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
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■ 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
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