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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1994)
EDITORIAL New trade treaty aids U.S. economy With Hows* approval already in place and the Senate likely to follow suit, the United States ts poised to add its name to the lust of more than 100 other countries par ticipating in the newest revision of the General Agree ment on Tanffs and Trade It is an intelligent move that will yield substantia] ben efits for the United States, and while some naysayers have criticized the agreement as a threat to U.S. sover eignty and a danger to certain American industries, the potential.. - exceed the hired losses. The new GATT treats will create, and effectively be replaced by. e new World Trade Organization. The WTO would be an international body capable of making bind ing decisions on member countries’ trade regulations The idea is to lower tariffs, eliminate import quotas and otherwise reduce impediments to free international trade, so that no country will enjoy an unfair advantage in global commerce Critics, including consumer advocacy guru Ralph Nader, have argued that the new agreement would allow >>tr,er < ti'ir/r-.es • he right tr- overturn ' > environment*! and safety regulations This is a legitimate concern, but history provides the greatest reason to put those con ■ Under the old GATT, which hi* been in piece since I 'MR. the t S has been charged with only 33 complaints from other countries Most of those complaints, once considered by GATT panels of legal experts, have been dec tded in shed'rated States' favor Them is no reason to suspect this would change under the WTO Other opponents of the new agreement, such as con servative Pat Buchanan, complain that the one-country, one vote format of the WTO gives small member coun tries. like Surinam, too much power relative to econora u giants sue h is the United States However, the old GATT operated under similar rules and was still dominated by the United States and Europe Major economic powers will have a de facto veto power simply because they — and any other mem ber nation, for that matter — are allowed to withdraw from the WTO with fust six months notice. Admittedly, not everyone wins with the new agree ment. U S. trade regulations designed to protect the American clothing and textile industries would have to be largely abandoned, but these industries have been on the decline for decades anyway. Mayor gams will be made by U S farmers, whose prod ucts could finally compete in heavily protected markets such as Japan’s. The American software and entertain ment industries would enjoy huge upswings, as well The United States already has some of the world’s most liberal and lax trade policies. Under the WTO. U S tariffs in some areas will go down, if* true, but other countries will have to cut taxes os imported goods even more — sometimes by more than half The Senate should follow the House's example by not listening to the claims of paranoiacs like Buchanan and Ros* Perot and by taking this opportunity to help facil itate more fair and efficient global commerce Oregon Daily Emerald T*» 3m* i**mr*as t {fcjttlflftta 3*f> ****3** rm^gf r**3*<» -3ur»% IN* «£Nsk» HW»- *'*5 * w*»*S#v #"*& ?*•* •w#***’**' t-% VNft OtK^C-^ Ot#1* £ *-■***#* & j£*m?**| Ce wt * «** Uniwig'»| «* Oupge** i Owigpor ^ 1*W*? ^tw .*»3*p«rx3*r*»* ar ^ ltiw»#* »** afltott .« Sutt 30C’ 9 *» f -t lAwnanili v*^ *N5 • a & Pm *amx::mmc '** £**mme * 2r*<*»# jraptr* Tut ■#**&** op of otptrt a Sw* «• rnmn+gma t4*c» IdPto^ui l<He* * &&*» feMor-an-CMa* *-•* 5e*S UtMtf '"w town (.<Ha> jm unM Sw«“!» lams* j»a i i~-o»a» law ,-jr* He*fe'4Mfc S aai WWW «Hf«taWor '«r« £I.*w-a«rw lav. fljbKXT Or* vmu fee *ja&mrmmr ’ '*«• **■** **Kxaa» tmor* • «cw>.* mz Suaur? jjemrvwe y-»i«f vh» w* E 3Mrn Oummssm, '««ri¥ s»r • juaawr. 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HUNK CfOW**1" ■ OPINION Republicans stymie culture 1 w r Fui \ <nSh m I am scared All the talk of ram sarvattve ieadership t ommg hat k to < ORgres* and the pos ubtlity of a new Republican preside®? qust* frankly. fright en* me. Not because of criminal :ratio® of abortion Not beuiMt of the sanction mg of school prayer Those things scare me too. but what really makes me shake ts the fate our culture will suffer That » right. I said our culture See. I have this theory that the leadership m Washington has an effect am Amenta * popular cul ture Docs as vone remember the Cfcacof Leisure suits * The cancellation of the Brady Bunch* ft has only been in the last fee rears that w» have been afcw to recover fmm die stagnant nature of the 19®0». and the thought crl returning to that should be enough to make just about every-erne vote Democrat its taro years I can't prose Ronald Rn*gar: ts responsible for the breakdown of good taste during those veers, but between the sears of 1973 and 1909 nothing happened — unless you count leather tj.es. Burt Reynold's movies and Three g Campam Sadly, noth ing interesting happened while Republican* were in office We can examine conservative leadership through recent histo ry lo prove ray point The l9SOs brought the United State* ate of the most conformist and conser vative period* in American fus ion It brought us the suburbs and Senator McCarthy The term bubble gun' was originated to refer to the music of the time During the 1960s. popular cul ture exploded. albeit far bevood what anyone expected st would. It was prohibit a backlash against the conservative atti '.' ing for the la-si 20 years Music, although largely drug-influ enced, became experimental and more progressive Clothing of the time finally came away from the hat-and-suit outfits of the past, and both the civil rights and the women's move ments underwent tremendous upheaval and progression, which they had not experienced since the 1020s The Kennedy* (Democrat, and relatively liber al! were in power Then the seventies hit Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Bell-bottoms had refused to die, and dtw o was taking hold as a (gulp) popular music form Sat urday Sight f nw w as nominat ed lor an Academy Award, and polyester became the fabric to wear Many of the great bands of the late sixties were still around, like the Roiling Stones and l.ed Zeppelin, so music wasn't com pletely repulsive, yet one might have gotten the feeling it wasn't going anywhere new The Brady Bunch was can celed. as was the Partndgr Fain tly Star Trek began making ani mated episodes, and so did Scoaby Dots, but let's faty it, was the show really that good? The drug culture was still in tone, but it seemed to have bet a me more a was to escape reality rather than the form of expression it had been 10 years ago Despite what our contem poraries would say. the slacker culture actually started at this time I hope l don't have to retap the eighties for you. betause it really frightened me looking bat k I’U only mention Ronald Reagan The nineties have brought us // In the Os. be!!-hot toms had refused to die. and disco was tak mg hold as a (gulp) [H’puiar music form -—n Bill Clinton, and the most Democratic Congress we have had tn some time It has also brought us a resurgence of cre ativity in the music business that we haven't seen since the sixties Interestingly, much of the new music coming out appears to have been influenced by much of the culture of the sixties Alternative culture has mir rored that of the sixties in many ways, at least tn its interest in drug use The film industry has seen a rise in popularity and diversity in the types of movies it produces The gay movement has progressed as far as it ever has in American history, as has the women's movement it is possible that the type of leadership in office describes the kinds of attitudes the public holds Popular culture typically mirrors the attitudes of the peo ple in general Otherwise. I sup pose the only proof I have is pretty circumstantial Still, my case holds that if conservative leadership is let back into the White House in 1996. we may be thrust back into the muck that w as the seven tie* and eight ies That is whv 1 am stared 1 couldn't face the eighties again Could y m ’ Paul l'an Sickle is a lolumnist for the Emerald ■ LETTERS POLICY The Oregon Daily t.merald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community Letters to the editor must be limited to no more than 250 words legible, signed and the identification of the writer must be y*enfi*d when the letter is submitted The Emrmld reserves the right to edit any letter (or length or style.
