4A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
OPINION
FRIDAY,SEPT.21,2001
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KNIGHT RIDDERTRIBUN
PERSPECTIVE Americans can be free and responsible
In Tuesday's Kansan, Rachelle Cauthon writes that contempt for good American values, such as capitalism and prosperity, are to blame for the Sept. 11 tragedies ("Hate comes in many forms, guard against them all," Sept. 18). Her column conjures up images of Scrooge McDuck diving into a pool of money while his neighbors, hungry and coughing, glance over the fence.
Moreover, she attacks the "angry" left for its "empty" morality of "sacrifice and despair" and the commentary was egocentric, insensitive and uninformed. She hails Americans' "unabashed love of prosperity" and tells us to "understand our country's wealth and prosperity and revel in it."
In a world where more than 1.2 billion people exist on less than $365 a year, less than $1 a day, such behavior is disgustingly selfish. The fantasy reality expressed in her column would have us stand before the world's thousands of malnourished and impoverished and flaunt our wealth with pride.
Unfortunately, this dream world is a quiet reality. Every day, U.S. businesses exploit Third World labor for pennies. Time after time, businesses and government put profits over the environment, people and justice. Globalization may give us a cheaper Mochaccino, but that's only because we shift hidden costs — impoverished and abused workers and environmental destruction — to someone else.
When things don't go our way, the United States turns to violence and sanctions. Polluting oil "justified" sanctions that killed millions of innocent Iraqi children. Returning home for a terrorized and persecuted Jewish community "justified" support of violence against Palestinians. Ending World War II "justified" vaporizing 200,000 innocent Japanese civilians with nuclear weapons. The record of U.S. violence is long and painful. We are beyond reproach only because of the threat of our military.
And we wonder why anyone would die to hurt us. Cauthon misses the big picture. We aren't hated for our prosperity. We're hated for our arrogance, our selfishness, and our casual disregard for the terrible inequities in this world.
That's why it's flat wrong to blame the political left for Sept. 11. The left isn't anti-prosperity or pro-poverty; rather, it crusades for social justice, non-violence and environmental protection. Prosperity should belong to everyone, not just those lucky enough to have been born into privilege. These things can be accomplished without sacrificing our freedoms, if only we will take the task upon ourselves.
Meanwhile, those that believe as Cauth does will continue to spout the very rhetoric that paints a target on all of us
If born in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, or Tanzania, would the author still feel "very real anger" about Americans' lack of pride?
- Joe Jarvis is a senior in political science from Lenexa.
PERSPECTIVE
Steven Spielberg's Artificial Intelligence was released just three months ago, when life seemed more full and commercial airliners kept from merging with towering skyscrapers and military complexes. In that simpler time, A.I. was dismissed by the public for being too dark. In this more complex time, the film's artistry can be more easily identified: it has so much to teach us about tolerance and acceptance.
A. I. prophetic message of tolerance
A. 1. is set in a future world where robot "mechas" have been programmed to fill the void in human "orgas" lives. Due to overpopulation, couples are now required to get a license for having children, so the first mecha child, David, is created to become the third member of the orga family.
Let's imagine for a moment what having a perfect child would be like. This child would never swear, would never lie or complain or even disobey. He also would never sleep, because this child would not be human, and it would be his very lack of humanity that would let us destroy him.
So what makes us human? Is it our ability to love? If this attribute is given to a nonhuman, to a mecha like David, does this "cure" him of his inhumanity and, in effect, cure us of our need to destroy him?
The mechas of our world are unknown, those who live oceans away from us and lack a human face for us to identify with. We can destroy these perfect children because we've never seen their humanity, their ability to love just like we can. We can fit them into neat little groups — whether we call them
Stephen
Shupe
Guest Columnist
opinionkansan.com
—and not just our ability to love that make us human. The mass murder of the mechas in A.I. poses many philosophical questions about our own penchant for racism through "moral" sanctification. Racism, the belief that one person's
Commentary
The people who carried out last week's destruction saw their victims not as humans, but as mechas, as evil, inhumane perfect children who had it coming to them. Tragically, this same world view will be what allows us to retaliate on such a massive scale. The specifics of warfare require anonymity, the denial that the enemy can also love. We, in turn, blame Arab Americans for something perpetrated by people they have never met and who live thousands of miles away from them.
