“Generation Biased”
Andrew Clark’s recent article, “Generation Bailout” (Feb 26, p. 5), was as tone deaf as the Bobby Jindal response from last Tuesday and the CPAC event “Bailing Out Big Business: Are We All Socialists Now?”
Clark’s opposition to the bailouts does not acknowledge, much less offer solutions to, the collapse of the largest companies and banks in the country. Instead, it rails against spending in general, without weighing positives, negatives or alternative scenarios. Nobody wants to spend money on bailouts, but President Obama, like former president Bush and Hank Paulson, is not ignorant to the circumstances. Clark’s column argues that we ought to be worried about our economic future under a crushing deficit. I don’t know anyone who wants to see a growing deficit; the question is where does it fall on a list of priorities. Is it more important than staving off deflation, avoiding massive unemployment, preventing a complete shutdown of credit, etc.?
The only evidence Clark provides that these bailouts are unwarranted is a quote from Henry Morgenthau, FDR’s treasury secretary who in 1939 stated that “We have tried spending money … and it does not work.” He fails to mention that economic hardships in 1939 were caused by attempts to balance the budget a couple of years earlier. Massive war spending ended a balanced budget and eventually the Depression. I am less worried about paying off our future debt and more worried about the future of our politics. Like Jindal and CPAC, Clark’s article is partisan, offers no new ideas and makes a point that everybody already knows – growing the deficit is bad.
Michael Massiwer, Senior
Apathy is easy
In response to a recent letter to the editor titled “SA a waste of time” (Feb. 26, p. 4), I would like to suggest to the gentleman who proposed the abolishment of the Student Association to begin his signature petition immediately. I would be very surprised if he received close to enough signatures to warrant further effort.
The writer purports that the SA is “unnecessary” and that The Hatchet is “misguided” in its attempt to cover the meaningless SA elections. I cannot begin to understand why anyone, especially a student, would recommend the abolishment an organization whose very existence is dedicated to providing a voice for and addressing the needs of students on this campus.
Instead of abolishing the voice of the student body or writing it off as irrelevant, why not seek to amplify your own voice? Why not try to reform the SA to your liking? Because it’s pointless? Or because it’s too hard?
It’s time GW students stop their incessant complaining about the problems we face, both real and imagined, and actually take ownership of our community. Pay attention to the SA elections. Vote for the candidates who will be your greatest advocates. If none of them will, run for elected office yourself or encourage capable friends to do the same. Impress upon them the importance of their job as representatives of the student population. Constantly remind them of what needs fixing and what doesn’t. When they succeed, reward them; when they fail, remove them.
This is the way our country works, but not just at the highest levels of representation. The foundations of representative government are in local entities such as school boards, PTAs, city councils and, yes, student associations, where decisions of local leaders have immediate effects on our communities. These institutions are the roots of our democracy, and we should bend them to our will, not ignore or abolish them out of our own petty and lazy frustration.
Eshawn Rawlley, Junior
