From: platt@watson.ibm.com (Daniel E. Platt)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,alt.politics.usa.misc,alt.politics.usa.constitution,alt.individualism,alt.politics.elections,talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: Boot camp?
Date: 16 Oct 92 19:27:35 GMT
Organization: IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM

In article <1992Oct16.004349.16976@henson.cc.wwu.edu>, n9020351@henson.cc.wwu.edu (James Douglas Del-Vecchio) writes:
|> wayne@mathematik.uni-Bremen.de (Wayne Tvedt) writes:
|> 
|> >Jason Austin (jason@ab20.larc.nasa.gov) wrote:
|> >>  It's only required to those that join the military, and
|> >>military service is voluntary in this country except for in time of
|> >>extreme emergency.  
|> 
|> >  Which the Drug Crisis surely is.  
|> 
|> 	Everything is a crisis at all times, in case you haven't noticed.
|> 
|> "Heath Care Crisis",  "Education Crisis", "Gun Violence Crisis" aka
|> "Proliferation of Handguns Crisis", "Steroid Abuse Crisis", "Robotussin 
|> Drinking Kids Crisis", "Homelessness Crisis", "Pit Bull Crisis"*, "Poverty 
|> Crisis", "Energy Crisis", "Enviornmental Crisis",  "Morals of Today's Youth 
|> Crisis", "Drunk Driving Crisis";

From Webster

Crisis (n) (pl - crises):
	1a  (pl) the turning point for better or worse in an acute disease or fever
	1b a paroxysmal attack of pain, distress, or disordered function
	1c an emotionally significant event or radical change of status in a
	   person's life
	2  The decisive moment (as in a literary plot)
	3  An unstable or crucial time or state of affairs; specif: the period of
	   strain following the colmination of a period of business prosperity
	   when liquidation occurs.

Some of the above crises are redundant or very interrelated.  

	Energy, Environment, etc are related.  Our technology is having
		a global impact.
	Health Care, Debt (not listed), Entitlements (not listed) are the
		most rapidly growing and largest part of our national
		budget.  The amount left for discretionary purposes is
		minimal (since we're always running a deficit, we're 
		effectively financing discretionary spending by increasing
		the debt).
	Education, Poverty, Homelessness, Morals, Drugs, etc are very connected,
		and are a real problem that anyone walking in certain parts of
		New York (and now, with the *CarJacking Crisis* even driving
		in parts of NYC and NJ) will experience.  There's whole segments
		of the population who actually have no opportunity or hope of
		aspiration to mainstream society, but rather only have an
		opportunity in the illegal drug market and other crimes.
		You can include guns here too, though I tend not to think of
		guns in and of themselves as the source of their use in crime.
	Education and Kids morals is also a problem, and one that we're going to
		have to face in a more and more competitive world market.
	Dogs, Pit Bulls, etc are in a different position than they used to be
		in this nation.  Our country used to be far more agrarian.  Many
		of us grew up with dogs.  Many of our kids won't, as more of
		us live in codos, apartments, etc as our incomes do not give
		us the 'American' dream that our parents enjoyed.  Those people
		who are keeping pit bulls are finding it more difficult in the
		increasingly urban setting more of us are living in.  While I
		consider 'pit bull' crisis to be tongue in cheek, I have to say
		its inclusion is appropriate in that it reflects very basic changes
		in our society.

Acording to the old <ethnic> curse, we are living in 'interesting times.'  Our
culture is facing many problems that it has never faced before.  Each of them is
pivotal, and can effect the quality of our lives in the future.  Therefore, each of
the items may be labeled 'crises.'
|> 
|> Sound familiar?  They should, every single "* Crisis" listed above
|> has been shrilly and repetitively warned about on NPR or some other 
|> media "Crisis" mill in recent years.
|> 

You are inappropriately devaluing the message in the 'crisis' mill because
you feel there just cannot be so many 'crises.'  In a way, you're right.
Most of these crises are related to each other.  Many of them are just 
symptomatic of the changes in our habits -- like Atlanta's traffic, or the
growth along highways (perimeter in Atlanta, 285 in Westchester, LA's highway
gun-fights, etc).

|> *Remember that one?  That one was popular all over the country just
|> before the "Drug Crisis" got big again in the mid 80s.
|> 
|> 	The media need a crisis, anything can be one.  
|> 

These problems would exist, even if the media does not publicize them.
Other problems include the health of our university system, the funding
cuts in state schools, as well as decreases in private universities.
Research grants in the sciences have also been severely curtailed.  There is
a major change in how funding is to be aquired (it is strongly encouraged
that the funding be aquired dependent on a collaboration with private
corporations).  This could be considered to be a crisis too, even though the
press hasn't touted it.

There's lots of crises every day that don't get the press' attention.

|> There has never, ever, not even for one day, been a time when this 
|> country was not in a "crisis" of some kind.   I challange you to
|> remember a such a time.
|> 

That's a different point, and one I can agree with.  There's ALWAYS 
crises.  On the other hand, there have been times when the structure
of our crises have not been able to have such a major impact on so
many of our populace.  1946-1968 seems to be a nice long period, with
the Korean war, the development of our highways, the red scare, Viet Nam,
etc...  While many of the seeds for our current crises was laid at that
time, it seems to me that most Americans were not exposed to the impact
of social and cultural crises as severely as they have been in the last
15 years (but that's just my opinion).

Dan

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Daniel E. Platt                                      platt@watson.ibm.com
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
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