Abortion Fantasy

I was pleasantly tickled with Jacqueline McCluggagc's article (Salient March 19) dealing with the Women's Abortion Action Committee and the legalization of foeticide.

There was that marvellous passage when she called forth Surveys and Statistics to add weight to her arguments. I am reminded of the story of a certain Jacqueline McGarbage who petitioned the Government to pass a Bill declaring the moon to be composed of cheese. You see, the cheese could be quarried and fed to the Starving Millions. The Petition had the backing of the majority of citizens. Yet the Prime Minister declared: "It is beyond my power. I cannot change such a reality". 65.2% of the nation's women were heard to mutter, "What right has any man to force his philosophy on us"? And Jacqueline McGarbage herself said: "The goals of the Cheese Movement are distorted and the issue confused with false philosophical and religious arguments". Obviously she was right.

Secondly, I too am concerned that backstreet abortions are hazardous to health. I am reminded of the story of the burglar who burnt his face and hands with an acetylene torch while trying to open the safe of a Bank. This prompted a certain Jacqueline McGarbage to petition Parliament to take all locks off safes in the interests of public safety. Also, the penalty for some burglaries exceeded 14 years so that the removal of such locks also meant the removal of the injustices of the penalty. It should be obvious to all moralizers that the legalization of burglary would remove all burglars, just as the legalization of foeticide would remove all illegal abortions.

A small word of disagreement though. I notice on page 3 of Salient (March 29) that the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child is termed 'Catholic dominated. I am told that the Patron and the President are not catholics, and would be loath to call it catholic ridden for fear of unjustly insulting the majority of members.

Those imbeciles at the 'Dumb-minnion' disgusted me with their stupid report of the arrival of the Chinese Diplomats on March 27th. They made it sound as if the circus had arrived in town and let's all have a good giggle about the 'three big chiefs' etc.

If this sort of view reflects the feelings of the New Zealand public that's too bad. I wonder how people would react in Peking and how NewZealanders would react if a similar report were published about the New Zealand delegation's arrival there?

Franks Strikes Again

Don Franks strikes again. Mr Griffiths of the Defence Department joins the ranks of those manipulated and exposed by Mr Franks' razor-edged intellect. These ranks are also known to house such a personage of CP007 and doubtless many other officials of the evil "capitalist-militarist power structure".

I wonder if we are going to be subjected to Don Franks' giant ego for much longer or if the editors are going to start exercising a certain selection in the articles they choose to print.

The University is Not Perfect

How trying it must he for you to be a part of the institutional network of a modern university set up to perpetuate the existing economic and social order. One wonders what kind of mental contortions your poor editorial writers must suffer or compulsive institutional recidivists. Or did Mr Steele on some occasion actually lead the procession to the registry to demand his fees back?

Perhaps the basic fallacy in Mr Steele's disjointed search for truth is the belief that disciplined study at a university of the type he so willingly associates with, serves primarily or solely to stifle creativity and to adapt students to their future roles in "the system".

Maybe Mr Steele has a conception of an ideal society in which the kinds of skills and abilities that are taught in New Zealand universities are no longer necessary.

Devoid of grubby accountants (and for Professor Philpott's benefit, of economists) and untainted by medical practitioners, dentists, architects, engineers, veterinary scientists, graduate school teachers, and people stifled through their exposure to political scientists, historians, and scholars of literature, our society will flower with adventurous creativity. "Typical conservative bullshit", snorts Mr Steele in reply. Or is it? Possibly. In Mr Steele's University of Utopia his lecturers will be challenging orators, teaching with honesty, clarity, and vigour the range of topics which Mr Steele might approve — and genuinely inspiring students to seek the truth, whatever that may be, and to question without fear the foundations of Mr Steele's ideal society.

In the meantime, however, we must stoically bear the fact that the teaching staff are a bunch of mortals with certain particular skills and a reasonable range of normal human foibles.

Could if be that the ultimate villian is neither, as Mr Steele might imagine, the misguided search for truth ncr the economic structure of society?

The ultimate villain may very well be that chasm that seems to divide practically every statement of moral ideals from the implementation of those ideals.

Mr Steele hopes that students will "at least question some of the more glaring illusions about the university". One might hope that in their questioning they will be able to distinguish as Mr Steele clearly cannot, between a statement of fact and an expression of an ideal.

It may be that our universities are not particularly skilled at seeking or teaching "the truth", but that ought not to stop either Professor Philpott or anyone else from suggesting that the search for knowledge ("truth" if you prefer) and the transmission of knowledge are proper or even central roles of a university.

I can conceive of student beliefs but not of student experiences which might, to use your rather odd expression, "repudiate these claims". It is, when all is said and done, rather ironic that many of those students in the United States who urged the destruction of their institutions were frequently the first to desperately seek readmission when they were (under compulsion) invited to leave.

How, Mr Steele, do you justify your continued association with the university if, as an institution it is as stifling as you suggest and if, in the final analysis, it is simply serving interests which are unacceptable to you? Or is it, after all, that you are a dedicated social democrat who believes that the institution is amenable to reform from within, or perhaps that you are a faithful Thomist persuaded that in the end, reason and justice will prevail?

