The peacemakers need you!

You wouldn’t believe how often I’m asked, “”Where are all the college kids – why aren’t they out here on the street protesting?”” They know as well as I do that the world we handed you put you in your situation and you’re coping as best you can. Aside from working and studying, you’re trying to make time for the relationships and fun that all young people deserve.

We have made a worse mess of this world than most of you kids have had time to realize. It goes far beyond your personal situation and, if you don’t help the people who love you to change it, you won’t have a school, a job, or a world at all.

The war profiteers are more ruthless than the well-meaning people of this country want to believe. Please take the time to check it out. Talk with anybody who may be considered “”controversial”” and question all authorities who glorify war.

Military recruiters have invaded the high schools and are capturing your younger siblings (who want to be heroes in tough looking outfits like the robot birdbrains in video games) and tricking them into believing they’re “”fighting for freedom.”” If they’re thinking of being hauled off to become killers, to suffer and possibly die to indulge the ruthless elite, ask them: “”Are you freaking crazy?””

Nobody is more precious than your siblings and you. We, the peacemakers, need you to help us to love you. Please give us as much time as you can spare.

-“”Grandma”” Gretchen Nielsen Tucson resident, anti-war protester

Darfur conflict is climate change’s greatest impact

The possibility that climate change has actually produced a war gives new meaning to the phrase “”man-made war.”” The increased drought in the region of Darfur and progressive desertification has significantly contributed to the conflict, as people were forced to flee their traditional homes in search of sustenance. Competition for scarce resources such as water and land has led to the persistent genocide in Darfur.

Though climate change is only one of the many reasons for the conflict, it is important to examine as desertification is growing to become a driving force in conflict. Looking at Arizona as an example, based on the current resources available and the exponential population growth, some scientists have actually predicted that the state will reach a point where it is uninhabitable. If global warming has theoretically contributed considerably to a major international conflict, examining its role on resources within our own nation may be a significant step.

The scramble to secure water in this state following the drought declaration is an ongoing struggle that probably won’t result in mass genocide, but perhaps a mass migration.

-Ashley C. Emerole
political science and regional development junior

Ron Paul’s no libertarian

Taylor Kessinger is puzzled by the support shown by some on the left for Ron Paul’s presidential bid (“”Ron Paul? More like ‘Wrong Paul’.”” 12 Oct 2007); I, on the other hand, am puzzled by the degree of support he is receiving from libertarians.

In his years in the House, Paul has cast many symbolic votes for small government, but has achieved little to nothing. Moreover, unlike many of his younger colleagues, he plays the “”earmarks”” game, bringing home subsidies for, among other things, the shrimp industry. That’s quite an odd stance for a free-marketeer.

Worse yet, Paul, in his own, insidious way, supports erosion of the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of homosexuals, non-Christians, and various other groups. Every year he introduces the “”We The People Act”” which would bar Federal courts from hearing cases based on the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses or an implied right to privacy.

Paul is a small-government authoritarian. I’d hesitate to call him a libertarian. If he is one, he’s on the fringe of that movement, favoring radical federalism over individual liberty and a gold standard – a true recipe for disaster – over mainstream libertarian monetarism as put forth by Milton Friedman and his successors. Paul’s politics are closer to those of the Christian Dominionist Senator Tom Coburn than they are to the Cato Institute’s or those of libertarian Congressmen like Jeff Flake or the late Barry Goldwater. He’s a paleoconservative who uses the word “”liberty”” a lot; he’s no friend of liberty. Hats off to Kessinger for shelling this nut!

-Bennett Kalafut
Physics grad student
1st Vice-Chairman
Pima County Libertarian Party