4 OPINION Page 4 Saturday, February 16, 1985 The Michigan Daily e ue n Man Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Capt. John stuffs Consider Vol. XCV, No. 114 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board South Africa's sham W ITH THE recent offer of con- ditional release of South African black leader Nelson Mandela, a subtle change in policy by South Africa's government toward the majority black population has become noticeable. Die- hard conservatives in the government are beginning to question the established racist policies, and South African President P.W. Botha has stated his wishes to consult with black leaders on the course of politics for the country. Despite the seeming receptiveness of Pretoria officials, , however, the current trend toward greater recognition of the problems and con- cern of the black population should be received with caution. South Africa is a country founded on racist policies. This current trend will not change that fact. At best, it is a token effort designed to stifle negative inter- national opinion of the elitist gover- nment. At worst, the current policy is an attempt to further exploit the black population by decreasing the legitimacy of black rulers such as Mandela. Pessimism of the current trend of Botha and other officials stems from their willingness to take small steps, but not to completely address the problems of blacks. Traditionally, the government has refused to recognize the existance of a black majority. When Botha told parliament that there were millions of blacks settled in ''white'' South Africa-an accepted fact-he was considered courageous. How can Pretoria claim to have any legitimate concern for blacks when it is a monumental action to merely suggest that the majority of blacks exists? Botha's pledge to discuss policy with black leaders rings hollow also. That pledge refers only to those leaders who denounce the use of violence toward their ends. The government's definition of violence has yet to be defined, but leaders such as Mandela, who advocate violent revolution, are clearly excluded. South Africa's policy toward blacks is too deeply defined by exploitation and racism to be changed by a few token gestures. By AndrewBoyd Daily and Consider editors believe the in- sertion into the Consider issue on the U.S. war against Nicaragua of a sheet expressing two additional viewpoints changed the content and "context" of Consider and thereby violated its freedom of speech "Inconsiderate addition," Daily, February 10). However, the content of Consider was unaltered; the insert was a separate sheet with its own title. The insert merely provided more information and more viewpoints. Consider was not censored but, rather, did the censoring. Within eight hours of the insertion Consider staffers had confiscated both the sheets inserted in their magazine and those left in public places. This required visits to over 25 separate buildings. If freedom of speech is the issue, then it was Consider staffers, not Consider (Consider) stuffers, who violated someone's freedom of speech. Consider not only narrows the range of views presented on campus through its destructive action but also through its very format. This brings us to the issue of "con- text." Yes, we changed the context of Con- sider. This was the very purpose of the insert. The insert presented views to the left and right of the range ofviews Consider deems acceptable or even acknowledges to exist. The insert thus encirlced Consider's discourse and displayed the narrowness of its views for all to see. Moreover, the insert's views were presented without any illusions of "objec- tivity" or "equal balance". They were ex- plicitly political and crafted for specific pur- poses. They were "extreme" because Nicaragaun, reality is extreme. The struggle in Nicaragua is between revolution and counter-revolution, between national liberation and foreign oc- cupation, not between the cost of another Vietnam and the danger of Soviet-style food distribution. The format of Consider is partisan, biased, and ideological yet claims to be none of these. There are no magically value-free facts, no objective viewpoint that is above or outside the world it presents and no balance that is not a particular kind of balance. By claiming that there is, Consider makes its ideology, surrenders responsibility and even mystifies its own staff. Consider presents two viewpoints "in con- flict", weights them evenly and is content to stop there. A space is created for controversy, but it is a controlled space. Within this space all viewpoints are made equal and thus strip- ped of whatever value or force they once had. Moral outrage ,and demands for power are reduced to merely interesting ideas. We are free to discuss but powerless to change. Debate is still-born; it goes nowhere; it leads to no action. Controlled controversy affirms the status-quo rather than challenges it. In fact, controlled controversy is the status-quo. This is Consider's unacknowledged ideology. It was necessary for the reader and the staff to see the four viewpoints together in one Boyd is also known as "Mr. Insert" and "Captain John Early and Co.' "He is a senior in LSA. it's y tJ p le O*: :p d ," cr' IS, ' g r" r. r t.,'" ,mow *! ".; b '*.,, e.to °°'""°" yat "pe. '.nt ate Ib. °'. t'4h +""n'I <'rMk " t0.-a' '° .'Pa. "no,'h°,+ "+"+".'''h .. "1':ti':°::" i:"yi"1'a . i°°a n. "bM° M i agM, +'b '^a ,"'"' + ' br , 'd.rOM ChM ",, ty ., °a>. > ien ?tr i r4°VMa .,n rMy a ,°. My r'n °1+ 1.i "^yI . n t!ti w 4 4 Cut waste, not service place and at one time. It was necessary to see the Consider format in an altered and expan- ded context in order to recognize its struc- tural limits and glimpse its hidden ideology. The act of insertion revealed the ideology of Consider's format. The content of the insert revealed the ideological limits of Consider's content. The limits that bind Consider are the limits of "Offical Reality". The limits within which Big Government and Mass Media agree to disagree. Official Reality is largely unrecognized because it is rarely questioned or threatened. When it is, the threat is quickly silenced-witness what happened to the in- sert. Official Reality pounds into our heads the following: The American Empire does not exist. Marxism is tyranny. Revolution is dangerous. America is incapable of, systematic aggression, terrorism, or propaganda. Democracy is identical with "American-style" elections. U.S. "national security" is morally privileged over Nicaraguan national sovereignty and that of Third World nations in general. This is Of- ficial Reality. It sanctions murder, terror, and plunder abroad and the erosion of per- sonal freedom and civil security at home. If you believe it, then you have bought it all. We know something very different, and we will take it to an audience however we can. This is what Official Reality does allow us to openly disagree