OCR Text |
Show H Just a thought By SCOTT SUMMERILL U.S. government would fight Utah secession With news of so many countries breaking away from Soviet control, and that government's measures to hamper the action, many people in the U.S. and other countries are up in arms that officials of so-called free nations aren't doing more to protect seceding countries from governmental reprisals. An interesting thought, but how practical would proposed sanctions against an already impoverished government be? Furthermore, is it appropriate for Western countries to interfere with another government's struggle to keep its society alive, even if military force is used? Americans are usually appalled and enraged by news such as the military invasion of Afghanistan to quell unrest, or the use of force in Lithuania to round up military deserters. These tactics are deemed unacceptable unac-ceptable by most Americans, and the more vocal cry out for U.S. action ac-tion against such travesties of injustice. in-justice. After all, the free world would never impose such infringements infr-ingements on individual or governmental rights of choice. Whoops! What about the draft dodgers of the sixties? Weren't they rounded up and put in prison? And the antiwar demonstrators at Kent State and across the country; how many were killed while speaking out against government involvement in-volvement in Southeast Asia? How about more recent examples of American intervention. Though Panama is not part of the U.S., there is a considerable amount of interest in the country, as well as investment. in-vestment. When Manuel Noriega opposed the wishes of the U.S., a military invasion was staged and Noriega was taken captive. He still sits in a jail cell in the U.S. Was that L action taken to fight drug activities only, or were there some political incentives as well? How about Nicaragua? Is it any less an interference to supply weapons, money and military advisors ad-visors to a group of rebels bent on overthrowing the existing government govern-ment than to send in U.S. troops? It might be interesting to see what would happen if one of the states, say Utah, decided to declare its independence from the United States. All the incentives are there; economic underdevelopment, increasing in-creasing federal intervention in internal affairs and a strong desire by residents to protect their way of life from outside influences. If Utahns declared independence, took up arms, marched in the streets, opposed federal authorities and gave refuge to military deserters, would the U.S. government govern-ment simply say, "Okay, Utah, you have your freedom. You 're no longer part of the United States." It's highly unlikely. In the first place, it would create a hole in the middle of the country that could become a threat to national security. In this scenario, the possibility of invasion is not nearly as threatening as if Utah were a border state, like those breaking off from the U.S.S.R. Secondly, the loss of natural resources, though they may be limited lim-ited in Utah, would not sit well with federal authorities. Agricultural production is also an important factor fac-tor to consider. A Utah secession may not cripple the country, but many of the Soviet break-aw ays lie along rich mineral deposit paths and agricultural producing pro-ducing latitudes. Lithuania, for example, ex-ample, has deposits of nickel, uranium, ura-nium, chromium, manganese, mercury mer-cury and sulfur, as well as extensive wheat production. Last, but by far not least, is the financial impact of lost tax revenue. With a deficit of nearly $3 trillion, the U.S. government wouldn't be too anxious to lose tax revenue from an entire state, even one as sparsely populated as Utah. Though taxation may not be the standard used by the U.S.S.R., the impact on their already overextended overextend-ed financial system would be at least as damaging as the Utah scenario to U.S. budgeting. Although the comparisons made here are not necessarily equally balanced, bal-anced, it does not take an overly active ac-tive imagination to see that any government would take steps to hold their political structure and society together. After all, a political politi-cal system, or society, is only strong as a whole if each of its parts are stable and intact If parts start breaking off, the entire infrastructure infrastruc-ture weakens and begins to crumble. crum-ble. Therefore, though the U.S. should support the safety and security of countries striking out on their own, an enlightened society such as our own should at least keep the ramifications facing the Soviet government from the withdrawals in mind before screaming for sanctions sanc-tions and staging protests. After all, the Soviet Union is not trying to extend a stranglehold on the world with its actions, it's merely mere-ly trying to keep its society alive during a turbulent time of political, social and financial reform. |