VIEWPOINT
*BUSH VS. KERRY - VS. NADER
The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 9, 2004 - 5
A different angle
SAM SINGER T AKE Two
BY JARED GOLDBERG
Recently, independent candi-
date for president Ralph Nader
appeared on Bill Maher's new
show, "Real Time with Bill
Maher," along with Michael
Moore, former Canadian Prime
Minister Kim Campbell and Con-
gressman David Dreir (R -
Calif.). Toward the end of the
show, Nader, who wasn't actually
on the panel, made his appear-
ance as a "special" guest. After
Michael Moore and Bill Maher
got down on their hands and
knees and begged Nader not to
run, Campbell gave him sound
advice: "A vote for a third party
here does not translate into any
seats, into any say ... and if you
help somebody win, then you're
still a player. And the people who
look to you get to be players." In
parliamentary systems that exist
in countries like Canada, France
and a host of others, the people
cast votes for political parties,
not candidates. Enough votes for
a single party entitle that party to
gain seats in that country's legis-
*ature. In countries like that, peo-
ple like Ralph Nader are
beneficial to democracy. Votes
for a third party can allow that
third party to gain seats in a par-
liament and affect change, just
the kind of involvement Ralph
Nader wants here. Here's the
problem: our electoral system
does not favor third parties. In
our country, we elect candidates,
not parties. Unless a third party
eets a majority of the votes, the
otes for that third party are
wasted. They do not get third par-
ties seats in Congress. If the goal
is to send George W. Bush back
to Crawford, Texas, then Ralph
Nader should heed the advice of
Michael Moore and Bill Maher
and not run in this election.
Nader's flirtations with anti-
Semitism aside, he has a message
*nany Americans understand. He
has spent a good portion of his life
as a consumer advocate, challeng-
ing the corporate world and its vast
corruption. He has staunchly
called for the prosecution of cor-
porate criminals and believes both
the Democrats and the Republi-
cans have become lap-dogs for
corporations and the corporate
elite. Those in power need to
respect the views and the will of
the people they govern, not just
those with money. Back in 2000,
Nader's campaign for president
was a useful one and provided an
interesting alternative to the two
parties.
Four years after George W.
Bush was appointed by the
Supreme Court, all have seen the
terrible mess that he has left in his
wake. He sent our country to war
based on false information, has
proposed adding a gay marriage
amendment to the Constitution
and in effect discriminating
against ordinary Americans sim-
ply because of their sexual orien-
tation, has withdrawn from the
Kyoto Protocol which could be
disastrous environmentally,
pushed the Bill-of-Rights-crush-
ing Patriot Act through Congress
and gave the rich a tax cut in the
hundreds of billions of dollars in
the middle of the war, among
other incredibly bad things. We no
longer have the luxury of choos-
ing the lesser of two evils.
Because of our electoral system,
votes for Nader are not beneficial
to the ultimate goal of making
George W Bush a one-term Presi-
dent. I hereby give my own per-
sonal request to Ralph Nader: You
and Bill Maher are right; the
Democrats can be just as bad as
the Republicans sometimes. But,
in order to beat George Bush, we
need all the votes we can. So I beg
you. I implore you: please do not
run for President. Unless you want
another four years of GW, I sug-
gest you heed my advice as well.
Goldberg is an LSAjnioranda
member of the Dailys editorial board.
The West
A f r i c a n
Republic of
Mali is situated in
the arid Sahel region,
where the southern
edge of the Sahara
meets the sprawling
savannahs. Insidious
deforestation and soil
erosion has accentuated the severity of
the dry season, bringing acute droughts
and dangerous dust storms to the pre-
dominantly rural population. Perpetual
famine, raging epidemics and contami-
nated groundwater supplies have taken
enormous tolls on average life spans. It
is in these onerous conditions that the
Malian farmer toils the parched land to
cultivate the nation's principal cash crop
- cotton.
On a daily basis, workers of all walks
of life endure the scorching cotton fields
and congested processing plants in antici-
pation of their meager compensations. In
2003, the average laborer in Mali earned an
astonishing 82 cents per day and accumu-
lated an annual income of $300. These
extraordinarily cheap wages, combined
with a relatively conducive farming climate
have allowed Mali to export high volumes
of cotton at prices close to the market floor.
One third of Mali's population relies on
cotton exports as their primary source of
income. Minimal earnings from cotton
production complement subsistence farm-
ing to aid Malians in their battle against
resource scarcity and destitution. Accord-
ingly, poverty levels have been strongly
correlated with the health of the cotton
market. Between 1993 and 1998, a period
of price stability and steady production
outputs in Mali, poverty levels decreased
by at least 8 percent in cotton-growing dis-
tricts. One of the world's 10 poorest
nations, Mali's undeveloped infrastructure
has stalled any significant growth and cre-
ated a dangerous reliance on commodity
exports to sustain the well being of an
extremely anemic economy. Already
severely impoverished, the fate of Mali's
continued existence dangles from the fick-
le thread of global demand.
Meanwhile, back in the heartland of
America, state-of-the-art irrigation pumps
shower acres of cotton while satellite-guid-
ed combines roam the fields, harvesting
dozens of crop rows at a time. Indeed, the
face of modern day agriculture in the Unit-
ed States is a far cry from its pitiable self-
portrait imbedded within the 2002 Farm
Bill. The heartwarming image of the self-
sufficient farmer, plow in hand, which once
personified the U.S. agriculture industry
has been replaced by Agro-conglomerates
and their fleets of John Deere tractors.