Of course, it is our own shortcomings — ignorance, hatred, violence, genocide
American or Arab or Asian - so that the people who make up these groups are just numbers ready to count for a faceless casualty toll.
Wesay "Yes, your honor, it was them," for who else could it be? If man was made in the image of God, was it not God who said to the children who didn't love him, "Depart, for I never knew thee?"
wrongdoing is an entire people's, could not exist without ignorance. So what happens when we shed some light on this ignorance?
In one of the best scenes in the movie, David has found himself the target of a carnival of destruction. The ringleader calls out to the crowd, "Who will toss out the first stone?" A farmer in overalls and possibly from Kansas (who else, Spielberg asks shrewdly, could be more likely to abdict racial violence?) stands up with his stone, but instead of throwing it at David, he throws it at the ringleader.
Shupe is a graduate student in journalism from Augusta.
For orgas and mechas to coexist Americans and Arabs and everyone under the sun — we have to recognize everyone's humanity, everyone's inability to be perfect. So the first stone has been cast. Thousands oforgas — people we know — have been killed. Who will be the first to toss it back, and how far will that take us from being ever able to coexist?
The crowd sees David as the exception, but we soon learn there is a human face behind all mechas. If given the opportunity, we would deny mechas in the real world their own human face? What if we decided to send not soldiers over to these countries, but our own citizens to meet the people who live there? Could we still see them as mechas, still shed their blood for our own?
A. I. is showing tonight and tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Tickets are $2 per person.
LETTERSTO THE EDITOR
Attack celebrations
Dear editor,
Ailecia Ruscin was rightfully appalled by any racist sentiments she witnessed against Palestinians ("Students Respond," Sept. 12) in the aftermath of Tuesday's attacks. At the same time, however, I think the image of Palestinians taking to the streets of the West Bank to celebrate the deaths of thousands of Americans brings their sincerity in the Middle East peace process into question.
John Albin,
stance. It is a weak yet common tactic for enemies of individual freedom, such as Ralph Nader, to resort to emotionally charged slogans to engender support. It is refreshing to here from a student who demonstrates resistance to the peer pressure that exists on college campuses to mindlessly attack capitalism. More of us should stand up and be counted as an ally of freedom as Ms. Cauton has.
Lincoln, Neb., sophomore
This student would like to thank Rachelle Cauthon ("Hate comes in many forms, guard against all of them") Sept. 18) for affirming his belief that there are indeed students at this University who understand and appreciate the fact that individual freedom, capitalism, and prosperity are inextricably linked. Ms. Cauthon deftly points to the misplaced anger that is at the core of the anti-capitalist, anti-corporate rhetoric that is in vogue on campuses across the country.
Attack responsibility
Dear editor.
In contrast to those she assails, Ms. Cauthon's column relied on reason rather than empty rhetoric. Those who attack freedom find that reason is not an ally, because their ideas are heavy in sentiment but pathetically light in sub-
Those who attacked the World Trade Center carried jealousy and anger toward freedom and prosperity. We should all look within ourselves to see if we also harbor such destructive sentiments.
Tucker Poling Wichita Senior
Supporting KU athletics
I will tell Ryan Gerstner ("Students should come out and support KU football," Aug. 27) and others why I, along with many former KU men's swimming, diving, and tennis supporters, are not anticipating the Jayhawk's fall football season.
Dear editor.
Ever since the decision made by Bob Frederick's athletic department took effect this school year to eliminate the men's tennis and swimming and diving teams, many lives have been drastically affected. Personally living across from some of the men's swimmers last year made me realize how thoughtless cutting those teams was.
Even head football coach Terry Allen jokingly implied on Traditions Night that the chances of our football team being a competitive contender in the Big 12 was slim to none. He encouraged football fans to throw the field goals into Potter Lake if we ever happened to win. That makes sense. Let's just ruin perfectly good goal posts for the football team!
