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Flaws in Beckstrom argument again

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Also by Chris Dols:

Scapegoating immigrants (April 15, 2005)
Protest far from treasonous (April 20, 2005)
Socialism needed for egalitarianism (April 28, 2005)
Help for hurricane victims stuck in Iraq (September 15, 2005)
Flaws in Beckstrom argument again (October 14, 2005)

by Chris Dols

Friday, October 14, 2005

In Darryn Beckstrom's Sept. 1 column, she boasted a "riveting defense of the War on Terror" met by "petrified looks" among her peers. After six weeks of such unending hubris, I have been petrified far more often than riveted.

This week, Beckstrom portrays the victims of Katrina as incompetent toddlers spoiled at the teat of the welfare state, left helpless in the face of adversity: " … it should have been anticipated many would have cried foul when the federal government did not immediately provide the handouts and assistance they were accustomed to." But this is backward. It doesn't rain because people wear raincoats; people wear raincoats because it rains. Inequality is not a product of individual failure — or a spoiling of the poor — but is owed to a system based on profit and private property, where a handful of people own society and the rest of us scramble to work for them simply to make ends meet.

Further, Beckstrom seems to forget that rather than being the helpless, whining welfare queens she envisions looting jewelry shops when the levees broke, the poor of New Orleans rose to a level of heroism unmatched by any of the real looters Beckstrom celebrates in Iraq. Regular people saved thousands of lives precisely because they held such contempt for the individual ownership that Beckstrom reveres. Cars, boats, fresh water and food were stolen, and more people are living because of it. If you really want an ownership society, then everyone should have a stake and democratically run the economy … or is that just thinly veiled socialism.

Chris Dols is a UW alumnus.

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Anonymous (October 14, 2005 @ 1:56am):

yes, you are a socialist

Anonymous (October 14, 2005 @ 7:57am):

Chris, you gon' get it now, sucka! Darryn's boyfriend is might steamed at you 'bout this. Betta eat yo Wheaties, cuz youza gonna need all th' nourishment you can git when he come git ya!

Jeremy Wick (October 14, 2005 @ 2:21pm):

Since when do student newspapers feature non-students?

Anonymous (October 15, 2005 @ 8:49pm):

Ok, so when should we start the roundups for the gulag?

Anonymous (October 16, 2005 @ 9:25am):

So it's all the fault of society? I think not.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110007391

Anonymous (October 16, 2005 @ 12:01pm):

This article tries too hard to be sarcastic, and comes crashing down in nonsense.

Anonymous (October 16, 2005 @ 6:36pm):

Chris Dols, write a counter-argument, not an ad hominem rant against the author. The fact that this piece was even published speaks volumes about the Editor in Chief this year, namely his willingness to pick up where Daglas left off in selling out the Herald's heritage.