about: exactly which policy of aggression against Central America has a cost-benefit ratio that best serves "U.S. interests". Predictably, this was the basic debate in the Consider issues. (We based our insert on this long before we saw the issue it- self.) Consider (Consider) is not an attack on specific people but _n the ideology of Con- sider's form and content. Only by direct ac- tion can the'invisible be seen and the uncon- siderable be considered. A letter to the editor would only locate our challenge within the Consider-controlled discourse. Controversy would be contained; our challenge would only reaffirm the ideology we seek to deny. We have been called liars and compared with Hitler and Stalin for the use of fictional character Captain John Early. The Captain is not in the phone-book. He is real. The factual material in his statement is -drawn from local metropolitan papers. The Captain does not exist as a physic-l individual but as a world4 view with its associated desires.The Captain represents real people in the CIA, NSA, the Pentagon, and the White House who do not speak openly of their views-yet secretly con- trol policy. For these reasons the Captain was able to rip the facade of "respectability" off Reagan's policy in Central America more ef- fectively than any left-wing or liberal critique ever could. Often fictional characters sum up a specific reality better than any "real" per- son. Novelists have known this for centuries. Consider and the Daily accuse us of bad tac- tics and bad manners. "Good" tactics are privilege of those who control the "proper forms of expression and those who profit from the socially acceptable limits of controversy. "Good" manners are aluxury, if nothing else, when the issue is mass suffering, social revolution and a dirty war. It is our right to use bad tactics and bad manners because good tactics and good manners are ideological labels designed to repress a reality that falls outside the norms of "objec- tive" journalism. { "Bad tactics" and "bad manners" have opened a democratic space within Consider. Members of the University Community have begun to question the publication's format. Within this new context of public awareness, we would like to consider Consider within its own format. This requires something the Consider editors have not yet demonstrated: a willingness to consider their own ideology. We shall see if they have the good faith and "integrity" necessary for self-examination. A RECENT CRACKDOWN on the. general assistance welfare program by the state Department of Social Services will save Michigan more than $1.2 million each month in welfare payments, but threatens to aid efforts by some legislators to cut the extent of welfare services. The study was the first concrete review of individual cases within the system in more than two years. .Reviewshave been a part of the system since its inception, but have been ineffective since 1982 because of funding cuts. The state is entirely correct in working to rid the welfare system of wasteful and unnecessary payments. The system is a large burden to the state's taxpayers and the government must work to keep the program's cost as low as possible without diminishing services to the needy. But at the same time, an over- emphasis on controlling waste could be harmful to the system. Too often ac- cusations of waste within the program evolve into questions of the program's right to exist. There is currently pressure within the state legislature to move toward a reduction in welfare spending. Sen. Robert Geakes (R.-Northville) is calling for a review of the full system, citing the waste as his basis. Fortunately he seems to have little support, but the notion is concerning. A strong welfare system, capable of fulfilling the basic needs of all the state's unemployed and disabled, is a goal that must be reaffirmed. Since 1939, with the passage of the Social Welfare Act, Michigan has acknowledged its responsibility "... to provide general relief, hospitalization, infirmary and medical care to poor or unfortunate persons." Ideally these people would be able to find em- ployment and provide for themselves, but in instances where they are unable to do so, the state must be there to assist them. The state has fulfilled a fundamental obligation by increasing the scrutiny of individual welfare cases, but that review must not be confused with an attack upon the entire system. Gover- nmental waste in any form should be reduced, but the commitment to providing for the state's needy cannot be compromised. Wasserman IN E:CANNOT RELEASE NELSON MAND)E1A W - MOUT CONDITIONS A ?OTENI AL PUBLIC ORDERQ NG A$ 1'SKIV LY P'DVCATERD VOTING I, Letters Arsonist should consider human lives To The Daily: As residents of the seventh floor of South Quad, we would like to address the person(s) who recently found it amusing to start several trashcan fires in our dorm. When you stop and think about it, is it worth endangering the lives of 1200 students for a few laughs? In case you do not realize just how dangerous it could have been, consider the situation. First, any fire in our dorm is definitely a threat, since the fire ladders do not reach the top two floors. Next, it took at least five minutes to get outside, during which time your prank could have easily harmed many people, especially the resident staff, whose responsibilities put their lives in even greater danger. seriousness of this crime. In the future, please reevaluate your idea of a good time, and take into account that human life should not be treated with such disrespect. - Michelle Betz Claudia Zanardell4 February 5 Too many missed a great event To the Daily: We write on behalf of many people who suffered a loss of enrichment, awareness and in- spiration on January 27, the evening of black activist Dick Gregory's appearance at Rackham Audito'rium. This man's "performance" was, and is, a "must see", that was poorly advertised by the Michigan Student Assembly - the sponsor for "International Cultures Weekend". A small BLOOM COUNTY flyer with Gregory's name at the bottom was the only adver- tisement for the occasion. Dick Gregory made his audien- ce laugh and cry, and experience anger about social injustices. Most importantly, this talented speaker made his audience aware of their responsibility for the classism, racism, and sexism, that are part of the American social system. We thank the organizers of Inter- national Cultures Weekend for arranging a rare and needed event on this campus, but regret that it did not receive the publicity it deserved. It is our hope that in the future events such as this do not go ur4 noticed. - Eloise Anagnost Debbie Jurmu Theo Lighi Ellen Montagn Jill Richard Pam Shore February 4 by Berke Breathed vim" SAND .5t/DD htt Y iT WA.S 1 Fy ma mmxK BACK fTT7iE I 'f1AD 1 CR055ED ll LINE ? NAO I 11111 * .fF4~'~ tl~ff 'JIOCAJI ir W4 I ' utir ~I~f/K AI2 iTT1S WVr T (2i44R7 1Le IAIPT7 War