Show Page 2 November 11 1993 v Changing v rnind-s- et by Joshua Ullbarrl viewpoint editor Aaron Chapman was murdered witnesses say because of the color of his shirt Monica Vigil was shot and killed many speculate because she was going to testify in the murder trial of her uncle (Chapman) It is widely recognized that America is growing more and more violent The violence has never hit Utah as much as it has this year Americans are blaming the media television and the government With all the blame going around it would be obvious that some of it should be placed at home Meaning everybody the media television and the government have some responsibility to make American society as safe as it can and should be The forefront of the fight to stop violence has centered on the media and television Experts and analysts agree that television portrays violence not as wrong and vicious but as acceptable and justified in all situations While this may be true the counter argument is that the media actually portray society the way it actually is Indeed society is not roses and love it is full of confrontation and struggle But this struggle docs not depend on violence to survive Television paints violence as glamorous and having no repercussions This is wrong because in the real world all individuals face blame and punishment for the wrongs they do The real question is whether or not television can influence peoples' behavior Doris Grabcr in her book American Politics and Mass Media indicates that "Because the media shape people's knowledge attitudes and feelings they obviously can influence behavior" MTV's "Bcavis and Bullhead" has been scolded recently for their parody of playing with fire Recently in a Midwestern state a five year-olboy started a fire and burned down his house His parents blamed the incident on the MTV show The impact television can have is obvious The responsibility they show on programs though is not A recent USA TODAY poll indicated that violence was viewed by the public as the most important issue of the day This has been reflected in the government industry by politicians New York and Los Angeles recently elected conservative mayors who promised to add a thousand more police officers to the streets The mayor of Wash d can stop violence ington DC recently asked President Clinton for permission in using the US National Guard to patrol her streets The request was denied but it indicated that the cities cannot stop violence without the help of the federal government One suggestion to This is also a suggestion that both Gov Mike Leavitt stop violence is and Salt Lake Mayor Dccdcc Corradini have suggested They argue that more than four out of five guns used by gang members have been purchacd not stolen If we restrict gun usage to those over the age of 21 they argue then maybe the violence will that guns stop The problem is not access to handguns the problem is the mind-swill solve the problem That mind-sthat violence will solve the problem is the root of the problem In a society that rarely awards hard work the teenage population actually believes that to cheat steal or even kill is the answer to their frustration The solution is difficult but obvious stop this mind-sThe path to the solution is even more difficult Violence is an issue that cuts across gender lines age lines and race lines All Americans arc affected and all must participate in stopping the violence The answer to the problem of violence is not educating our youth to be That ignores the youth that arc violent Imprisoning the violent only creates room on the streets for more violent teens The answer will take more than one or two steps It involves more than one guideline and will be reliant upon more than one rationale The problem with the current mind set is that our leaders believe that violence will solve itself or that only one solution is right Violence will not be curtailed with the same old philosophy Tougher laws more education and more community awareness are needed One without the other two will not work American society has become increasingly violent Most of this violence his involved the youth They arc no longer innocent or guilt free All facets of society television media and the government must accept responsibility for the violence But above all the citizens must realize if not for ourselves the children deserve the right to grow up in a society free from fear and confident in their security at home gun-contr- ol et et et non-viole- nt non-viole- nt Orwell was right Big Brother is coming by Ryan Hoglund viewpoint writer The human race is sitting on a bomb that has already exploded A bomb whose roots arc integrated into the vicious circle of supply and demand as it is satisfied by technological grow th A population demands a certain standard in their quality of life and forces technology to meet that demand Once technology reaches that standard society demands more and thus a society's quality of life increases so docs that particular society and the process starts over causing huge amounts of population growth This vicious circle was greatly caused by the Industrial Revolution of the 18ih century In the time immediately following the Industrial Revolution the world saw a population explosion like it had never seen before With new innovations in technology and the birth cities people started coming together on a mass scale to work in the of industrial-base- d factories and to establish permanent residency Immediately following the Industrial Revolution Britain's population doubled With the shift from labored farming to mechanized agriculture people could grow enough to not only feed themselves but also have enough left over to feed many others thus peoples' nutritional intake increased That ratios people combined with new medical discoveries lipped the scale of birth-deat- h started living longer and reaching reproductive age sooner The result is a population explosion whose momentum is far from slowing It is a case of the cure being far worse than the sickness Experts estimate that by the year 2000 the Earth's population could well exceed six billion people and an even more apocalyptic estimate is that within 39 years the Earth's population will double Where do you put 12 billion people on a planet that is not getting any bigger and whose resources arc quickly diminishing? The answer is you don'L At the root of every social and political problem from health care to poverty is the vast amount of people that governments have to keep track of and care for The US government and police justifiably feel overwhelmed by the demand placed on the system to provide safety and a general sense of well being to a general public of 220 million individuals Governments are not the only ones feeling the pressure of a crowded planet individuals feel it also Racism is fundamentally the fears felt by persons of one culture when they feel that persons of another culture arc infringing on or taking their social re sources Humans arc animals with a strong sense of survival thus when a “threat" makes its presence known the natural instinct is to group with one's familiar kind and face their fears together For example in Europe and America immigrants are frequently looked at as a “threat" to the native population's property and jobs These fears usually result in prejudice ideologies and violent oppression We have recently seen the extreme taken in Bosnia when there is not enough room or resources to go around the “solution" is genocide Environmental problems arc based largely on the consumption ethic created during the Industrial Revolution and the increases in population If you think the environmental disasters associated with less that six billion people arc tragic imagine 12 billion people all with mouths to feed bodies to wash and trash to throw away Another crucial factor in the scenario is the amount of energy used by individuals in a particular society Americans use 250 limes more energy than people in Third World or developing countries So what happens when the majority of the world reaches dcvclopcd-natio- n status? Unavoidable resource wars and famines on a global scale We have already seen water-war- s in the desert environments of the Middle Eng Solutions to the population problems arc as terrifying as the problem itself In George Orwell's novel 1984 societies arc forced into Authoritarian rule as means of survival after a nuclear war The population explosion could force The New World Order to become a world-wid- e rationing system in the name of survival Thomas Malthus is probably the most famous author on population theory He writes that the will force into us an Authoritarian government that will curtail population problem individual rights for the safety of the group and survival Malthian theory also says that rights should be curtailed now to make the transition easier and to slow the inevitable shift A solution that is a little easier to swallow but still disturbing is reproduction control like China has been forced to do but on a global scale Maybe even have the US government give couples $500 dollars each year that they choose to not have children This would cut the financial demand on the system and probably save money The biggest barriers we face in solving the population problem is lack of education dogmatic mind sets and cultural voids and lack of relations with lesser developed countries who would perceive population control methods by the United Slates or United Nations as violations of their sovereignty People would never give up the rights and comfort they are so accustomed to even in the name of survival But knowing that a problem exists is the first step in solving and preventing its spread |