The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 21, 1983, Page 6, Image 8
-opinioi
L-ICUUUII
failures i
As SG elections a
VJWv ci mucin prepdJ
service to the univ
parent that Student
to help the student t
made are ineffectua
When students ret
were burdened w
requiring 90 percent
Student Governmen
Government solici
signatures for a petii
The policy is still i:
Students also co
campus parking. Sti
needed proof that a
they conducted a si
were that a majorit;
parking problem.
The parking situat
State government
must do something
Consequently, USC
ficulties and must ba
Student Governnu
opposing tuition incr
than 400 students pa
budget cuts on the St;
But for all the yell
UVV11 UVVVfllipilOtlCU.
Student Governme
this; there is little
affect state-level bi
Student Governmen
concerns, but eve
organization has fall<
Students might ha
and yelling after th
Education degree v
portunity to serve s
Student Governmeni
wisdom" of USC Pre
Unless Student
1 ^ 4. * - l- - i*
legiumaie opuons
budget cuts, both wi
good to hold rallies
students can vote, t
of these actions are f
It's hard to namei
average student he
year's SG actions,
merely asked for
Government has bee
It's not necessaril
but this year's Stud
been impotent.
All blame shoul
Government, howe\
of government it el
participated in last >
This year's SG ;
dicate that low vol
centive for good gov
Go;
R
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Address letters and columns
A. USC, Columbia. S C. 29208
n
marks
jf SG
pproach, the 1982-83 Student
res to complete its year of
ersity. And it is again ap
Government has done little
K)dy, and the efforts that are
1.
urned to school last fall, they
ith an attendance policy
t class attendance. What did
t do? This semester Student
ted student and faculty
tion against the policy.
n effect.
mplain about the lack of
ident Government, however,
parking problem exists, so
iirvey. The startling results
y of students feel USC has a
ion has not improved.
faces a budget deficit and
to make up the difference,
also faces financial diflance
its budget.
;nt has made a big show of
eases and budget cuts. More
rticipated in a rally against
ate House lawn.
ing and rallies, nothing has
int can hardly be blamed for
the organization can do to
udget decisions. About all
it can do is voice student
n in this capacity, the
en short.
ve appreciated some rallies
e undergraduate College of
vas cut. But when the optudents
presented itself, all
t did was "stand behind the
sident James Holderman.
Government can oresent
to tuition increases and
11 happen. Although it looks
and remind legislators that
he actual accomplishments
ew.
even one tangible benefit the
is received because of this
And when students have
a voice, again Student
m inadequate.
ty because of lack of trying,
ent Government has simply
id not rest with Student
ii ii* i
er; ine puouc gets tne Kind
ects. Less than 2,000 voters
rear's SG elections.
accomplishments might in
er turnout is not a good in
ernment.
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_letters
Capitalism a;
By Arthur L. Williams
Though I do not approve of
President Reagan, I approve less of
reactionary liberal responses to his
plans. Stuart Bagwell's letter (Feb.
16, 1983) in response to Mark
Blalock's letter (Feb. 14, 1983) is a
better than normal example of these,
and I should point out several
weaknesses in his argument.
1. Bagwell's ubiquitous "class
conflict" is not as heated in America
as he would suggest. If anything,
America is the least class-conscious
nation I am aware of. In any event,
the history of class supporters proves
them relatively guiltless. Far more
people have suffered at the hands of
religious institutions and militaristic
nationalism (irrespective of class
distinctions), two things of which I
know Bagwell disapproves.
2. America, Bagwell claims, is
based on scarcity, insecurity and
greed. Whatever its faults, scarcity is
not one of America's; though
"scarcity" is a relative concept, to be
sure, and perhaps Bagwell's standard
is so unrealisticallv hieh that I wnnHpr
if he is not guilty of the greed he sees
in so many others.
INSECURITY, BY definition, is a
product, not a basis. If insecurity
exists, something more fundamental
about our society causes it. But more,
in ignorance of my nature, Bagwell
has personally accused me of insecurity,
and he implied that
capitalism was the source. Nothing
could be further from the truth. All
insecurities I might have come from
society's breach of capitalism; I
embrace oanitalism tntallv anH
without insecurity.
The source of greed is sufficiently
broad ? and ambiguous in Bagwell's
letter ? to allow for many
possibilities. One is the basis for
capitalism and is a virtue (being
rational); the other is equally opposed
by capitalism as well as socialism,
though capitalism opposes it with
greater cohesion. The basis of the
distinction is rationality. If I can
Duuytu mure
Editor:
I found it appalling that the adm
university would even suggest a tuition in
as well as a housing cost increase. Ju;
ministration cannot run this school in a
should not mean that the students should
the heat.