I for one am not unduly unhappy with the ways in which our universities have developed and changed over the last decade. Imperfect they may still or always be. But to opt out simply because they fail to perfectly embody their own or a Salient editor's ideals would be romantic idealism at its least helpful.

Shame on Singaporeans

For too many years now Singaporeans have been hanging on to Malaysians to organise things for them.

It's about time they leant to be independent and took over MSSA. As it is, they are dividing Malaysians by forcing them unnecessarily into two associations.

Come on, crew cut parasites, don't you know how to mind your affairs?

Big Brother Wilson

It reassures me no end that Big Brother Wilson is going to be more vigilant over the job of ensuring that we are not exposed to the outer world (i.e. "sexism, racism or commerclalism"). I'm sure that friend Peter will now have a clear conscience and will be able to devote more nightly hours to sleeping than worrying about his subjects being taken advantage of by someone handing out free cigarettes.

If, in the future, anyone sees a "long hair" in a gestapo uniform (with rifle etc.), standing at the cafe door, they can rest assured that Wilson is on the job and can allay any fears of being approached by either a sexist, racist or commercialist.

Catholics and Abortions

As Catholics have been quite rightly mentioned in the 'Salient' as being prominent in the extensive opposition to abortion, I would like to point out some reasons for this opposition.

First, there is the high value Catholics put on the dignity of the human person. In this context we see that a person gains fulfilment not only through using the good things in life, but also through struggling against difficulties, through facing up to obligations and the crises of life. We all know that the human person has a dignity which raises her or him out of the realm of merely seeking and enjoying a comfortable life. A person is meant for greatness. And pain and trouble often provide the opportunity for the heroic. Catholics support opposition to the degrading 'easy way out' of inconvenience or obligation.

Second, we realize that man knows the nature of the human person. Because a person is of such a kind certain actions are violations of her/his human dignity while other actions emphasise this dignity. Talk about one person being unjust to another illustrates this. Because we know what we are we realize that we have rights. But we also have obligations to ourselves and others. Catholics join with the many others in saying that foeticide violates our own humanity and the (at least) potential human person in the womb.

Finally Catholics oppose the view that in this age mankind has grown-up, that the human race is nearing the peak of perfection. The examples of South African Apartheid and American involvement in Vietnam etc. show that technological advancement is quite different from moral advancement. Mankind is more clever now, not more good. So men still make wrong moral decisions. The human person always remains weak but potentially great.

With these considerations, plus the fact that the scientific and social factors of the abortion question weigh heavily in our favour, Catholics feel honoured to participate in what is the most rational and humane stand concerning abortion.

We Want Fat Freddy

I am disturbed; (even more so than usual) at the lack of episodes of your friend and mine; Fat Freddy, from the pages of Salient. Many other students echo this complaint with despair at each oncoming week and agree that 'Fat Freddy" (universally regarded as a folk lore) is symbolic of many aspects of this institute and will support me in demanding the return of our friend to each edition of Salient.

I request, on behalf of most free thinking students that we see more of 'Fat Freddy' in future Salients or further action in the form of petitions, picketing or wholesale slaughter will be taken.

Solidarity with H.T. Lee

Enclosed here is $17 for Mr H.T. Lee. We would like to express our moral support to Mr Lee whom we learned is in financial difficulty. This is to show our admiration of his consistent efforts in the anti-apartheid movement etc.

Overseas Students.

Strength in Christ

I would like to comment in answer to the published letter "Effusion of Christian Smut" (14/3/73) written by Brent Ellis. Although I am not a V.U.W. student, I hope a technician's retort may be published.

Brent should remember that a Christian is "a follower of Christ" which can be interpreted as "a learner from Christ" and admit that we do not yet understand all things. We accept some statements on face value. I bet that when your teacher first taught you 2+2=4 you learned this without getting down on the floor by yourself to prove it. Time will show proof (or otherwise) of the Dogma. Have you a better code to live by?

Who the hell uses Christianity as a yardstick? — Millions — come and join us! How otherwise can you learn the strength coming from a cleared conscience and a true aim in life.

I've found strength in Christ. I have been working for V.U.W. for 6 years and during this time have had a wife attempt suicide twice (success on second time) brought up two adopted Maori kids with some success and am still learning of true life. I think a lot of V.U.W. students are failing to see their danger in rejecting the Christian Faith.

(I dropped out of Psychology I after six months).

Another contribution we wouldn't print

In the March 14 issue of Salient you boast about the amount of copy of mine you have rejected (Page 12). However, you failed to volunteer any more information on the matter, so I thought I would fill in a few details for your readers.

It is not just the copy I have submitted to you which has been rejected; everything Young Socialists Club members have submitted to you for publication this year has been rejected. The total now comes to four articles — one for each issue of Salient which has been published this year.

Did you reject these articles on the grounds of length, or on the grounds that you had too much copy for each issue? No, you made it clear that you rejected everyone of them on the grounds of its content.