What stimulated this rapid innovation and
consolidation? Was it the market's demon-
stration of comparative advantage and pro-
duction efficiency? Quite the opposite.
U.S. cotton farmers are leaning on a 1.5
billion dollar government crutch - a state-
controlled respirator for an industry that
should have died from natural causes
decades ago.
Government subsidies allow the U.S's
25,000 cotton farms to compete (and in
most cases out-compete) with naturally
cheaper foreign exports. Since grant distri-
bution is more often than not determined
by output levels, itis the large agro-busi-
nesses, not the individual farmers, who col-
lect the majority of the funds. Combine
inexpensive production costs with conve-
nient export subsidies, and you have high
volumes of discounted U.S. cotton drown-
ing foreign markets and putting downward
pressure on global prices. This market
dynamic was responsible for stripping Mali
of $43 million in exportrevenues in 2001.
Doesn't hit home? Trade justice and
references to international ethics too pedes-
trian? For those who feel that the conven-
tional arguments against farm subsidies are
inadequate or exhausted, consider this:
despite widespread poverty, Mali remains a
functioning democracy. Freedom House
characterizes the country's electoral
process as competitive and participatory -
a legitimately fair system. One more thing:
Mali is at least 80 percent Muslim. In the
eyes of the U.S., these two traits make Mali
a global prototype for the successful syn-
thesis of democracy and Islam - a citadel
of hope in an increasingly volatile region.
Yet a U.S.-led campaign against Islamic
fundamentalism, a dogma that is fueled by
economic hardship and its attendant acri-
mony, cannot credibly coexist with internal
policies that continue to drive developing
nations towards the margins of poverty.
Perhaps an obstructed War on Terror will
be the catalyst needed to draw the attention
this issue deserves.
Singer can be reachedat
singers@umich.edu.
Flyering: a brief introduction
ELLIOTT MALLEN iR-TIONAL EXUBEANCE
WWW.MICHIGANDAILY.COM
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have a confession
to make. It's a con-
fession that will
bring me such scorn,
such contempt, such
disdain that I might as
well be traipsing about
town with a giant red
letter on my chest. I
a am a person you see
every day. You've learned to ignore me,
you've learned to avoid me or you've
learned to just bite the bullet and deal with
me. I am someone who habitually hands
out flyers on the Diag.
Flyering is not easy to learn and is
especially difficult to master. Just finding a
cheap place to get flyers is a daunting task.
While you could go to Kinko's to crank out
hundreds of festively-colored advertise-
ments, this can cost upwards of seven cents
a sheet. Itsis much cheaper to take advan-
tage of our University's abundant resources
and find a poorly-guarded copy machine
abandoned in some remote corner of an
even more remote department. The lack of
reliability that comes with using a 20-year
old machine made by a long-dead compa-
ny is more than made up for by the non-
existent costs.
Once you've got a giant stack of paper,
stake out a spot on the Diag. While it
seems logical to stand in the center near the
M so as to reach more people, this is not
the case. Seeing as pedestrians act as if
they and the flyerer are two similarly-
charged magnets, giving them less room is
desirable. There are four main choke points
on each corner of the Diag where the walk-
ways merge into the brick-paved gathering
place in front of the Grad Library. Standing
in the center can result in becoming over-
whelmed and disoriented by targets mov-
ing in all directions, inevitably causing the
flyerer to collapse into fetal position, weep-
ing pitifully. Covering the choke points
means that you'll only deal with traffic
coming from two directions, giving you the
ability to remain focused and relatively sta-
tionary while pedestrians have no choice
but to confront you.
Gangs of four are especially efficient,
as you can put one person at each choke
point. This way, pedestrians passing
through the Diag will have to confront at
least two people handing out your flyer,
doubling your chances of success. Also,
exposing people to more than one flyer dis-
tributor ensures that personal biases won't
prevent someone from taking your flyer.
Uncomfortable with approaching an ex-
significant other or that one guy from you
knew from high school who was a lot cool-
er than you then but is still struggling to
adapt, having fallen several rungs from the
top of the social ladder? Not a problem:
your cohort down the sidewalk will take
care of it.
There are many types of people you'll
come across while flyering. There are peo-
ple who start talking louder and with
greater urgency into their cell phones as
they walk by you, sending the impression
that their conversation about whether
Pancheros or Big Ten is the superior burrito
place is infinitely more important than
your piece of paper. There are people with
little white iPod earphones who suddenly
become so engrossed in their music that
their eyelids start to droop and they focus
directly ahead, losing so much control of
their other senses in their state of indie rock
bliss that they lack the ability to notice you.
There are rival flyerers who will pretend to
be extremely interested in your event and
then try to talk you into coming to theirs
instead. And, if your flyers are politically
motivated, you'll meet people who are
interested in you only because they want to
prove how wrong you are.
All of these people are easily dealt
with. The cell phone and iPod people aren't
going to listen to you: just make sure they
grab a flyer. Keep your conversations with
the rival flyerers short yet courteous. When
dealing with those who disagree with your
politics, it's helpful to have a low-power
cattle prod nearby. Littering the sidewalk
with the twitching bodies of your ideologi-
cal foes will encourage potential debaters
to just keep on walking.
Flyering is an art that is not just under-
appreciated; it's not appreciated at all. It
requires more tact and strategizing than
simply standing on a sidewalk and stick-
ing pieces of paper in people's faces. With
patience and practice, you too can get
people to not only acknowledge your exis-
tence but also half-heartedly take interest
in what you're trying to pitch for two-
thirds of a second.
Mallen can be reached at
emmallen@umich.edu.