There is still hope that the trustees of
take action to stop the increases, but <
Deiieve that good ol' boys like Jerry E
Dennis will actually dispute the decisioi
James Holderman, who seems to have
titude of "bossism" to this institution of hi
All must realize that we as students dc
. in front of the State House but, rather, pi
, -. ViUustriovui" president's home.
ssures citizen
guest editorial
rationally prove that, say, private
property at all cost is a right of man,
then the "greed" of protection of
private property at all costs is a
virtue.
On ihe other hand, capitalism would
condemn ? perhaps under the word
"greed" ? any abrogation of the
private property of one person at the
expense of another. And, again, ,
Bagwell should not confuse the two
concepts under one name, proving
that he is the consummate sciolist, not
Blalock.
3. "The only possible way people
can be equal is morally ? that is,
deserving equal treatment, not equal
opportunity as Blalock would argue."
niu - * 11
mere is a noiaDie contusion on
Bagwell's part here: He obviously is
construing government as economy,
which it is not wholly, nor would be at
all under capitalism. Blalock is aware
of the distinction and so is more
justified than Bagwell. The economic
equality of opportunity is guaranteed,
Blalock claims, by government, so if
government were to function
correctly there would be equal
treatment, as equal guarantee.
4. "EQUAL OPPORTUNITY is
meaningless in a society that transforms
natural inequalities into socioeconomic
inequalities." There is no
necessary correlation between the
proposed inequality-transform-system
and economic opportunity
because equal opportunity is not
equivalent to equal attainment even
in the presence of the greatest natural
inequalities. Such is the moral of the
fable of the tortoise and the hare.
5. "If our government was founded
as a mechanism responsible to the
citizens, then certainly it should
respond in times of economic woe." In
addition to the fact that government
regularly causes economic woe, this
is quite irrational. I train my dog, or
my child, even, to be responsible to
ases due to i
I), *
uuugci cuu> are in
inistration of this what the public schc
crease of up to $400, cutting their budgets
st because the ad- these budget cuts; t
n efficient manner tuition.
I have to take all of why then must the
cut programs of vali
this university will kind of reminds me
does anyone really and I do not say th?
laaclmr ap MopHou
needs to take place is
ri of USC President jf jjsC will not have a
brought the old at- i encourage all sti
igher learning. protest. Some of us ai
> not need to protest anymore!
otest in front of our ....
i equality
me; that does not mean I expect my
dog to respond in times of economic
woe.
InrfpfH what ic in mioefir?r? io Urn
? TV?B?*V *u in \|LtV*J ViVll 1Q tliv^
expectation of the government, its
essence. Blalock claims, and I agree,
that its nature is solely defense.
Blalock (I gather, and I if not he)
would agree government is responsible
to the citizens, but it is still
wrong for government to respond to
economic woe, as that response is 0
contrary to its nature. No doubt
Bagwell disagrees with that definition
of government, but it is clearly the
one closest to the history of American
ideals.
6. "Again, a true look at the
theoretical basis of our country
requires the amelioration of social
ills." I agree, and capitalism opposes
all social ills, and all social ills are
created out of the denial of capitalism
? which our society does in certain 0
respects.
7. IT IS quite clear that both Blalock
and Bagwell misinterpret John
Locke, who is neither a good capitalist
nor good socialist. Certainly Locke's
theory of labor as the basis of
property (Bagwell fails to note that
Locke means extrapersonal private
property here) does not imply a
proletariat revolution. But that is 0
because Bagwell, like every socialist I
Irnivu foilc fn o/Mi ??1--" -c
?T ) lUiia VV OVyV; 111C auppiymg OI
capital and the knowledge of its
maaiagement not only as part of
production, but as the greatest part.
How one can supersede the money
and managerial intellect that gets the
screw and piece of car to the common
laborer with the relatively mindless
act of screwing is through a chain of
argument too irrational for me to #
follow. To continue and say that the
person who does the relatively
mindless act of screwing for, say, $7
an hour is a "victim of wage-slavery"
is totally absurd.
The author is a philosophy/religious
studies sophomore.
inefficiency
king place all over this state. Look at
*)1 administrators have to deal with in
. You see, the public schools must take
hey do not have the option of raising
administration at USC raise tuition and
lable importance at the same time? It
of President Reagan's administration,
it with anv creat enthusiasm All that
efficient administration, but it looks as
ny part of that.
idents to pay any higher tuition under ^
re mad as hell and aren't going to take it
Morgan Lea
Education sophomore