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Show PAGE A7 The myth of the American dream: confessions of a former Republican tization of America has Opinions Writer been very I, like other clean-cut, upeffective in standing young Republicans eliminating before me, decided to attend college, work hard, and take ad- the compevantage of the opportunities that tition that arises from America offered. I had always small busibeen taught that America was a ness. As meritocracy. A meritocracy is a small busisociety wherein people succeed nesses lose or fail primarily on their own the ability merit. It is often used to justify to compete why the rich are rich and why with large the poor are poor. corporations, I had heard different rags-toriches-stories that validated this more people will work idea. It never occurred to me that the American Dream might for others instead of be a myth. Yet after learning more and reasoning through the for themselves. As implications of what I learned, I began to disbelieve what I had more people work for always been taught. Courtesy photo Social scientists identify many others social reasons why America cannot be mobility will In a true meritocracy would would heiress/celebrity Paris continue to Hilton deserve her millions? considered a meritocratic society. I am going to highlight four decline. Third, unof those: 1. A decrease in social advocated the inheritance tax for equal opportunity also effects mobility, 2. The erosion of small this reason. meritocracy. Sociologists Stanbusiness, 3. Unequal opportuIt is a nice trick for Republiley Eitzin and Maxine Zinn cite nity, 4. Unfair tax laws. cans to advocate the meritocratic statistics that show the greatest First, decreasing social moideal out of one side of their predictor of wealth is one's level mouths, and then propose the bility implies a decrease in of education, and the greatest meritocracy. In a caste system elimination of the inheritance predictor of one's level of edufor example, there is no social tax out of the other. If one really cation is their parents' wealth. mobility from the lower to believes in meritocracy, the conWhat does that mean? It means upper class. The more social sistent position should be that of the greatest predictor of somemobility that occurs, the less Teddy Roosevelt. rigid the class structure is. So So what is to be when statistics show that social done? Well I guess mobility is decreasing, one can The Wal-Martization of one response to conclude that the class structure America has been very effec- this article could is becoming more rigid and less be to get red in tive in eliminating the compethe face and call meritocratic. it "left leaning f tition that arises from small socialist propaIh an article entitled, "Meribusiness. As small businesses ganda." Another tocracy in America," The Econlose their ability to compete response is to seek omist reports a study done by Indiana University that showed with large corporations, more to make America live up to the that'in 1978, 23% of the people people will work for others invalues it espouses. born into the bottom fifth ecoIronically, the nomic class ascended to the top stead of for themselves. fifth.' By 1998, only 10% of policies required those born into the bottom quarto make America one's wealth is his or her parter entered the top quarter. more meritocratic are traditionent's wealth. Since children do The Economist also cites ally designated as "liberal." For nothing to deserve the wealth or example, education funding research from the Economic poverty that they are born into, Policy Institute that found that aimed at making education more their opportunities are affected 36% of those in the second equal, legislation that rewards by non-meritocratic forces. poore'st fifth remained there, small business rather than large Finally, current legislation compared to 28% in the 1970's corporations and inheritance ; contradicts the ideals of meriand3|2%inthel980's. taxes. Secondly, sociologists Stephen tocracy. The current so-called Finally, we should stop blam"Death Tax" (What I call "The J. MdNamee and Robert K. ing the poor for their poverty •i Spoiled Brat Tax" because it is Miller Jr. show that small busiand worshiping the rich for their so minimal) is a chief means of ness is deteriorating. In colonial wealth. For we can only argue times approximately 75% of rewarding people for something t h a t p e o p I e deserve their social i the non-slave population was they did not earn. If meritocracy standing if our society is meritoself-femployed, mostly through is the idea that people deserve : cratic. owning their own farms. Now only what they earn, and inheriThere may be nothing wrong only 7% of Americans are selftance gives people wealth that in believing that merit should be employed and even less are they did nothing to earn, then the basis for one's social standfarmers. inheritance is non-meritocratic. ing. But if one believes in this As self-employment has deIn fact, Teddy Roosevelt, who ideal, it's hypocritical