151 February 17, 2005
The Blue Banner
Page 11
Opinion
>rivatization: possibly
he best solution to
iocial Security issues
by Chad Mohn
Guest Columnist
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ora
ith the successful elections in Iraq finally over, the debate in
lerica between the left and right has shifted to Social Security reform,
verybody (for the most part) agrees that there is a problem, the con-
;ion lies in how to fix it.
a nutshell, there are a lot more people entitled to retirement benefits
not enough workers to pay for it.
iv 2018, the payments going out will be larger than the ones coming
Social Security was simply not designed for the 21st century.
1950, there were 16 workers paying in for every retiree taking out.
iay, there are a little over three workers paying for every retired per-
President Bush, to mixed reviews, is going across the nation to gar-
support for his new plan, which allows younger workers to invest
e of their retirement money in private accounts,
leorge Bush received complaints when he personally donated $10,000
F’the tsunami victims, so you can imagine that his plan for privatization
not go over too well with the lefties across America,
hile they were all for fixing Social Security back in ’98, when Slick
lie was in office, they now have suddenly become immune to the cri-
It’s stable for another 37 years,” cries Senator Barbara Boxer. “Please
T gamble away my grandchildren’s retirement fund,” shouts Senate
ority Leader Harry Reid while standing near a statue of FDR, the
father of Social Security.
1 think it’s ironic that many of the Democratic senators are against pri-
zation, yet they themselves take part in the Thrift Savings Plan, a
irement fund available to federal employees.
John Kerry talked during the
presidential debates of making the
Democrats mainly health care options for senators
, ^ available for all Amencans, and
ant you to belic've now George W. Bush wants to do
^ , the same thing in regards to Social
latyour retirement security, if Ifs good enough for Ted
Kennedy and John Edwards, surely
it’s good enough for you. Why does
Barbara Boxer not want you to have
the same retirement opportunities as
her?
The Thrift Savings Plan’s bond
imber-seven horse index fund (the most conservative
one) has produced a 4.58 percent
at the local race- annual return rate per year, nearly
,, three percentage points higher than
track. the Social Security that you and I
are forced to take part in.
iinds will be taken
ly the government
and put on the
LEHERS TO THE EDITOR
‘60
)emocrats mainly want you to believe that your retirement funds will
•e taken hy the government and put on the number-seven horse at the
ical racetrack. This is simply not the case. First of all, nobody is forc-
ig you to privatize your accounts. If you want to keep the old retire-
Knt plan (and lose money), by all means, have at it. Now, I have to
Iniit, there is somewhat of a risk. In 30-year periods since 1802, stocks
ave only out gained bonds 99.5 percent of the time, including-recently
len our economy was “terrible.”
he private accounts allow you to personally handpick a govemment-
msored fund that you feel will accumulate the highest return. George
ish’s plan gives you individual responsibility over your own hard-
hied money, and, of course, the Democrats want the government to be
afcharge of that money because you aren’t wise enough to make such
ally decisions. And, if you’ve already paid into the Social Security sys-
!Di, your benefits aren’t going to get cut. Senior citizens will still
ceive their allotted payments. The sun will still rise.
*'rivatization will also make way for increased savings which is sorely
•ded in today’s economic climate. Admittedly, there are going to be
hie high transaction costs. The U.S. government owes money to a lot
(^people. I, for one, do not believe that raising taxes, cutting benefits
increasing the retirement age is the answer. George W. Bush is an
tremely ambitious president, and he feels that now is the best time to
^ve the problem. Why wait until 2035 when we can figure it out now?
gain, I must reiterate that nobody is forcing you to privatize your
irement funds. Bush is allowing you to have a choice on this one. I,
sonally, don’t have a problem with making more money, but I can t
®ke any decisions for you.
Don’t blame the liberals
So,“liberals” are to blame for
Rwandan genocide. That’s what
Chad Mohn would have you
believe in his column, “Iraq situa
tion is nothing compared to the
ignored genocide in Rwanda.”
Global capitalism, neo-liberal
economic schematics, colonialism
and the international arms trade
are the root causes of the mas
sacre in Rwanda.
