Our societal fabric is in need of some mending

As the 1994-95 academic year draws to a close, we have an opportunity to reflect on the events of the past two semesters.

The dominant event of the past nine months is by far the Oklahoma City bombing.

The bombing has prompted use of the word "revolution." Angry discontent with our government is only the most apparent aspect of a deeper, cultural dissatisfaction that extends to every facet of American life.

A penetrating malice has set in throughout our society. Something is wrong, somewhere.

American life, for all of its flash and glizt, seems empty. Out of that emptiness has risen an ennui ripened into a full-blown societal crisis.

We value education and intelligence far less than athletic ability and physical appearance in this culture. Wit less than the ability to wield force. Grace less than raw power. An erudite American is one who knows the big-dollar answers on "Jeopardy."

One is considered educated in this country if he or she can use machines, count widgets or kneed knots out of people's thighs. This university offer degrees for widget counting and knot kneading.

America was never a perfect place to live. But our society has come to a point where it can hardly function. We desperately need change.

Americans scoff at the idea of revolution. Our Government is too big and strong, they say. Americans are to complacent and lazy. But we have seen evidence in the last year of a desire for drastic change. This came in the form of the so-called Republican Revolution.

Throughout the nation, GOP candidates were swept into office on a wave of voter discontent.

The conservatives ran on a platform of radical change. Which may at first seem ironic Ñ conservatives running as proponents of radical change Ñ until we remember that much of the cultural discomfort felt by Americans manifests itself as a loathing of the federal government.

But our problems don't begin and end with inept or even abusive government, but with a fractured social contract and the systematic breakdown of our cultural institutions.

We see evidence of this here at Cal State Long Beach every day. The agenda of Gov. Pete Wilson and his vampirish lackeys has sapped funds from educational institutions, primarily at the CSU and UC level. While all this transpires students must pay the price as student fees increase and class schedules dwindle.

Meanwhile, the state of California builds prisons to warehouse so called "three time offenders," spending more to incarcerate inmates than a four-year college education would cost.

Is it any wonder that a state that would rather incarcerate than educate its children suffers from racial, class and gender divisions.

Our own already fragmented campus was further divided this year over an appearance by Khallid Abdul Muhammad at the behest of the Black Student Union. His address dramatized something most of us already know, but we seldom talk about - the fact that there is a lot of mean-eyed prejudice on this campus.

Divisive rhetoric follows divisive politics. Conservatives proved this year that race politics at the state and federal level work at least as well as they do within our own Associated Students Government.

"Deport the Darkies" might well have been the battle cry for proponents of California's own Proposition 187, which turned out to be a smashing success, thanks in no small part to those who protested its consideration.

American's cannot afford to ignore the rapidly growing fissure that has managed to snake its way up the seams that bind our social fabric.

Just whining about unethical politics and governmental ailments is of no medicinal value. Exercise your rights, use your voice in a more productive fashion. Vote. Become an activist.

Citizens of a democracy have the right and responsibility to shape the character of the society in which they live.

Specifically, an emphasis on education and the pursuit of excellence in all things are required if we are to right our society's faltering course.

The emphasis on personal responsibility favored by conservatives will be endlessly beneficial if it is balanced with compassion.

Most importantly, however, we must never lose sight of the fact that our society was constructed for and by human beings, and must function to serve human ends.

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