1970_01 The Daily Collegian January 1970

              Y COLLEGIAN   Thursday. January B, 1970      by the "older generation" but by
Food for thought
Freedom — the unfilled jug
By Martin Green
dom — many in fact during the
last few years ln a foreign country. Perhaps at this, the start of
a new decade, it ls appropriate
<3km CMcfces
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to examine the concept of f
dom as It exists within the Amer-
mlnded,  prides Itself on being
the freest ln the world.
Are American is fact free?
There are many who would say
they are. However, I contend that
this freedom- ls only relative
within the concepts of society.
Let us look at some examples
which might conveniently be labeled as some of those "unprotested threats' I mentioned earlier In this column.
The Great Race
One of the most despicable advertisements on TV I think lsthe
one (from Motorola) that starts
something like this: 'Johnny was
the   only   kid  of the  block
' proclaim this as their ideal. I
was attending a college dance
downtown when society struck. I
had become'tired of the same
old MIckey-'Mouse-doodle-bug-
shake- shake - never- touch-your-
partner modern dancing I"
performing. (Someday someone
will tell them about the King's
new clothes). I moved to take my
partner in my arms ln the normal
"social dance* position (which ls
considerably more, sociable than
Rock). This could scarcely have
been termed Utanlsm. Yet within seconds two couples nearby
had pointedly looked at us - one
couple stopped dancing completely. Isn't that a social sanction?
I it o
s I h
ssan ln Cambodia. True, no one
bashed me on the nose. Bat their
feelings were quite well displayed - If 1 wss going to have
the temerity to dance differently >
from everybody else, I would
have to tolerate society's sanctions, which were specifically de.
signed to put a stop to my peccadillo. You call that freedom?
Torquoque! Their freedom - my
enslavement. Your freedom. Our
Black ls Black
■Sure, you can dance any way
you like,* they might say ldealls-
tlcally, 'only you'll have to tolerate our sanctions which are
performed expressly to put an
end to your non-conformity.*
•You can dance any way you
like"? This sounds vaguely reminiscent of the words of a cer-
(Contlnued on Page 5,.Col. 1)
didn't
r TV  .
e discriminating a
Through a glass darkly
To criticize,
to respect     M
disreputable
it oMt*.
every-
s, the pressures to conform among children are even
more pervasive than amongst
the older generation. This ls particularly   apparent   ln  the U.S.
Should a foreign student criticize what he sees wrong wtth the
American society?
From the legal aspect of the
Issue, the right to freedom of
speech Is guaranteed for the foreign   students
of the U.S. Constltu-
the fifth and the 14lh
amendments the foreign students
have the same right to due proof law as United States cltl-
do.
The Issue, however, goes beyond  the legal points. There ls
always   a   certain   nationalistic
red. "My country,
I found these emotions being
expressed by some people afterl
published Ihe article. Christmas
Sentences such as, -In the connected departmentstoresofMan-
Mall, I can see America
all of Its terrifying reality,*
consumers. The average man
the
major, every day 1
posed to the great problems of
this nation and I have found It my
responsibility to express my
Ideas concerning these Issues. I
would have shown utmost Indignity and disrespect toward America, if I had not expressed my
viewpoints, -^
Pointing out the sores of a
nation and trying to seek remedies for them express more love
and respect toward a nation than
going around and bUndly approving whatever goes on.
Columnist James Reston once
wrote. 'This society ls moving
precisely because It ls arguing
and debating how things can be
Improved.*
Today America faces monstrous problems. Nobody can
deny the pains that have been
caused by the war ln Vietnam,
crime in the streets, racial disputes, campus uproars, drug controversies, air and water pollution. Inflation and hundreds of
local problems.
America faces these problems
as the price of being the most
materially advanced nation on
earth; the other nations will face
the same problems as they
achieve more material advancement. They will learn their most
Important lesson by finding out
the ways that America has found
to solve some of these problems.
We live ln a very small world.
By the means of supersonic
transportation, Intercontinental
traveling has become a matter of
a few hours. Satellite communications have allowed the people
of the world to witness the Incidents that take place thousands
of miles far from their home
lands. The complexity of the International issues involve all the
nations in the same attempts for
survival with dignity, peace and
freedom. Truly 'no man Is an
island unto himself."
Now I ask the same question
that was asked at the beginning
. of this article and leave the answer to you. Should a foreign
student criticize what he sees
wrong with the American society?
aVCX*-**"-	
■lien tips.,
.S    bmji
VAUEY npiwuTiiTco:
mi fmsno sr. amcv-StM
FMBS
By S. Mohan
India
I was walking Into the library
the other day when the broad
smile of an old friend stopped
me. In fact, it Is both risky and
un-needed to feel Uke calling
someone as friend ln a society
which has, the smallest social
trade mark" tn the world —FMBS.
FMBS. which stands for father,
mother, brother and sister, ts a
composition of all possible social
relations.
cans say, FMBS used to contain
grandfather and grandmother
too. But, as this society progressed, nobody knows when and
where FMBS missed Its two Gs,
I mean grandfather and grandmother. Honor to those Individual
units which are maintaining a
track, good or bad, to their Gs.
Of course, (hey are not too many
The parent-society moved further along the time of automation,
FMBS lost its centrifugal force
snd four of its letters became
looking Uke blow-loosened teeth
of an old man, F.JH....B....S.
The distance between B and S
Is immeasurable. The'distance
between F and M.becauseof certain dying reasons. Is not yet
great, but, unbound, F and M
change their Individual FMBS unit
mora quickly and easily thsn
their shoes.
r. J£ ^ to to0,*,y eonnectad
FMBS are filled up by friends
who always try to break the original FMBS instead of helping It
grow stronger.