So, let’s start with a little histo
ry lesson; Belgium brutally colo
nized Rwanda. The Belgians
transformed a majority Tutsi elite
into a solely Tutsi elite, with posi
tions in society determined by
ethnicity, thus solidifying a manu
factured hierarchy (which only
follows tlte line of logic inherent
of imperialist colonizers). Does
Mohn offer any criticism of the
Belgians? No. Linda Melvem, a
British investigative reporter and
author of the book “A People
Betrayed: The Role of the West in
Rwanda’s Genocide,” wrote of
the prelude to slaughter:
“In order to finance the geno
cide, money was siphoned from
international funding, the funding
provided by the World Bank and
the IMF under a Structural
Adjustment Program. It is esti
mated that Rwanda, one of the
poorest and most troubled nations
on earth, spent $134 million on
genocide preparation. Some $4.6
million were spent on machetes,
hoes, axes, razors and hammers.
Companies not usually concerned
with such trade imported huge
numbers of these tools into
Rwanda. It remains a mystery to
this day why five missions sent by
the World Bank to monitor
Rwanda’s structure adjustment
program apparently failed to
notice all this activity.” (Melvem.
http://www.ushmm.org/con-
science/events/melvem/melvem.p
hp).
Maybe the World Bank mission
did not report the abnormally
huge purchasing of machetes,
hoes, axes, razors and hammers,
because international capitalism
objectifies and commodities all
tangible matter and life (i.e. the
profit motive).
All this occured in Rwanda dur
ing an intense propaganda cam
paign to prepare the Rwandans for
genocide. Maybe the financiers of
the operation were too busy
bathing in profits to pay attention
to an intense hate propaganda
campaign in their target market so
far away in Africa. Who sold mil
itary equipment to the former
Rwandan Army and, by proxy, to
the Interahamwe militia? France.
Mohn does not even mention
the international arms trade in his
column. A question for Mohn:
“What about the responsibility of
Rwanda’s neighbors or the
African Union in resolving the
slaughter?” However, that would
mean the United States would
loose its prominence as global
cop.
Madeline Albright was asked on
Minutes”
on May 12,
1996 by CBS
Reporter Lesley Stahl (speaking ,
of post-war sanctions against
Iraq): “We have heard that a half
million children have died. I
mean, that’s more children than
died in Hiroshima. And, you
know, is the price worth it?”
Her response: Madeleine
Albright (at that time, U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N.); “I think
this is a very hard choice, but the
price - we think the price is worth
it.” Doublespeak; The march of
liberation in democracy’s strug
gle!
The fact is that the U.S. govern
ment was responsible for the
deaths of millions of people in
Indochina (Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia).
U.S. Air Force carpet bombing
of Indochina destabilized the
region, setting the stage for the
Khmer Rouge to take power in
Cambodia and slaughter millions
more.
The genocide in Cambodia was
widely reported here in America
because they were Communists.
At the same time however,
equally gruesome genocide was
taking place in capitalist
Indonesia, although in the United
States there was conspiratorially
scant reporting on the systematic
destruction of the inhabitants of
East Timor.
On Dec. 6, 1975, Ford and
Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger met with Suharto in
Jakarta. The next day, Indonesian
troops flooded into the East
Timorese capital of Dili. The
Indonesians Wiled tens of thou
sands in East Timor using
American-made weapons. The
point is that the United States
government has been complicit in
manufacturing, supporting and
ignoring genocide before. Why
change now?
Jacob Curtis
undeclared junior
Sick of the vagina talk
When you take into considera
tion the individual wealth to
which the average American can
claim, it’s pretty appalling how
little we give to charitable founda
tions.
Given our relative financial
ease, there’s no way around say
ing that we should give more
back. A community outreach
organization has every right, if not
responsibility, to solicit donations
in inventive ways, but there’s a
right and a wrong way to do it. An
example of the wrong way to do
it: ‘The Vagina Monologues.”
I’m sure it was a hit on this cam
pus. I have no doubt. But public
pornography is not what I consid
er an adequate means of fundrais
ing.