Swimmers I know have been forced to transfer schools, give up swimming after spending their whole lives doing so, and passing opportunities for other future swimming scholarships. Tennis players and divers are in the same boat.
Supposedly, there is no money for the
Show me a rebuilt swimming and diving team, show me new men's tennis stars, and I'll unquestionably show my support for athletics regardless of the scores. I realize the new athletics director, Allen Bohl, had no part in what occurred last year. He does, however, have the influence to turn things around and show theBig 12 some real competition in other areas.
teams. Maybe if the University were not so adamant on wasting money on the losing men's football team, our campus would most definitely have more money for other beneficial sports programs.
School spirit? Ha! I will give you school spirit. But I won't forget what unfairly happened to these teams when they were cut. I know for a fact those men won't forget it for the rest of their lives.
Jayme Aschemeyer
Aurora, Colo., sophomore
Free for All
864-0500
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Not all of them will be published. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
I totally disagree with the headline "Mills brings in $1,1950." Why don't we say something along the lines "The University raises money to raise those in New York." Mills isn't doing it all.
Peace rally, ruh? Maybe if we all go and rally really hard, terrorists will never attack again. Quit being cowards and start supporting military in our country.
If you forget where you come from, you're never going to get where you're going.
Hi, I was the girl that got splashed on Naismith yesterday, it was more like soaked. I had people asking me if I fell in a puddle.
Thanks a lot buddy. No, it's all good, apology accepted.
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I wonder if my cats think of each other as the names I've given them. Or do they make up names for each other like "suna breath" or "sofa scratcher" or even "the one that doesn't cover his poop in the litter pan?"
To drop or to flunk? That is the question.
I'd just like to apologize to the girl I kinda almost threw up on at the Jazzhaus Saturday night. Sorry.
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Everytime that steam whistle goes off on campus, I start humming the Flintstones theme.
I gave money today to help the victims in New York, not to send Justin home, I think I could give less of a crap about sending Justin Mills home.
Rock chalk, Jayhawk, KU.
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Boys will be boys and so will older men.
I'm a girlfriend and I'm not anti-pot. If she's anti-pot, I say ditch her.
We live in an age of the Internet and I don't understand why three professors choose to have us write an essay where all our sources come from the library. This will be the reason why I flunk out of school.
The weather is so beautiful today and so are all the butterflies. I just wanted to thank whoever was in charge.
I was sad to read about all of the students who had professors who did not talk about the recent crisis in their classes and who were perceived as insensitive. I would just like to thank my women's studies teacher for engaging us in a conversation because it really helped me a lot. And I wanted to say thank you.
I just typed in ku.edu on my browser on the Internet without the www, and it suggested related Web sites and one of them was "knights of the Ku Klux Klan." I just thought that was interesting.
If your roommate is a huge loser that plays computer games for 9-10 hours a day, please raise your hand. You can't tell right now but my hand is very high up in the air.
What's the big deal about the basketball players? The football players are way more fun to hang out with and as hot.
Oh my turquoise ring, I wouldn't have traded it for a whole wilderness of monkeys.
Transformers: robots in disguise.
Is it wrong that I love my Nintendo more than I love my mother?
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If loving Justin Timberlake is wrong, I don't want to be right.
As a former employee of McDonald's, I would like the students and faculty to know that McDonald's french fries are fried in 100 percent pure partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
'Sup? Sad that we had to lose several thousand Americans for America to mean something to us.
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I say forget decreasing taxes to stimulate the economy. Decriminalize hemp to stimulate morale.
I just wanted to let you know it's midnight and I haven't watched any pornography yet.
I couldn't believe what they taught in the human sexuality class today. The lecture was a real shocker.
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CORRECTION
The column "Search for truly vegetarian restaurants continues" (Sept. 19) stated that McDonald's French fries were fried in beef fat. That was incorrect. According to McDonald's USA French Fry Facts, "A small amount of beef flavoring is added during potato poaching — at the plant ... Our French fries are cooked in vegetable oil at our restaurants." McDonalds began using vegetable oil in 1990.