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Show Monday, October 30, 199$ 8 - The Dally Utah Chronicle Opinion Quebec Should Kiss and Make Up With TTTY UN. the Canadian Gov't ltr's wet to see "xVi f( THEY FbUND SOMETHING TBPWSPERJ 5QTH o you like Canadians? Do you know someone from Quebec? If you do, chances arc they're hanging on the results from today's vote. In a move unprecedented in Canadian history,, the Canadian province of Quebec will vote today whether they should secede from the rest of Canada. Ill feelings between Quebec and the rest of Canada have been simmering for years, and political leaders have been calling for a secession vote for some time. They cite different cultural backgrounds and history as the primary motivation between the lift. Quebec was originally setded by the French and harkens back to the Continent for it's historical roots. The rest of Canada was setded mosdy by English with a different ancestry. But despite their cultural differences, Quebec and Canada need to stay together, if for no other reason than Quebec probably cannot survive on its own. Quebec alone runs an annual deficit of nearly $3 billion. After independence and the accompanying loss of federal revenue, that amount could approach $14 billion. Moreover, Quebec has an outstanding share in the Canadian federal deficit, which is in the neighborhood of $430 billion. Quebec's share would be somewhere between $75 billion and $85 billion, an added burden of the fledgling nation. Quebec's unemployment approaches 11 percent and would increase with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs after secession. In addition, Quebec's taxes are among the nation's highest If the secession vote passes, the new country would have to either cut services or hike taxes even higher. The strain put on the newfound freedoms of Quebec would be too much for an ambitious province to handle. Mayoral Candidates Offer Only Quick Fix Editor: I have decided to write you today on thoughts developed at the That not to mention the strain placed on the rest of Canada stemming from the loss of one of its chief sources of recent debate of "die issues" between Sat Lake City Mayor Dee raw materials. It would seem that such important decisions are Dee Corradini and candidate Rich McKeown held in die prestigious ramito be made, and the outcome will have such Hinckley Caucus Room on Wednesday, Oct 25,1995. is fications for the rest of the nation, then all Canadians should be allowed to vote. That is not the case in Monday's referendum, where only citizens of Quebec will be allowed to voice their opinion. It all underlines the fundamental principle that, no matter what Gov. Mike Leavitt thinks, secession is rarely a good thing. People should be encouraged to cooperate and unify , rather than divide and tear each other down. That's the only way for a nation, a province and a people to truly prosper. The Daily Utah Chronicle calls upon all its Quebequois readers to vote "no" on the upcoming secession referendum. Divorce is never a good thing, except in the case of Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere, whose separation The Chronicle wholeheartedly supports so Cindy can date a Chronicle editor of her choice. Stop the madness. The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student newspaper. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board. At this insult to our ignorance I found the main object of discussion was crime. These feel they have found solid ground to stand on with this one issue, McKeown more than others. (Don't take this as a pitch for Deedee "Green Space" Corradini) The concept of circular thought can be plainly seen in their discussions on crime. This tactic for vote ckvouring, which every politician (by politician, I mean one who will say anything to gain vote mass) carries, is a powerful weapon against those who don't want to .: w r;;1 have to think fine itself this follows The tactic of reasoning: 1. Drug-dealinand bad. 2. who perform these activities are crimiprostitution are People nals. 3. Criminals should be locked up. 4. Yk don't have enough jail space to lock them up. 5. We need more jail space. Any sane individual would agree with this sound deduction, right? Sure. So, knowing we need more jail space, the voters have only to determine who can better provide this necessity and, then, vote appropriately. A second line of reasoning was also developed, this time already votc-devoure- g assuming No. 2 above. Continuing the argument, No. 3 takes a new twist, namely: Qiminals should be arrested. No. 4 then becomes: We don't have enough police officers to arrest all criminals. 5. We need more police officers. Now, our informed voters have two complex choices to weigh -the necessity of more jail space and the necessity for more police offi cers. Isn't voting exciting? Let us suppose that some thwarter of democracy comes along and asks why our original premise is held? Are drugs and prostitution bad? Instead of philosophizing on this important point, suppose our thwarter offered decriminalization of both drugs and prostitution, like that den of sin and depravity Holland? Hmm. Well, they are no longer criminals, so they shouldn't be arrested nor should they be locked up. Therefore, Numbers. 