If you’re a girl who’s anatomi
cally correct, you probably have a
vagina. Fantastic. It’s something
I’ve already assumed, so go tell
somebody else. I don’t want to
pay for a vagina lollipop, nor do I
wish to be told about the vagina as
a sociological concept in the cafe
teria, minutes before 1 eat supper,
and then again, minutes after I eat
supper. I’m sure I will be told that
I’m backwards-minded and that I
am callous of our nation’s “sexu
ally oppressed.” So, before you
“give your lips a chance to
speak,” and before you subject me
to all that, just keep in mind that;
1. If you live in the United
States, you are not sexually
oppressed.
2. If you live in the United
States, you need to quit complain
ing that you are sexually
oppressed.
You live in the most permissive
society this nation has ever seen.
And while all of this is fine by a
legal standpoint, I don’t think it
will gain a popular foothold as
long as the majority attaches any
value to decency. So, please, give
in earnest to our Voice, I’m sure
they do great work. Or give to
Planned Parenthood or
GreenPeace, if that’s your thing.
But, if 1 want to know about your
vagina. I’ll ask.
Fleming Talton
undeclared freshman
Regarding UNCA fashion
This comment is to “Lu$h” and
her anti-hippie promotion of a
homogenous cultural nightmare in
Asheville.
Perhaps, if you had been obserr-
vant of the characteristics of
Asheville upon choosing to live
here, you would have noticed a
few things. First, there are hip
pies, artists, liberals, queers,
punks and a variety of other indi
viduals who make up their own
minds about what to wear and
don’t care about your irritating
and misled fashion advice.
Second, you would have noticed
that Asheville is a MOUNTAIN
community, which means that we
have HILLS here. Please excuse
the geographically conscious for
not wanting to break their legs
wearing stilettos to class. Oh, and
you forgot to mention that stilet
tos cause permanent muscle short
ening in your calves. It’s absurd
that you advise against Nalgenes.
Perhaps some people are con
scious of waste and would prefer
not to donate 365 plastic water
bottles to the landfill, which not
only leak chemicals into the water
contained in them, but also into
the land where they will be
buried. Better yet, perhaps the
water they bring in their Ndgenes
is cleaner than the chemical and
lead-laden eity water from the
water fountains.
Some of the arguments in this
article are eontradictory. For
example, Chacos are not any more
or less dirty or different than those
three dollar Old Navy thong san
dals you princesses wear (except
Chacos are actually comfortable
and sturdy).
Maybe you could suggest your
mislead, generic fashion advice as
a contribution to the variety of the
school instead of requesting a bor
ing dress code, completely disre
garding individuality and coni
denming the culture of the moun
tains, UNCA and Asheville.
Dawn Reardon
junior environmental studies student^
Misfit letter to the editor
After reading last week’s opin
ion section, the article “Abortion
Anniversary is Nothing to
Celebrate” struck me as being
somewhat out of place. So, I did
some Google-ing. I was alarmed
to discover that The Blue Banner
neglected to produce an important
postscript to this loaded piece.
As it turns out, Messe is more
than a mere concerned, distant
reader. He is a member of the
powerful political lobbyist group,
Natural Family Planning (NFP),
NFP’s sole purpose is to spread a
political agenda through mass
media outlets. Messe’s role in this
organization is to produce letters
and essays to be syndicated
through papers and magazines
sympathetic toward his view. He
has written several published let- ;
ters including his most recent let- '
ter, “Abortion Anniversary.”
This letter has also been mass e-
mailed to numerous newspapers.
At least 20 periodicals, which I
found through my Google-search, .
have already published the edito- ,
rial.
His piece was not an original
conception for publication in the
Banner, but a mere mass e-mail of
an already published piece.
If the Banner wishes to publish
syndicated lobbyists, they should
provide information about the
sources to its readers.
In no way do I question Messe’s
thoughts or his right to an opinion.
While he is fully entitled to his
view, I ask my fellow Banner
readers: Why should we care? Set
aside the abortion issue and think
about the purpose of our editori
als. The Banner is a forum of
expression produced by members .
of the UNCA community for the
UNCA community. This fact is
evident at the bottom of every
“Opinion” section in the box stat
ing that “the Banner accepts let
ters and columns from any student
or community member.” Political
interest-group representatives
writing loaded essays for mass «- ,
mailing have no place in our
respected publications. Our stu
dent-run newspaper belongs to us
and should always remain that
way. Messe has no interest in the
UNCA community, only his pur
suit of framing the political opin
ions of others. In fact, I challenge
that Messe has even been to
UNCA — he is certainly not art
alunmus.
I strongly feel that The Blue
Banner editors made an honest
mistake and posed no lapse of
ethics. However, the editors
should exercise more eriticism
toward what they publish because
our forum does not belong to out
siders. f
Dave Jenkins
senior history-education student
Get out and make a fashionable appearance around town
Lookiu^JoTJuu? Check out the Jiibulous Lucious Lei^h s select list oj^ hot spots
hello again, ladies and gents.
® back with more advice for you
wnfully woodsy students and
tals.
you bored with the Brew
W View? Are you all yoga-ed
"It ' Are you dizzy from drum cir-
S "’ Well, I am too. So, take notes
ring socialites. Here is your
kly briefing. This time around,
discussion is where to see and
t’^seen in this sleepy city.
With the basics of what not to
iar covered, let’s get you really
^ted up and out on this town.
Vhat makes Asheville special to
of us non-kayakers? There is
"^nty,
Jo, please enjoy this brief guide
o^sheville nightlife, adapted to
^ many weekend moods of the
young and social.
A dressy Friday or Saturday:
Zambras: 85 W.
Walnut St.
Zambras is quite an
attractive package. They’ve
got tasty tapas, fine
Spanish wines, cocktails
and the atmosphere is all
casual class. The older and
younger crowds mingle
happily at this downtown
hotspot, while sipping top
shelf classic cocktails and
watching some of
Asheville’s most promising
bands play live.
Be sure to catch Toubab
Krewe, Zambras’ regulars
and up-and-coming local
favorites.
An easy first date:
Fine Arts Theater: 36
Biltmore Ave.
Movies make a great first date
because, unless your date is a total
idiot, he or she won’t mess it up by
saying something horribly dis
agreeable for at least an hour and a
half. This particular theater gets
great indie films that Asheville
would never see, were it all left up
to Carmike and Beaucatcher. The
Fine Arts Theater is conveniently
located next to several coffee
shops, bars and restaurants- should
the date go well.
It is also close to parking
garages, public phones and well-lit
streets should the opposite occur.
Down and dirty at eleven thirty
Corner Pocket: 389
Merrimon Ave.
You want to go where everybody
knows your name? About three
visits to the Comer Pocket should
do the trick. This cozy bar has
three full-sized pool tables, ping-
pong, darts and some of
Asheville’s friendliest barkeeps.
The Comer Pocket is the ideal spot
for a casual drink, good conversa
tion and parlor games.
Best lunch
Cottonwood Cafe: 122
College St.
This is a slight departure
from the nightlife theme, but
well worth the mention. The
Cottonwood Cai6 offers four-
star service during lunch and
dinner hours. The food is out
standing. The atmosphere is
lovely, no rusty skis and bro
ken tennis racquets or obnox
ious beer signs dangling from
the walls. Also, there are no
ultimate margaritas or sex on
the beaches, not that you’ll
miss those tawdry sorority-girl
shooters. Good food, great
location and all fit for a mod
est budget.
Best Wednesday night out
Fred’s Speakeasy: 122
College St.
How convenient. Right down
stairs from one of the best meals in
town is a great spot for a fun night
out. Don’t think you’re into ^
karaoke? Head to Fred’s next
Wednesday, and I bet you’ll
change your mind. Have a few ,
drinks, watch your friends screech
out a few eighties classics and then
follow suit. One caveat, though.
There is eternally that one girl, at
every karaoke bar, every time, who
has to sing “I like big butts” by Sir
Mix-A-Lot. Don’t be that girl.
Should you ever tire of waiting
in line for a plastic cup full of
Pabst Blue Ribbon foam, you
should give these suggestions a
try-
Better yet, write the Banner with
your own suggestions. Until next
week, darlings, get out, dress up,
and have a ball.
XoXo Lu$H
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