
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 8, 1995                   TAG: 9511080012
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-19   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHOW-SOON CHUANG JU
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PARTY POLITICS

FROM A kid's birthday party to some wedding party, anniversary party, campaign party, to the glamorous Inauguration Day party ... "we, the people" are often participating in various parties. We have been either offering or attending the parties as the routine of our daily lives, and these various parties become one significant token of the American culture.

There is the surprise party and the party by invitation; the private party and the party to which the public is invited; the serious party for business, and the casual party for joy, in which music and dance sometimes mix with drinking beer and taking drugs. All of these social activities are called parties.

The ways of setting up a party are various, and each should be unique and attractive. The theme, the decoration and the entertainment, the wine, the food and even the flowers are always carefully selected.

The party-goers include those who come just for the exquisite food and wine, and don't care about the aim and the other people at the party. Sometimes the participants don't care about the food, but like to be acquainted with the people and to propagandize about their products and business.

Our government in some ways looks as if it has thrown many parties for "we, the people" for the purpose of politics. The government designs programs and projects and offers us all kinds of benefits and excitement, just like people who set up parties to entertain. "We, the people" enjoy the happy hour through these parties.

It is true the party brings us together to get to know each other better, understand the project and work toward the aim. So "we, the people" join in a party for which we share the responsibility, such as bringing food and helping set up and clean up. Buying tickets or donating money to participate in a party has been a long tradition.

As members of the community, we love attending parties. What we don't like is that when the party is over, there are drunks and violence, and the heavy debt caused by the expensive party that "we, the people" have to pay.

We join in a party not just for fun but also for sharing our responsibility, and when the party is over, we like to see that there is no mess, no violence and no debts, and that everyone feels good at the end. "We, the people" also want the government, as public servants, to arrange a party for us not just for propaganda, but also for care and understanding, and leave no unexpected debt for us to pay when the party is over.

Chow-Soon Chuang Ju of Lexington is author of "Beyond the Good Earth."

by CNB