December 4, 1963 Liberally Speaking— "Liberalism and the Four Freedoms" The underlying question in American politics is the role of government, particularly the fed eral government, in a free society. The extent to which a voter de mands government services and actions is a key to understanding "big government." The modern problem of big government is a developement of the period known as the Pro gressive movement, at the turn of the century. Then and now the individual was searching for an identity in an age when collec tiveness seemed supreme. The im personal quality of the corpor ation and its counterpart in labor, the union, both demanded an im personal regulator. Secondly, the failure of local and state govern ments to cope with the social evils gave the federal government the dual role of the violator of "laissez-faire" economics and us urper of state's rights. Conservatives maintain that the government nearest the people is the best. Logically, the local gov ernment should be more respon sive to the people's needs; how ever, lack of interest, poor press coverage, and one party domina tion has made these same govern ments unresponsive and often corrupt. A democracy cannot be for the people if it isn't also of the peo ple. If the national government is the only segment of our gov ernment with substantial public lave goodwill Liberalism and the Four Freedoms interest, then the liberal calls for a strong and active federal gov ernment. In answer to government inter vention into the economy, may I point to a statement of Justice Oliver W. Holmes, "legislation may begin where evil begins." Certainly monopolies, gross pov erty and poor working conditions are not necessary in a democracy just to maintain "laissez-faire." Again the conservative will insist upon state regulations, but in our modern intergated economy these problems are not limited to nations—let alone states. Don't, however, think that this method of political reasoning is sacrificing liberty for "a full stomach." It is my opinion liberty means complete freedom inclu ding freedom from want. Where to go.. It has come to the attention of the NITTANY CUB that the phrase, "lost and found" has ac quired a new meaning, mainly, "finders keepers, loosers weepers," to quote the grade-school collo quial. The usual procedure at Behrend has been to return a lost object found outside of Erie Hall to Miss Sorze in the administration build ing, and those articles found in Erie Hail should be turned in at the SG-A office. Unfortunately, this has not been the procedure followed so far this year. The NITTANY CUB recommends the alteration of the currently adop ted system and the return to the standard procedure. Behrend Campus has long been known for the honesty of the stu dent body. Let us not turn this campus into a hot-bed of thievery and chicanery. Grode Florists "Fresh Flowers Always" 4650 W. Ridge Rd. THE NITTANY CTSB Conservative Basically, conservatism adheres to a stricter interpetation of the Constitution, a more responsible financial plan, and the idea of a more definite foreign policy. The conservative shuns such liberal concepts as the broad police power of the state, an idea which allows almost anything to be done in the name of welfare at the expense of indivi dual liberty, interference and regulation by the government in busi ness, and the ineffective, wasteful, current way of adlrninistering fi nances. While the liberal tends to emphasize the services the government can offer and thinks little about the cost that might be incurred by such projects, the conservative aims for a balanced budget and treats fiscal matters with a more responsible attitude. An attempt at the gradual repayment of the staggering national debt is another fiscal goal of the conservative. Another major difference lies in the interpretation of the Constitu tion. Liberals base their actions on the elastic or indefinite clauses and on what they infer from this document while conservatives con fine their actions in government to the stated functions and duties defined in the Constitution. This is why many of the more vocal con servatives of our age aim for the simplication of government, and they stress the removal of government from any enterprise in which it might compete with a private organization. A prime example of a government organization which displaces pri vate enterprise is the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has a virtual monopoly on the production of electricity in a large area of the South. For years, conservatives have agitated, unsucessfully, for the sale and dissolution of the TVA. America has never really had an objective in its foreign policy. However the conservative idea of creating a statement of definite foreign policy aims has many merits. The two major aims would in clude the negotiation of favorable trade treaties and the declaration of an open, but peaceful, offensive against communism. A favorable trade treaty is one which is mutually advantageous to both nations involved, and it involves the lowering of duties on the agreed prod ucts by the signatory countries. In declaring an offensive against communism, we would abandon the current policy of containment in favor of a rigorous campaign to convert the peoples in countries al ready dominated by communism to our way of political thought. Ac tually, this would be a step toward the realization of the "American dream" of world domination being held by countries having govern ments pattered after ours. Some Basic Concepts Carmen's Restaurant "Spaghetti a Special" ••• ~':g,V4,4AVe"Vet.^OI:**I:4I4MAVNI ,• . , 2427 Buffalo Rd. Candor schultz dave Page Three z~ :',,~Q~as;~ SaP.~i..i~~f~`: ~r^\tiFy~~. Sly{ .°ice. TW 9-6642
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