OCR Text |
Show 2AEmery County Progress Castle Dale, Utah Tuesday February 1 4, 2003 Commentary We Should on Martin Luther King Day: Remember What Judge People By Edwin A. Locke, Ayn Rand Institute What should we remember on Martin Luther King Day? In his I Have a Dream speech Dr. King said: I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not he judged by the color of their skin but In the content of their character. This statement, made before King became an advocate of black power, means that in judging other men, skin color should bo ignored that it should not be a factor in evaluating their competence or moral stature. It follows that skin color should not be a factor in taking actions toward other people, e.g., hiringand admittingto universities. What has happened in the years following King's murder is the opposite of the I Have a Dream cjuote above. Colorblindness now has been replaced Their Character, Not Skin Color by with color preference in the form of affirmative action. No amount of rationalizing can disguise the fact that affirmative action involves implicit or explicit racial quotas, i.e., racism. Consider the realm of work as a case in point. Taking jobs away from one group in order to compensate a second group to correct injustices caused by a third group who mistreated a fourth group at an earlier point in history (e.g., lS(iO) is absurd on the face of it and does not promote justice; rather, it does the opposite. It promotes racism. You cannot cure racism with more racism. Singling out one group for special favors (through affirmative action) ignores the fact that people are individuals not interchangeable ciphers in an amorphous collective. Consider a more concrete, though fictional, example. Suppose that since its creation in 1936, the XYZ Corporation refused to hire redheaded men due to a quirky bias on the part of its founder. The founder nowr dies, and an enlightened board of directors decides that something positive needs to be done to compensate for past injustices and announces that, henceforth, redheads will be hired on a preferential basis. Observe that: (1) this does not help the real victims the previously excluded redheads; (2) the newly favored redheads have not been victims of discrimination in hiring, yet unfairly benefit from it; and (3) the vv ho are now excluded from jobs due to the redhead preference did not cause the previous discrimination and are now unfairly made victims of it. The proper solution, of course, is simply to stoj) discriminating based on factors. Although redheaded non-redhea- education, to law enforcement, to politics. Americans have always abhorred the concept of royalty, that is. granting status and privilege (and, conv erselv, inferiority and debasement) based on ones hereditary caste, because it contradicts the principle that what counts are the characteristics possessed by each individual. Americans should abhor racism, in any form, for the same reason. On Martin Luther King Day and ever' day we should focus on the proper antidote to racism and the proper alternative to racial thinking: individualism. We need to teach our children and all our citizens to look beyond the superficialities of skin color and to judge people on what really matters, namely, the content of their character. self-ma- on By Renee Hawkley I hen need a friend the most, 1 I have sisters And . . . . . . this Martin Luther DECLARE THAT THE U.S de By Tim Huber POLITICALLY CORRECT I Have Sisters got three sisters from my parents, two more when mv brothers mar- - bias is not a social problem, the principle remains the same when you replace hair color with skin color. The traditional solution to the problem of racism is colorblindness, or, from the other side of that coin, individual awareness. For example, in the job sphere there are only three essential things an employer needs to know about an individual applicant; (1) Does the person hav e the relevant ability and knowledge (or the capacity to learn readily)? (2) Is the person willing to exert the needed effort? and (3) Does the person have good character, e.g., honesty, integrity? The rational alternative to racial diversity, focusingon the collective, is to focus on the individual and to treat each individual according to his own merits. This principle should apply in every sphere of life from business, to King Jr. is Jt Holiday CORPORATIONS yr AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD GIVE . . Im her sister. When she's livingin a lent. And she doesn't have a cent. When her husband came and went, I'm her sister... When she's made a big have sisters 1 When When mistake, . . . And her head proceeds to ache. When her heart's about to break. have a broken bone. Im new and not I I'm her well-know- n, sister .. . And Im feeling all When shes filled with deep despair. And she needs my alone, I have sisters When post, Or I . . . fervent prayer, When there's no one else to care, drive into a burn the roast. I Sun-da- v I'm her sister. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Silence will be our Dow nfall Dear Editor: speech taken from William Shakspeare's, Julius Caesar" have remodeled it to fit the typical actions taken by the radical extreme enviromentalists against Utahs silent In a I citizenry. Hew are the leader who bangs the drums of w ar in order to hip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edge- d sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And vv hen the drums ol w ar have reached a fevered pitch and blood boils citizenry, infused with fear and blinded b patriotism, they will offer up all their rights gladly so. How-dknow? For that is what I hav e done. And I am Caesar. vv I Beware of the radical extreme enviromei. alist leader who bangs the drums of the enviromental war in order to vv hip us common every day into a fen or. For enviromentalism is indeed a double-edg- e eiti-zen- ry sw ord. It emboldens the blood with extreme enviromentalism. just as it narrows the mind of the common citi- zenry Meaningyou and me, and vv hen the drums of the enviromentalist war have reached a fever pitch and blood boils with hate, our mind becomes elosed with their distorted reasoning. The radical enviroment leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the concerned citimine. and zenry, yours Rather the citizenry, you and me infused with the fear and blind sided by enviromental intimidation, and being coerced will offer up our rights unto the enviromentalist leader and gladly so. IIovv do I know this? By your relet peated silent, some one else do it attitude. For this is how I planned mv strat All am one of Ftahs Active Radical Enviromental Leaders. Martin Luther King clarified the abov e vv hen he w r te, History ill hav e to record that the greatest t raged of this period of social transition is not the strident clamor of the bad people (meaningthe radical enviromentalists) but rather, the appallingsilence of the good people." Meaningyou and me. Haul L Young, St. (leorge egy. 1 vv Some Thoughts on the Pending War Dear Editor. It seems that someone here needs to express some ideas regarding a possible war with Iraq. have to assume that other people will think different! than I, but would hope they will be open to someone elses way of thinkI ing. As far as I seehear, our leaders have been pressed into wailing for the I N inspectors to be over before they go ahead with their plans to attack. do not hear of any to vv ork toward a peaceful resolution of what begun in 91. And it does take patience. Some things to consider: )Yar has nev er brought peace, but only more hatred and suffering. (Need examples?) 