Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Help America should he willing to aid Soviet reform efforts ?for a price The big debate in Washington now seems to be whether or not we should give assistance to the Soviet Union. That the USSR is on the proverbial ropes is no secret. The question is should American tax-payers bail out a past and perhaps future enemy? The answer is a qualified yes. There certainly are precedents in American history for bailing out defeated enemies, and the USSR is just as defeated economically as Japan and Germany were militarily. However, were we to give monetary aid to the Soviets (and some estimate this aid would have to be around $30 billion a year), we must get many concessions out of the deal. Just as we forced an American-style market economy onto Europe and Japan after World War n, we must make the Soviets move more quickly towards democracy and capitalism before we give them another cent. This isn't reactionary; it's common sense. Call it an example of the Modified Golden Rule ? those who have the gold make the rules. Specifically, the United States must demand the following measures from Gorbachev: National free elections to decide on the leader of the Soviet Union, to be held within one year, NOT in 1993 as Gorbachev has said. Loosening of the strict laws regulating secession from the Union. Lithuania and the other Baltic states should be allowed to secede, starting yesterday. New agreements on the reduction of conventional and nuclear forces. To be sure, the U.S. has done its own foot-dragging ; .1.; _ i . rt . ? ?_ .i_. i i c .i _ in uns area, out aoviei intransigence is mosiiy 10 oiame ior me lack of anns control breakthroughs. These are just the start of the Soviet Union's admittance to the West. Bush has now said that Gorbachev can go to the "Big Seven" summit of the world's great economic powers. If the Soviet Union wants to be a great economy, it better start acting like one. BttAMKrorKf News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249 David Bowden Editor in Chief Tige Watts Aaron Sheimn News Editor Carolina Life Editor Rich Taylor Daniel Barabas Sports Editor Graphics Editor Julie bouchillon Photo Editor Jennifer Jablonski Copy Desk Chief Ed Bonza Erik Collins Director of Student Media Faculty Adviser Laura S. Day Ray Burgos Production Manager Assistant Production Manager Renee Gibson Carolyn Griffin Advertising Manager Business Manager Letters Policy: The Gamecock wll try to print al letters received. Letters should be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must Include ful name, professional title if a USC employee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if a student. An address and phone number are required with ail letters sent. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters for style, possible Ibel or in case of space limitations. The newspaper will not withhold names under any circumstance. ^ Death penalty People are sick, twisted and morbid. People who read The State are even more sick, twisted and morbid. Last week The State had one of those stupid call-in surveys about a bill in the California legislature that would allow executions to be ^ broadcast. Amazingly, almost sixty percent of those respondents wanted executions! People of USC, *cs we now live in a sneietv wirh Hitler-like DO] tendencies. First of all, no person should be executed, mc That is so uncivilized! We are more civilized Th than the time of Hammurabi, which dictated an she eye for an eye. she And the idea of watching a real person die on tor TV is appealing? How would you feel if you're eci uncle Louie, a convicted murderer, was buzzed wo with a zillion jolts? Not too nice of a sight, eh? ne: TV people ought to be taken to the 1 woodshed, too. How dare they throw away ethAmerica betra President Bush is advocating Most Favored Nation Status for China. For those scoring at i home, this is the moral equivalent of giving hu- \ manitarian aid to Nazi Germany after the invasion of Czechoslovakia Of course, we slapped Hitler's wrist too until he started killing English people. If you're not white or don't have oil, it * is a lot harder to get the sympathy of the Li American government. Granted the Tiananmen massacre isn't on the bit scale of the Holocaust, but the fact is, the Chin- dem ese government would have killed millions if T that was what it took to maintain power. Com- witl munist China is one of the more ruthless re- tries gimes in the world. natii Some in the diplomatic community say that ble, better trade relations with China and more ex- you posure to the West will make the Chinese more Chii democratic. If the U.S. really believes that, why trad not stop sanctions against Iraq? No, the fact is tim< trade in and of itself has almost no effect on a anci country's ideology. We trade with lots of two- cou ' ' w - y 1I1U" II1IW1/1 UWff?ttlll\lSS. need not be b that TIGE WATTS ^ not. V 11 each thinl i and common decency for a few rating more ints. the c [ can picture the fall lineup with Sundays (the ally i >st watched day of television), Tuesdays, G ursdays, and Fridays at 8 p.m. having the stant 5w "America's Most Barbecued." In this we h >w, John Walsh gives the description and his- to gc y of the person before his execution. The ex- more ition would next take place and Sam Kinison wou) tuld finish the show by telling jokes standing In U to the corpse. micr Jm, good, I can't wait for that show. one What's even more appalling about this bill is FAL ying Chinese DAVID BOWDEN S with dictatorships that aren't about to become mass; locratic. M< he only way a country changes ideology is be ea i a change in leadership. Autocratic coun- tatori { change their style of leadership when their MFN on is trouble. The USSR had economic trou- Th and the powers-that-be finally found a glove ng leader that would shake things up. If kick na doesn't receive the benefits of Western more e, conditions might just get so bad that the Chin; ; is ripe for revolution. Or, more likely, the glarii ient Chinese leadership will die off and the buy i ntry will be ripe for change. . of th< roadcast it has actually made it this far in the Legise. Aren't Congressmen supposed to be reable people with reasonable ethics? I guess lis is just a tasteless way to try to show the of us not to go around with guns shooting other. I guess the lawmakers out there : if they can fry people on TV, there will be > of an impression on others not to commit Time. Excuse me surfer-senator, 1 aon t rethink this will work. ime, taxes, and stupid Republicans are cons. People are going to commit crimes and lave to deal with it. Instead of using money ) over the airwaves, why not do something i reasonable, like rehabilitation. I guess that Id require too much common sense, though, the meantime, I'm going to load up on the owave popcorn and get ready to see somefried and punished for their wrongdoing. SE. students 3st Favored Nation Status is logically and ally wrong. Bush is saying that China has ered enough." The United States has done ng to punish China for the Tiananmen re massacre in the first place! I would be i more supportive of lifting trade restricif National Security Advisor Brent Scowwasn't seen clinking champagne glasses Chinese officials mere months after the acre. Talk about cold-blooded diplomacy. 3st Favored Nation status is a privilege to irned, not handed out to every grubby dieship. If anything we should take away status from some countries, e reason the U.S. treats China with kid is and didn't to say ... Iraq is that we could Iraq's butt with ease. China would be a tad difficult. I'm not calling for war with Red a or anything, I'm just pointing out the lg inconsistency in U.S. policy. Just don't nto the lie that U.S. is always the protector i world. *