< PREVIOUS ] [ 1987 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
Some questions I'd like answers to:
· Why does every writer in Washington sound so fretful about the Iran-contra scandal?
I keep reading things about crisis of confidence
and Reagan's loss of credibility.
For one thing,
life in the real world seems to go on pretty much as before
the scandal. For another, I can't imagine anyone so naive
as to be shocked when it comes out that a President has
been taking liberties with the truth.
My political memories extend only as far back as Lyndon
Johnson: We are not about to send American boys nine or
ten thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys
ought to be doing themselves.
Then there was Richard
I am not a crook
Nixon, pardoned by Gerald Ford. He
was followed by Jimmy I'll never lie to you
Carter,
who promised a balanced budget by 1980.
So why all the uproar over Ronald We don't negotiate
with terrorists
Reagan? Did anyone ever truly expect
anything different?
· How does the United States determine who its friends and enemies are?
Israel is our friend, and Nicaragua is our enemy. Israel sends spies to the United States. It deliberately bombed one of our naval vessels in 1967. There is excellent evidence that Israel has hijacked some U.S. plutonium.
Nicaragua hasn't done any of these things. So why do we send aid to Israel while trying to overthrow the government of Nicaragua?
· Why do people think other countries should solve our drug problems?
After the Just say no
campaign and the urine
cleanliness crusade, the next step, we are told, is to take
action against countries that grow coca bushes and opium
poppies.
Those farmers wouldn't grow those crops if there wasn't a demand for them, and we're the ones that create the demand.
To put it another way, suppose you were an impoverished farmer in Bolivia. You can raise your income by 1500 percent if you raise coca bushes, which means your children won't have to sleep on a dirt floor and you can afford to buy them eggs and milk.
Aren't we expecting a lot of that farmer if we want him to give up growing coca just because it kills rich, stupid gringos?
· Why are certain forms of racism tolerated and others denounced?
Certainly the apartheid regime in South Africa is brutal and repressive. Unfortunately, white African governments hold no monopoly on brutality and repression. For instance, check the recent history of Uganda, where thousands of citizens were tortured and butchered because they had the misfortune of being born to the wrong tribe. You can find similar horror stories in Zaire and the Central African Republic, among others.
But it's always South Africa that we're supposed to boycott and abhor, whereas the others are emerging nations that presumably deserve our support. Aren't racism, brutality and oppression wrong, no matter who practices them?
· Aren't there any standards for claiming
something is Made in the USA
?
Other things being equal, I try to support the home
team. My Kaypro computer is advertised as American-made,
but when I open it, it's full of parts from well-known U.S.
firms like Nippon Electric Corp. I just bought some
American Edition
flannel shirts, which are made in
the USA -- with imported cotton. Recent American cars, I
have learned, are often stamped of foreign steel and filled
with imported components.
If it's as important as the ads say to buy
American,
why can't I ever be sure that I am buying
American products?
· How can metropolitan Denver go in two opposite directions at the same time?
I keep reading that the metro area absolutely needs to grow, so that people will have jobs, and that's why a new airport and convention center are necessary. To make sure all those new residents can have bright green lawns, Two Forks Reservoir will be necessary.
At the same time, the current residents of the metro area face a health hazard every time they inhale. The Brown Cloud will just get browner and deadlier as more people inhabit the metro area.
It might be possible to do something about the Brown Cloud. It might also be possible to encourage growth until the Front Range is as crowded and as attractive as Calcutta. But how on earth is it possible to do both at the same time?
< PREVIOUS ] [ 1987 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >