IN the Marianas Variety – Guam Edition, March 7, Page 12, there was an editorial piece titled, “Why our democracy is in trouble” by Arnold Dave Davis Jr.
Basically his — Davis’s — and other conversations — point out that the dependency on government will ultimately doom this American democracy. And he is right. A conservative like George W. Bush who never “worked” one day in his life, always got the benefit of the doubt – and still do – who depends on favors and special treatment to get ahead (in union boss Matt Rector’s words “ Socialism for them and capitalism for the rest of us) has transformed America into a “gimme, gimme” state. Never satisfied with what he has, hence the forays into foreign territories on false pretenses such as the case with Iraq.
Conservatives who are not satisfied with what Providence has given them but desire the whole world. (Hence square miles of land won by Gore: 580,000; Bush: 2,427,000.) Wait a minute, now. What makes us think it was God’s idea that the white man should settle the Americas, drive out the Indians and bring in slave labor (black) and cheap labor (yellow and brown) to drive industry? Maybe it was inspired by greed , treachery, insolence.
And after behaving “uncivilized,” now the “prim and proper” conservatives who own large tracts of land in exchange for “electoral votes” are suddenly more “civilized” now? Hence the comparison of the murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore: 13.2 and Bush: 2.1. If you put a lot of people together and jobs are not plentiful, crime will go up. Moreover, most folks still don’t vote in America — unlike Guam — because they believe both parties have abandoned them for special interests and industry.
Lastly, after six years with Bush (and 25 years of Republican ideals) crime is on the rise not only in the large cities or government–owned tenements but also in small and medium-sized towns across America. The same towns that give up their sons to fight for Mr. Bush and his friends.

MATT PHILLIPS
Mangilao, Guam