4 and 5 in both lines of reasoning become meaningless for our discussion. (I would argue that crimes relating to prostitution and drugs make up a significant portion of the entire crime corpus. Thus, elimination of said crimes would lessen the load significandy in both cases.) What does that leave us with? There is no need for further jail space or police officer acquisition, so ... we save money! Saving sec "Mayor" en pate 9 United States Ruled By the Elite: Those Who Vote i -". UF. HI , Kenneth Jackman J ; Chronicle ' m Editorial . Columnist Irving in a country where Dmagine top 35 percent of the have any say at all in their government. The rest of the people who live in this country arc forced to submit to each and every whim of this elite 35 percent la a country with America's population, over 160 million people would have no voice in their government. "Good thing America is a democracy where the people not members of some elitist group control govern menL I would hate to live with a totalitarian sykot government like that," Are you saying that to yourself? ; YfdL, think again. You do live in a - - country where only the elite rule. I really enjoy living in America because I am one of the elite few who decide how our government will operate. . Now are you saying to yourself, "How can this be? America is not governed by the elite but by the president and Congress. They are chosen by the people and not some elite group. In fact, I vote for them every election." Ah, so you too are part of the elite group of Americans who control the government I commend you on being a part of the elite controlling group instead of those suckers who must do as we say. We hold an incredible amount of power over those other 160 million Americans. Hopefully they will never gain the power we possess. Are you saying to yourself, "Good, sweet Moses! What is this guy talking about? I am not an elitist The only 'group I ever joined was the Girl Scouts, and even though I sold more cookies than anybody else in '89, that doesn't make me an elitist. Now if I was a member of the Star Trek fan dub than I could possibly be called an elitist, but I still don't think Trekkers run Congress. No, this writer must have been dropped a few too many times as a kid to call me a member of national level, we are electing a person to vote as they would. So if one wanted to do away with the IRS, all one need do is vote for a candidate who also wants to eliminate the IRS. Voting gives one the ability to con-- , trol the government thus forming a elitist group of those who vote. Are you asking yourself, How does voting make me elite? Nearly everybody has the right to vote. So why are we an elite group?" - an elite group." . . You fool! How can you not see the power you possess? You have the power to completely change the face of American government If you wanted, you could eliminate Social Security, Medicare, or even the IRS. You have the power to raise the minimum wage, build homeless shelters, or sell Idaho to Canada. You said yourself that you vote in each election and yet you do not realize the scope of your power. Are you now asking yourself, "Well yes, I did remark that I voted in each election, but how could that give me the power to get rid of the IRS?" Don't you see? When we vote in an election, be it on a state, local, or You are indeed correct. Nearly , everybody does have the right to vote, but the average person is too apathetic, lazy, or just too uneducated to even utilize this simple privilege. In the dramatic election of 1994, 185 million Americans were of voting age. However, only 74 million Americans chose to vote. Of those 74 million that voted, 39 million were Republican and 35 million were Democrats. If only 3.5 Dercent of thnv who did not vote decided to vote Democratic, there would not be a Republican Congress. In any recent races those who did not vote; could have drastically changed the outcome of the election. If all those Americans who did not vote had decided they liked Ross Perot he would be our president America is clearly an elitist country if only 21 percent of the voting public supported the Republicans in Congress. Are you now asking yourself, "I see why America can be considered a totalitarian system of government, but why don't all these people vote and change this elitist system?" Well, I don't know. There is no valid excuse for not voting. However, I s like the decisions I hope make on Nov. 7, because they will have no reason to complain. ' Frankly, I hope none of them ever start voting because it is quite to realize that myself and a small group of elite people can control over 160 million people so easily. non-voter- ego-buildi- |