Spring 1976 the Pitzer Participant Is Published Quarterly by Pitzer College, 1050 No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Participant is mailed without charge to friends of Pitzer College in the United States and abroad. The Democracy and the Planned Economy: magazine is planned around themes of current and broad interest, and Friends or Foes? features articles by the Pitzer College 3 faculty, staff, and alumni, with Roderick M. Hills occasional contributions by outside writers. The magazine also brings to its read ers accounts of the faculty's research, Madwomen in the Movies writing and other professional in 7 Beverle Houston and Marsha Kinder volvement in their respective fields. Contributions to further this area of the College's effort toward visibility and communication are appreciated and may be sent to President's Office, Pitzer Courses Pitzer College, 1050 No. Mills Ave., 12 Claremont, California 91711. Pitzer College admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, The Debate over Moral Development and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the Col 13 Peter M. Nardi lege. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan pro The Rome Program - grams, and athletic and other External Studies Report College-administered programs. 16 Polly Rabinowitz Designed and edited by Virginia Rauch. Cover etching by Michael Hurwitz, '75; photographs by Julie Gould, p. 2,22-24; George Adams, p. 3; George Rose, p.2 ; Participating Michael Hurwitz, p. 22,23 . 21 Elinor Nathan VOL. 9, No.5, Spring 1976 The Pitzer Participant is published quarterly by Pitzer College, 1050 No. Mills Ave., Claremont, Ca. 91711. 22 Community Notes Second class permit granted by Claremont, Ca. 91711. ~ 2 OUR CONTRIBUTORS Professor Nardi Polly Price Rabinowitz Elinor Nathan Professor Houston Polly Price Rabinowitz, ap . Roderick M. Hills, chairman of pointed this fall as Associate Director the Securities and Exchange Commis of Special Programs in the New Re sion, recently addressed the third an sources office, compiled The Rome nual National Issues Forum sponsored Program - A Report. Prior to assum by Pitzer College. Hills was chairman ing her duties at Pitzer, Polly was and chief executive of Republic Cor Program Coordinator for an educa poration of Los Angeles before resign tional project at the Metropolitan Cul ing to accept a position on the Presi tural Alliance in Boston. She received dent's staff as deputy to chief couns~ her A.B. degree cum laude from Smith Philip Buchen. He was appointed to College and her M.A.T. in Social his present position last October. His Studies from the Harvard Graduate wife, Carla Anderson Hills, is Secre School of Education. tary of Housing and Urban Develop ment . Professor Beverle Houston, at . Peter M. Nardi's article is based on tends three to four movies a week his doctoral dissertation completed a searching for a good one. "The first year ago at the University of Pennsyl Roderick M. Hills time I go to a movie, I go like a citizen vania. Another portion of his research - like an ordinary citizen to see "Response Sent Bias and Self-Report whether it makes my heart sing or Questionnaires: The Bogus Pipeline Elinor Nathan has been an active not. If I'm interested, I may go back as Paradigm", will be presented at the member of the Pitzer College Board of many as three to eight times, depend annual meeting of the American Trustees since early 1971. Prior to that ing on how difficult and complicated Sociological Association meetings in time, she held the presidency for two it is." Co-author of Close-Up: A Criti New York in August. He states, ''I'm of her eight years on the Beverly Hills cal Perspective on Film, she expects currently collecting articles and in Board of Education. Her professional . only one film in ten to be worth closer formation on drug and alcohol use activities include a successful career as scrutiny. "There's not been much in among adolescent offspring of al a radio and theater actress and the last ten years." She and Marsha coholics for a future study." His par teacher. The mother of two daughters, Kinder, her collaborator of several ticular areas of professional interest both of whom are teachers, she re years, arrange their teaching are sociology of education, statistics sides in Beverly Hills with her hus schedules so that Fridays and summer and methodology, and social psychol band, Frank. vacations can be devoted to writing. ogy. 3 DEMOCRACY AND THE PLANNED ECONOMY In the past year, deregulation, may be affecting both capitalism we have too often ignored the fact re-regulation, and regulatory re and our traditional form of gov that we are motivated as much by form have become the slogans of ernment. our drive to consume conspicu practically everyone. Yet, at the Let me offer my thoughts - as ously as we are by our desire for same time, we are plowing in they have been affected by one economic well being and so no exorably ahead with laws, regula year in government service - given level of economic well being tions and rulings that materially nine months spent in an effort to will ever suffice. We have, says increase government regulation of deal with the problem of govern Bell, gone through a revolution of the economy. There is even now ment economic planning - and rising entitlements. an effort in Congress to secure three months spent as part of the Second, we have developed a laws providing for an all problem. large number of incompatible encompassing federal, master, The premises for these remarks wants - of diverse values. Once long-range economic plan. are borrowed in part from a recent we perceived only single truths; There is an apparent contradic book by Professor Daniel Bell. one problem, one answer. Some tion between what we seem to be First, we have witnessed a thing was either desirable or un saying and what seems to be hap rapidly rising standard of desires desirable - right or wrong. pening. We must ask - do since World War II. Today the Social and economic problems economic planning and democ level of property to which people are subject to rational solutions in racy go together - are they believe they are entitled to, is such a framework. But now we friends or foes? higher than it was 25 years ago. recognize relative values, liberty But my primary focus is not on We live in bigger - not necessar vs. equality, efficiency vs. spon regulatory reform - rather it is an ily better houses, and we drive taneity, knowledge vs. happiness. effort to take something of a bigger - not necessarily better These are not absolutes. To re bicentennial view of capitalism cars. solve such problems we must and particularly to comment upon For good or for bad, our appe choose between different "rights" how government regulation of tites as a society are increasing not necessarily between right and capital formation and allocation faster than our resources. Frankly, wrong. 4 ... without plan or thought, our tax policies have allocated unknown amounts of capital Put another way, we do not political issues, whether we notice Raymond Vernon in his intro have sufficient resources to meet them or not, deal with the alloca duction to "Big Business And The all the desirable goals that we tion of capital. State" characterizes these Euro have set for ourselves. Our banks are the focus of such pean experiments with state Third, our grand economic an issue now. Headlines list capitalism this way: growth has had serious spillover "problem" banks, public figures In brief there has been a grow effects. Agricultural gains brought accuse the banks of poor man ing tendency to use large na chemical pollution - smog came agement and government agen tional enterprises in an effort to from cars. These spillover prob cies of too lenient regulation. solve specific problems as if lems are similarly incompatible. There is an overtone to Congres they were agencies of the state. No one has a formula to define sional criticism that says the con And, there has been a related how many jobs or how much food troller of the currency and the tendency to develop methods of justifies how much pollution. Federal Reserve Board should government that have reduced Fourth, increasing demand, have kept those banks from mak the role of the parliamentary lagging capacity and the rising ing such bad loans. process and elevated the role of cost of resources has brought us Such pressures can clearly cause specialized groups. something close to permanent in a redirection of capital and could, Let me emphasize the point that flation, a factor complicating all if they persist, drastically curtail government economic planning the others. capital availability to smaller and the pressures of competition Because these factors have growth businesses that present exist together in all societies - grown in relative importance we greater risks. capitalistic, socialistic or com have as a nation become less will When such decision making is munistic, and we are talking only ing to allow free competition to subjected more to political proces about the relative importance of make the necessary economic ses, and less to market forces, a each. choices. Because of our unwill fundamental change can occur in The ultimate question is whether ingness to wait for the verdicts of the nature of our government as we have evidence that competi the market place, we now tend to various segments of our society tion is a dying ideal, and whether make more of these decisions in organize specially to influence there is sufficient justification for the political arena.