Did you allow us to reply to an unsigned article which attacked YS Club in your March 7 issue? No, you told us that our reply was 'lies'.

Do you believe in the right of ail groups on campus to explain their views through the pages of Salient? It appears not. In fact you showed your real colours when you declared 'there is no room' for articles of mine in Salient (March 14).

Apparently YS Club members are not the only ones who have been sickened by your demagogy. The recent rash of letters which have appeared in your Letters Column indicate that other students are also beginning to sec through your 'radical' posturing. This is not surprising. Students are not slow to identify and condemn any anti-democratic action by their 'leaders'.

After all, this issue really reduces itself to one of democratic rights. YS Club is not demanding that you give up your political ideas (whatever they really are); it is not demanding that Salient become a mouth-piece for the politics of YS Club. It is railing a very simple demand: that YS Club members be given the same right as others to explain their ideas to students through the pages of Salient. Up to now you have consciously denied us that right but from now on it might be advisable if you start extending this right to us.

A Bloody Minded Reply to Felicity Tuohy

I bleed for Felicity Tuohy and her predicament in the cop shop but feel she has done the sisterhood little good by her inept use of woman's greatest weapon, the period.

Of course the curse arrived at a moment of stress — it always does. Wise sisters count the days; if the timing's out for a big occasion a sympathetic doctor can fix things with a few mild hormones. Real irregularity can disappear with a few months' course of the Pill.

Use the material at hand if caught out. A wadded handkerchief is first choice; a pad of toilet paper or newspaper the second — Russian women used newspaper for years and Felicity had plenty of Salients at hand according to her statement.

If she was worrying about the cops 'having a feel' she should have worn one of those large oldfashioned pads fastened with big, conspicuous pins to the demonstration, whether she needed it or not. What cop would want to be caught redhanded?

The point I am making is that by yelling for help and attention in a situation which a little forethought would have prevented Felicity exposed herself in every possible way. And her supporters knew it, or they wouldn't have chosen to sing 'The Red Flag'......

MacNeill on Rua on Trotsky

It is a very great pity that Graham Rua, in his article "Blood on Trotsky's Toga", presented such an incredibly biased selection of 'facts' and quotations in an article dedicated to the laudable aim of 'revolutionary demystification'.

As Trotsky pointed out in 1938 those who make great play of the Kronstadt uprising "try to present the matter as if at the beginning of 1921 the Bolsheviks turned their guns on those very Kronstadter sailors who guaranteed the victory of the October revolution. Here is the point of departure of all subsequent falsehoods".

Precisely because they were the best revolutionaries the Kronstadt sailors were dispersed over more than a dozen fronts of Russia. Many of their replacements at the garrison were revolutionary peasants who haled the landlords but had no particular love for the working class or socialism. Trotsky wrote that by 1919 there were complaints from the from that the new contingents of Kronstadt were "unreliable in battle and doing more harm than good".

By the end of the Civil War there were incredibly harsh conditions of starvation etc. throughout Russia. The peasants in particular felt aggrieved because for more than 3 years they had been forced to supply food to the towns for little or no return. The situation at Kronstadt, where food speculation was rife, reflected the tremendous discontent throughout the country, and the desire for a free market in food.

A free market was introduced under the New Economic Policy in 1924. Trotsky in fact advocated the idea a year before Lenin did, and had his view prevailed earlier the discontent that gave rise to the uprising would largely have been dissipated.

G. Rua falsely imputes a direct personal responsibility to Trotsky for the suppression of the uprising. Certainly as a member of the Bolshevik Government he accepted his share of the political responsibility, saying that though the New Economic Policy should have been implemented earlier that did not mean that the revolution should cut its own throat to atone for it.

Had the Bolsheviks failed to storm Kronstadt while the sea remained frozen, the naval forces of the capitalist states would undoubtedly have intervened and seized a position of immense strategic value. However in the administrative sense Trotsky bore no responsibility for suppressing the uprising. All counterinsurgent action was directed by Dzerzhinsky, the head of the Cheka.

G. Rua talks naively about the anarchist Makhno. For all his 'successes' against the White armies Mahkno was unable to defeat the Red Army because the well-to-do Kulaks who supported him failed to gain the support of either the workers or the poor peasants. Why is G. Rua so reticent about Mahkno's blatant anti-semitism. His atrocities against Jews require some explanation.

For further information to refute anarchist accounts of Kronstadt, Mahkno etc. write to the Marxist labour Group, P.O. Box 3906, Wellington.

Poor Bloody Cat

Please let me convey, through your column, my deepest disgust at David Crayford's letter of "chunderous froth". He has outrageous concern for what Jellimeat smells and looks like all over his sterile kitchen walls, but not the least concern for his poor bloody cat, who has to eat such processed, garbagy non-food. (Jellimeat is 80% moisture — see details on can). For Christ sake what kind of values do students have, when they worry about walls more than cats!

Money in the Bank

Just wanted to congratulate the unnamed author of the 'Right Hand Column' for coming through with a solution to the appalling lack of inane chit-chat in 'Salient'.

I must admit though, that I prefer to wank with my left.