who are dependent on the oil should
not only fool the bill but supply the military forces as well.
Bush’s logic puts the cart before the horse; or, in this ease,
the deployment before the financing.
If the U.S. wasn’t prepared to pay for maintaining its access
to the Middle East oil supply, it shouldn’t have sent troops to
protect that oil for the rest of the world in the first place.
Asking allies such as Japan - which already has pledged $1
billion — to help finance the Middle East deployment gives the
impression that the United Stales is merely a hired gun.
But this time, it appears that U.S. forces have left home
without their American Express.
•• Krk Planner
for the Daily Nebraskan
_
editorial^"' " '
Signed staff editorials represent
the official policy of the Fall 1990
Daily Nebraskan. Policy is set by the
Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. Its
members are: Eric Pfanner, editor;
Lisa Donovan, editorial page editor;
Victoria Ayotte, managing editor;
Diane Brayton, associate news editor;
Darcie Wicgert, associate news edi
tor; Emily Rosenbaum, copy desk
chief; Jana Pedersen, wire editor.
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Group lives in shadow, needs purpose
‘Twentysomething' generation can't solve all world's problems
Iwas wailing for my bus in New
York’s Pori Authority terminal
perusing the news rack when the
July cover story in Time, “twenty
something,” caught my eye.
So now I had a dilemma — do I get
the bagel or do 1 find out what this
publication has decided to tag the
generation that was bom between 1%1
and 1972. My generation.
... I ate.
About a week later 1 finally picked
up the magazine.
And a week after that I finished the
article.
It took me even longer to figure
out my reaction.
1 was everything the reporters at
Time described, and more: lazy, inat
tentive and directionless.
Maybe they’re right.
For those members of the “Lost
Generation” who haven’t had a chance
to pick it up, I highly recommend
going over to Love Library and read
ing it. But, as the article indicates,
you may not even have lime. You
may not even know where the library
is i f you ’ re between the ages of 18 and
29.
In any case, I’ll recap:
The twcniysomclhing generation
is going nowncrc last.
The twentysomclhing generation
is going somewhere, but loo slowly.
We need a purpose in life.
A lot of folks reacted angrily to
the cover and the article, saying we
couldn’t make such generalities about
the 48 million people who make up
this unsung group of youngsters.
That used to be my reaction too.
1 have six siblings who arc baby
boomers — and the same arguments
inevitably arise when we get together.
My eldest brother,40, alwaysenooses
his words carefully, indirectly pick
ing a fight by asking what concerns
people my age.
He rolls his eyes, and gives me one
of those “this ought to be good”
looks. And then 1 start:
“It’s not my fault we don’t have
Vietnam - I’m sorry, my friends and
I can’t goandprotesta senseless war.
I ’ m sorry we ’re not right in the m iddle
ofanothcrcivilrightscrisis I’m sorry
the women’s movement isn’t a big
deal.”
His retort comes in the form of a
half-hour lecture. I leam that there
arc plenty of wars to be protested -
Nicaragua, maybe Kuwait eventually.
And the institutionalized racism is as
bad or maybe worstUhan the strife wc
saw 25 years ago. The battle is not
even close to being over. And I should
know better than anyone that women
are still the object of prejudice in
what still seems to be a man’s world.
I should work to make sure I sec that
day when I’m not treated as a second
class citizen.
He’s right, my arguments arc weak
— but you can’t tell me that the rest of
the world is cither having its umbili
cal cord cut or that its arteries arc
hardening. Our meek little genera
tion can’t solve it all.
And while our argument is over —
the problems still remain. How do we
as a generation take care of so many
monumental problems? Problems such
as homelessness, racial strife, the
deficit, global warming and environ
mental deterioration.
A lot of very big causes.
! look at my own friends and the
community we have cultivated in the
last four years of college. All of us
have different majors and different
socioeconomic backgrounds, but in a
way the consistent inconsistencies run
throughout. We arc truly the lost
generation plummeting through an
abyss so deeply dug by our forchip
pics and those before them, that we
are searching for an answer. Some
say REVOLUTION. Some say REPA
RATION.
rtuivism against things like in
dustrial pollution could mean the
difference between blue sky for us
and no sky for our grandchildren.
But we’re too busy watching tclc
vision. MTV that is -- or so Time
says.
But while we’re consuming short
doses of information on Cable News
Network and USA Today, we’re not
even aware that sophisticated com
mumcation is all relative.
The breakdown in communication
is most evident in human relations.
The other day, a friend was talking
about how her daughter was the only
member ol her group of friends w ho
didn t have divorced parents. While I
take jabs for saying this, I firmlv
believe it will be a cold day in hell
when I marry. And I know a lot of
people who lecl that way. Looking at
the percentages, it might just be 1*1
ler to avoid the pain altogether
Our generation has been labeled
the group that wants to avoid com
mitment - even in a dating relation
bo we don t want marriage and the
art of dating is scarce; so wc throw
ourselves into our careers instead,
right?
The other day a professor asked
me, “So Ms. Donovan, you’re gradu
ating this year, what do you plan to do
with yourself?”
I said I was considering prostitu
tion, but that I might run to Europe
and find myself. The analysis at Time
call this Wanderlust.
One of my friends, before the
Kuwaiti incident, was planning to study
at a Kibbutz in Israel. Another is
working in London until her employ
ment visa runs out. Yet another is
taking classes until he can get into the
Peace Corps.
Noble, but not very ambitious, you
say.
There’s nothing wrong with h\ ing
simply. The price society places on
affluence is nothing short of sicken
ing.
But the line is salient between
simplicity and selfishness. Sure, we re
choosing a simpler path - but it’s our
path. According to some of the folks,
wc don’t work very well with others,
and that’s our reason for avoiding the
real world.
so wnai u we an minK ever yum;
but ourselves is a jerk. Wc can whine
until wc have a leadership position
and then make life hell for everyone.
But none of us really crave leader
ship. Because leadership inevitably
involves politics. And no one wants
to gel caught in the tangle of politics.
1 remember high school teachers talk
ing about how diverse our class was,
but no real leader stuck out.
It doesn’t help that wc grew up
with presidents like Richard Nixon or
— as Time says — role models like
Donald Trump.
Pretty difficult to create heroes
when the mold is slowly disintegrat
ing with the atmosphere.
Perhaps there are no heroes be
cause wc arc looking back instead ol
forward. In this time of recycling
materials, we’re also recycling the
past. The remakes go on and on.
So maybe we’ll be known as the
recycled generation - a product of
many generations. Clothes that are
modified ’50s. Music that's modified
'60s. (I’ll take that over Rap crap ans
day.) Cars that are sort of 1970s. And
the group that rejected the ’80s.
As for me, I’m glad I didn't buy
the Time magazine — I’m trying to
save my money for some groceries
and a trip to Europe.
I.isa Donovan is a senior news-editorial
m^Jor and the Daily Nebraskan editorial
page editor and a columnist.
