THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607250279
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 48 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 151 lines
The Libertarian view
County Commission candidate Steve Sawin closes his letter in the July 14 Carolina Coast by saying, ``Vote for people who will . . . preserve your income from further tax demands.''
Thank you, Mr. Sawin, for this boost to my campaign. No Libertarian in public office has ever voted to raise taxes. Libertarians are, by far, more committed on this issue than any other party.
Why, Mr. Sawin, if you are so committed to the concept of the free market, do you so embrace the concept of a government monopoly on education? Yes, teachers are indeed underpaid. But the primary reasons for this are the astronomical costs of administering the public education bureaucracy, and the lack of free market providers who would compete for quality teachers through incentives such as higher pay.
Once upon a time western governments had a monopoly on religion, and this monopoly was characterized by horrible abuses. Men, women and children were tortured and burned at the stake for the crime of heresy. This, of course, changed with the religion clauses of the United States Constitution. This gave us a free market in religion. The government cannot interfere with our right to worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences, nor can it compel us to frequent or maintain any religious institution whatsoever. For this reason religion has flourished in America like in no other country.
Not so with education. If you would like to know how and why things are so horrible, I suggest you read ``Inside American Education'' by Thomas Sowell, and ``The NEA and AFT: Teacher Unions in Power Politics'' by Haar, Lieberman, and Troy.
In a free society, should we not have freedom of education, just as we now have freedom of religion?
The following is Plank 7 (Education) of the 1996 Libertarian national platform:
``There is no constitutional authority for the federal government to be involved in education in any way whatsoever.''
The growing amounts of money and control coming from Washington have been matched by lower SAT scores, declining standards, more dangerous schools, and generations of Americans who have no basic education in history, geography, the Constitution, mathematics, science or literature.
This doesn't bother the politicians, however, because they don't see federal aid to education as a means of raising literacy and knowledge. Democratic politicians want to use federal aid to education as a way to implement their social agenda. Republican politicians want to use federal aid to education as a way to implement their social agenda.
Harry Browne, the Libertarian candidate, knows that no federal educational program will work, and he wants to get the federal government out of education completely and immediately.
The most effective way we can improve education in America is to repeal the income tax so that you can afford to educate your child your way; in a private school that offers the curriculum you want, in a religious school that teaches the values you believe, or through home schooling conducted your way.''
Tommy Perkins
Candidate for County
Commissioner
Knee-jerk overreaction
For the second consecutive year, the officials responsible for ordering a mandatory evacuation of the Outer Banks because of a possible hurricane panicked.
While it might be true that if one is to err, error best be on the side of caution, I think that does not justify the knee-jerk overreaction of the members of the county Control Group who mandated the evacuation for 1 p.m. Thursday, July 11, when Hurricane Bertha was hundreds of miles and many hours away - and we were not even projected as the target for its landfall.
The projected target, according to what I heard and saw on radio and television, was Wilmington (which is about where Bertha hit), but, according to reports, evacuations Thursday afternoon in Onslow County and Topsail Beach, which are much closer to Wilmington than is Dare County, were voluntary, not mandatory. That I can understand.
We in Dare County collectively spend millions of dollars trying to lure tourists here. Then after they arrive, we scare them and kick them out - because winds are high 600 miles away. Then we cry because we lost money.
The real insanity came Friday morning, when a local radio station announced that county employees were being told to report to work. If the county had been evacuated, how could people go to work? They were evacuated, right? The truth is that Dare County was not evacuated; tourists were.
When George Orwell wrote about Big Brother in his novel ``1984,'' he surely had Dare County officials in mind: You, tourists, cannot think for yourselves and cannot protect yourselves. But don't worry; we will do those things for you.
One after-effect was a number of telephone calls to local real-estate offices, including ours, from people scheduled to arrive later this summer who asked questions such as the extent of damages and if the building into which they are booked can still be occupied. Those were easy questions to answer.
A probable after-effect, one much harder to measure but definitely a concern, is a number of telephone calls that did not materialize - maybe from people who would have booked a rental - because few tourists want to arrive in an area only to be told to leave.
That same after-effect occurred in 1995, when officials ordered a premature evacuation because Hurricane Felix was somewhere offshore.
But, one could say, no tourist was hurt in 1995 or 1996. I can remember years past when hurricanes came much closer to us than did either Bertha or Felix, the winds that hit here were much higher than from either of those two, no evacuations were ordered - and no tourist was hurt.
I can also remember winds that were not called hurricanes, as northeasters, that hit considerably harder and did much more damage than from either Bertha or Felix - and no evacuations were ordered.
Hurricanes generate more publicity than other types of storms. Just watch The Weather Channel. But the decisions our officials make to mandate evacuations could not possibly be based on publicity? Could they?
So I have a suggestion: Mandate that tourists be evacuated from, or not allowed onto, the Outer Banks from June 1 to Nov. 1 each year. That way, no tourist would ever be here during the hurricane season, and no tourist would ever get hurt.
Of course, most of us who live here would starve.
My real point is not that evacuations should never be ordered. My point is that this year and last, they were ordered far too early.
Marvin Beard
Nags Head
Stop the burnings now
In the wake of the numerous burning of black churches and some white ones, this country is beginning to take a look (finally) at some reasons for the burning and to attempt somehow to put an end to these heinous crimes. Investigators are beginning to track down and bring to justice these misguided miscreants. Media reports have differed in their reasons for these arsons. Some have determined that they are racially motivated, while others have reported that the arsons are the result of occult influences. Whatever the reason, whatever the motivation, these burnings need to stop now! It's time to stop the burning and start the rebuilding.
It seems that our society has deteriorated to such a level that nothing is sacred anymore. When people or groups of people burn churches, they demonstrate no reverence for God, no respect for others, and no regard to the laws of our land. It is very frightening to know that we have such people living among us, but we must forgive them. Even though we may not understand it, we must love and forgive.
Our church (Free Grace Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ) in Manteo has joined in a national fund-raising effort to help these churches rebuild, and I urge anyone - individual, group, church, etc. - who has a concern for the plight of these parishioners to join us in this effort.
You may make your check or money order payable to Reconciliation Mission and send it to our church and we will forward it, or you can mail your donations directly to Reconciliation Mission, a non-profit tax exempt organization dedicated exclusively to destroying racial injustices and reconciliating persons in our society.
Among the members at Free Grace is the fear that good people both black and white will do nothing. All need to speak out against injustice, pray by name for churches whose buildings have been burned and support financially the rebuildings. We fear this more than we fear those who do the burnings.
The address to mail it direct is Reconciliation Mission, P.O. Box 1986, Indianapolis, Ind. 46206, or locally Reconciliation Mission, P.O. Box 32, Manteo, N.C. 27954.
James A. McNair Sr.
Pastor
Free Grace Church of Christ by CNB