Hence, how can anyone avoid
suspecting one's friend? Certain-
ly not. And how can anyone ln-
formslly need a friend without
being fooUsh? Observe your
fmbs unit snd you wlU sea
through the things.
Freedom -—
Continued from Page 4)
tain Henry Ford not so long ago
-- 'You can have any colour you
Uke - as long as It's black'!
This then is the tragedy of a
society that calls Itself "free"
without realizing that they are
indeed far from It - even among
those where the concept of free-
fiom Is being hotly contended.
'Organize or Die*?
If two people look at a jug partially filled with water, one may
say, "It's half fun,- andtheother
may say 'It's half empty.* Surely then It ls a matter of emphasis. Thus, in a sense we may be
termed relatively free - or relatively unfree. By what criteria
do we judge our situation? How
full should that jug be? If we take
as a point of reference Cambodia
or Thailand for Instance, where
close dancing ls difficult to say
the least, or where protest is to
some extent repressed -.- we
might conclude that we are very
free. Yet by a higher criteria we
•ire virtually enslaved.
Obviously some social organization Is necessary for the preservation of society. Could we
exist If all structure, all organisation, all decisions formerly
made for us were removed to
make us 'free* men? I think ifot.
After all. organization means
security for all. Man needs some
onranlzatlon to survive. Could
we Imagine a world where everyone did as they pleased - Impinging on everyone else a million times a day? in England they
drive on the left. I am EngUah.
America ls a 'free country* -
why can't I drive on the left here
too:1 We should therefore confine
>urselves to protesting what
-•eems unnecessary organization.
it is not difficult lo see how
'his Idea appUes to another example. For some while 1 suspected that even at ■conservative- Fresno State I would find it
difficult, as a student, to wear a
suit without drawing some alien,
"on coupled wtth negative sanc-
'lons. I was right. On the two
■ccaslons I tested this theory I
■"ruered certain
fight on the basis of anarchy.
Since WHEN has the freedom of
speech Included that of shouting
down another? This form of pro-
• test is just plain bad manners -
it can never be construed as
freedom. Carried to its logical
conclusion - when the politicians
shout down a student demonslra,
Hon - It results ln nothing less
than anarchy. And anarchy, (it
seems to me, often) has been
shown to lead to civil war, death
and destruction. We seek not to
destroy our society - which aU
except a few radicals will eventually admit does have Its good
points - but to Improve It.
A Sydney, AustraUa newspaper
last year carried a letter from a
man ln which he made reference
to the people Involved ln a local
protest. His point Is worth remembering. Quoting the protesters he said, • 'I don't like to be
told what I may see, read or
hear* was their cry. But then I
dislike being told when I can
cross a road or being told to fill
out a tax form. Theirs Is not a
plea for freedom but for anarchy.* Obviously the road to greater freedoms is by disciplining the
lesser freedoms, an unavoidable
law of growth.
A View from the Bridge
• As we enter a new decade, new
potential losses of freedom appear on the horizon. I predict the
7-'s will be a crucial decade for
the Invasion of privacy issue.
With the development of personality and Ue detector tests for Job
applicants, plus an Increasing use
of electronic bugging devices,
freedom to even think could be-
 le feUow whoscoff-
■ngly tossed his head remained
i" my mind as an example of the
The .'Badge' Phenomenon
Moving beyond the 'generation
sap" | wonder why the over 30's
"'ten disavow the right of others
■o do what they feel is right for
'hem - -i-hen it doesn't affect
others? Why is (or was) a beard
on a young man in America a
"badge" that proclaims he ls a
hippie-or (as I was once termed
ov a superciUous sergeant ln
Vietnam) a 'bum*? The British
Ambassador In Saigon cultivates
a beard - ls he a hippie?: In
England, at least, a beard ls not
(yet) -. badge of conformity to any
r set type of values.
An advocate of freedom, I must
also protest those protesters who
sUghtly different way, it is now.)
Added to this, undercover agents
are daily snooping on our private
lives - checking our credit rating or probing our school record,,
health record, Job record, Insurance record, court record, bank
balance - even the legitimacy of
one's birth. Further, today there
are available many devices for
electronic s.nooplng. ranging
from tiny tie-pin mikes to seven
foot long, highly directional microphones that can pick up conversation at 500 feet. There are also
small telephone-conversation
transmitters and television cameras so small they can be disguised behind a four-inch wall
cavity. Even now these things are"
being used — television cameras
in the supermarket for instance.
Thus devtancy ln any form be-,
comes increasingly dangerous.
The threat of conformity Is becoming overwhelming. The question we must ask ourselves is -
shall we continue to view these
not-so-futuristic signs with complacency or even, amusement or
will we stand up and refuse to
become that 'dreadful conforming vegetable" society seams to
Thursday, January 8, 1970    THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
'   Well, anyway, despite FMBS's "Net really, 1
critical  situation, I could dare trees .. .» I show. .., .» w» >
to take a risk of calling him as superior un-needed friend.
■friend',  thinking  my F and M I, therefore, paid UtUa attea-
too far to be endangered by tion to him and aaid, "What else
I can't Uke
 -~s, >~ juuaoc in the Ubrary, besides
"Oh, you Uke thla place?* be ' trees?*
asked me ss I stopped by. Ha looked at those test-lm-
•Don't you?* I questioned bis moblUzed  students, un-lnvolved
question, I mean, question of my - sod un-related people and sighed,
American friend, talking about "That's true - "-'  • —•* —-
. Ubrary. breathing trees.
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