2)- The CIA has said that Saddam would never use any weapons he may have as long as he is left alone. 3)- Ve blame others for hav ing "weapons of mass destruction" vv hile we continue to hold them. In fact. Bush, when he came into office, withdrew from the ABM T reatv that w e recently were disturbed about because North Korea said they withdrew from it. 4)- We also continue to increase our weapons of mass destruction. 5)- Oil is a very likely probable reason behind the movement toward this war. Yet it is important for the health of I 1 all. that we move away from oil use. It is possible. li)As funds are removed from human needs to make weapons and war, needy people an where are more lilkely to become restive to be heard, peaceably if possible, but with violence if they despair of peaceful means. 7)As citizens of the F.S. we have a responsibility to think and make our thoughts known to our leaders. It does make a difference. Ev en if it seems not to do so. Paula Wellnitz. Orangeville Agriculture, the Foundation of America Dear Editor: has been vv ith great interest that we have been following the stories of the criminals and the break in crimes perpetrated at the Circle 4 farms in Beav er County. First, let us say that w'e do hope those committing the crimes and those masterminds behind the scenes are prosecuted to the full extent It of the law. As members of our county Farm Bureau Board for 15 years, and as a farm family and as members of the FFA and the Advisory Boards, we believe we have an insight into agricul4-- H tural production that most people of the nimals Rights Coalition will never have. Ye dare to bet that most of them hav e not an inkling of what it takes to produce the food and fiber they willingly consume even- day. We remind them (and all of us) that although other countries nun have the edge on superior automobiles or electronics, NOWHERE in the entire world are farmers as productive and efficient as they are in the Enited States of America-an- d that includes production agriculture operations. If it werent for the strength of agriculture in this country, those people involved in the Coalition - Letters to the editor should focus on public issues rather than private personalities or entities. submissions must be verified prior to publication. The Emery County Progress reserves the right to edit letters not only to satisfy space constraints, but potential liability concerns. would be living under conditions of a Third World Country. It is agriculture that gives this nation its power and wealth. We can live without weapons, w'e can live with out oil, but even the most vile dictators of the world must have food and fiber to exist. As hog raisers and hay farmers ourselves, we have visited and toured the Circle 4 operations. We found it fascinating and gleaned many great new' ideas for improving the production of our own very small operation. The conditions at those farms are superb! One of the concerns voiced by the Animal Rights Coalition was that the pigs were raised in dark rooms. Did they ever consider the fact that those rooms are scientifically calibrated to temperature oxygen? Sows naturally farrow in the dark-whethon home farms or at a production facility. We observed that the diets of all the pigs are calibrated by a highly educated animal nutritionist and monitored by technicians. The pigs all had access to fresh water on er demand. The pens were clea- n- much cleaner than those of pigs raised in sunlight and fed apples. There is a company veterinarian who regularly monitors the health of the animals. There is a HLGE difference in the health and quality of animals raised on calibrated diets compared to those fed in the backyard on grain and table slop. The quality of meat is superior which only results in superior nutrition to humans from meat consumed. We have been in many homes where children were not treated as well as those animals at Circle 4. Do you know of any children raised in less than clean conditions and fed less than balanced diets? Does every child you know have access to a doctor who makes house calls? Maybe those so concerned should direct some of their efforts to cleaning up human society and leave those in the agricultural industry alone to keep providing their food and clothing. Just remember: Pig just may be providing some of you with life today by way of insulin, heart valves or numerous other lifesavingproducts. Randall and Barbra Jones Huntington The Lonely Lovers of Liberty IRVINE, CA "Rebelling against tyranny is a lonely business these days, says Robert W. Tracinski, senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute. If the brave citizens of an oppressed country dare to resist evil, they can expect the rest of the supposedly civilized world to react with hostility or indifference. Tracinski, also a columnist for Creators Syndicate, cites the current situation in Venezuela, where a popular movement is demanding the resignation of would-b- e dictator Hugo Chavez. Chavez and his backers rewrote Venezuelas constitution to extend his term in office and to give him the power to rule by decree. Last ear Chavez used that power to stage a political takeover of Venezuela's oil monopoly and to impose 49 decrees, giving him near-totpower over Venezuela's economy. ProtestingChavezs dictatorial rule, courageous Venezuelans from all vv alks of life have joined a vast general strike to free their country from tyranny. So naturally everyone has condemned it, says Tracinski. The Organization of American States, which condemned a similar rebellion last year, has sent a negotiator to seek a compromise between those who want freedom and the dictator who wants them under his boot. .And the Bush administration has stayed carefully neutral." Venezuela is strategically important to the United States, prov iding 13 percent of our oil, notes Tracinski. There are now two countries in the world where a popular rebellion is building against a dictatorship: Venezuela and Iran. In both cases Americas interests and the cause of human freedom demand that vv e stop ignoring these crises and start supporting the freedom fighters." state-controlll- al |