to ignore creased, corporate employment called socialists "muckrakers," evidence that the society we live has increased. The Wal-Mar- Letters to the Editor Alden Stout Democratic party in shambles "Democratic Partv" cont'd from naee A6 knees, you would think that' they would humble themselves before Americans, separate themselves from the extreme liberal iconoclasts, and try to find a way back to the more centrist point that won them success in the 1990s. But this is not the case. Amazingly enough, they have become so embittered in defeat that they are going to continue to push the envelope and embrace insurgency. I, for one, am quite pleased at this shift. I hope Dean becomes the DNC Chairman. I hope that the ideologues and Hollywood elites continue to highjack the Democratic Party and become the loudest voice for them. I hope to see Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Presidential nominee for 2008, and then gleefully watch her try to tame the rabid liberal beast within in a feeble attempt to appear to be a moderate. Let them suffer in a widespread identity crisis. If all of these things occur, it will be a wonderful sight to behold as the Democrats implode in a sea of anarchistic furor, and Republicans will continue to drive the helm of our nation forward, in the right direction. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR * E-Mail letters to uvscopinions@hotmailxom * The NetXNews room is located on campus in SC220. * All letters become property of NetXNews and may be edited for content, specifically clarity, length or other concerns at the discretion of the Opinions Editor. * Letters marked by their succinctness are more likely to be published; letters between 50-250 words are encouraged. * Letters must be accompanied by full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes (contact information will not be published). Occupation, title, or major is optional. Bush aids tsunami victims, guns on campus defended Dear Editor, A few thoughts regarding your most recent opinions page: 1.) Concerning American tsunami aid, Aaron Bryan states: "We could have saved many lives had we responded sooner and with greater force." That same thing could be said of removing Saddam Hussein from his dictatorship in Iraq. And if $350 million for tsunami relief isn't enough, then who is giving more? Even oil-wealthy Saudi Arabia has pledged just $30 million. Certainly, Bush could have responded sooner, but no one was fully aware of the gravity of the situation. Also, Indonesia is a hotbed of terrorist activity. The President had to make sure that those distributing aid would be safe. It takes time to make these kinds of decisions. I suspect that Mr. Bryan is just parroting the complaints of liberals looking for any reason to complain about Bush. 2.) Regarding the statements by Professor David R. Keller concerning concealed weapons at UVSC: I wonder if Professor Keller has received, or even investigated, concealed carry instruction in Utah or even gotten to know any concealed carry permit holders? These people are typically very conscientious of the law and their responsibil- ity. They are also people who enjoy practicing with their firearms and learning how to handle and use them better, with greater speed, skill and accuracy. It is unlikely that a concealed carry permit holder would use his or her firearm improperly and injure an innocent bystander, given the skill they derive from the training they frequently engage in simply for their own enjoyment. I do not have a concealed carry permit myself. I know several people who do, and I do feel safer knowing that there are people on campus with concealed weapons. Finally, the intent of the Second Amendment goes beyond protection from foreign invaders; the founding fathers meant for the people to remain armed in order to, if necessary, remove a tyrannical, totalitarian government by force and to restore the freedom and rule of the people of the United States. We haven't reached that point yet, but we are heading there fast. 3.) Regarding John Ditzler's New Year's Resolution "To turn the UVSC College Times into a Pinko-Commie rag." I think you're well on your way already. Thanks, Richard A. Smith Concealed guns Dear Editor, I need to reply to David Keller's article. You assume that anyone and everyone with a permit to carry a gun on campus is waiting to pull it out and start firing. Give the concealed weapons permit holders (CWPH) some credit. We were responsible enough to get the permit and receive the training. We're not gun toting, gun-wielding, ignorant fools, despite what you may think. And sorry Dave, this isn't the old west. I've never wanted to un-conceal my Glock 23.1 wouldn't be anxious to chase down the bad guy and start shooting at him. I mean, seriously, he'd probably start shooting back. I don't think we need to be concerned with the law-abiding citizens. How about a comparison between shooting deaths caused by CWPH's and shooting deaths caused by those without a permit? What do you think Dave? Caleb Reeve |