From: garyt@tekgen.bv.tek.com (Gary Terusaki)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Re: Republicans vs. Centrists?
Date: 2 Oct 92 21:28:14 GMT
Article-I.D.: tekgen.1356
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.

stephen@orchid.UCSC.EDU writes:
>In article <66951@cup.portal.com>> Arthur_T_Hu@cup.portal.com writes:
>>I suppose it would be in bad taste to mention that the
>>divorce rate has been declining for a couple of years
>>already, and the long historic decline in two-parent
>>families stopped last year. Maybe it's Reagan and Bush's
>>fault we're turning back the clock on at least these two
>>toxic legacies of modernism.


>Again, and again, I restate give the factual information about these
>great changes.  The gov''t is always giving us pieces of statistical
>facts that sound the best.  IMHO there is probably little change
>in divorce rates and two-parent family numbers.  There are always
>cyclic changes, up and down, but the general overall trend is one
>way or the other...

Actually to a certain extent, Arthur is right about attributing a
decline in the divorce rate to the Regan/Bush team. A news program
that I saw a long time ago mentioned the economy as a factor in
the prevention of divorce. Faced with staying in a crummy marriage
or becoming a poverty stricken single, a number of couples have
chosen to remain together until economic conditions improve.

If the Republican's are truly the party of "family values", 
I would really be interested in seeing a breakdown of divorce
statistics by religious and political affiliations. 

------------
New Topic:

Arthur is worried about raising his son in today's world. Although
I don't share Arthur's political views, I do share many of his same
concerns. 

As a number of you have eloquently stated or implied, the only way
we can make things better is by better understanding other people.
By understanding, I do not mean accepting or endorsing any particular
lifestyle.

Although we as American are always filling out forms and are trying
to classify things (e.g.White, Black, Asian, etc.), I do not think
it is safe or appropriate to pidgeon-hole someone in a particular
group.  We are a continuous spectrum of humanity rather than a set
of discrete monolithic blocks. 

Unfortunately the electoral process does not take this into account.
It is a zero-sum game which will have exactly one winner; two other
people will have to lose. To win, George Bush has been pushing this
"us vs. them" theme extremely hard. He does this because when it
comes to votes, it is definitely a Bush vs. Clinton vs. Perot matter;
he can't share votes with the other two guys. When the election is
over, the rhetoric of "us vs. them" will remain long after the victory
celebration. I do not think this is good for America.

------------
Birthday greetings:

Arthur, I wish your son a Happy Birthday.  May you and your wife
have a rich and rewarding experience raising him. However,  I'll be
interested in knowing who he votes for in another seventeen years. :)

-- 
Gary Terusaki  : Tektronix, Inc.      : Vote Superman in '92 for
UNIX Software  : Box 500, DS 50-454   : Truth, Justice, and the American Way
(503) 627-2309 : Beaverton, OR  97077 : Oops... He's going to die in November.