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The Communitarian Update
Number 39
September 17, 2001
Lessons from September 11, 2001
Goodness and justice will triumph over evil but meanwhile it scored a big one. Think of the more than
1,000 orphans of the firefighters alone. Funerals in NYC every half hour. And...
-Many more people in the Twin Towers helped their friends or a person in a wheelchair to get out than
those who left them behind.
-There was a strong expression of the spirit of community in New York City, in the nation, and even
around the world
-2 out of 3 Americans would suspend the constitution to fight terrorists. To protect our liberty,
civil liberals better allow us to introduce some limited, carefully crafted new public safety measures
rather than claim that they all make us do the work of the terrorists for them. Rights AND responsibilities.
-A.E.
Diversity within Unity
The first transnational meeting of the Diversity Within Unity conference will take place in Brussels
on November 1st and 2nd. The meeting will be opened with speeches by Lord Bhikhu Parekh, chair of
the Commission for the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, and MP Rita Sussmuth, chair of the German
Commission on Immigration. Another 43 leading scholars from 11 nations have already indicated their
commitment to participate. For more information on the meeting, contact Mackenzie Baris at comnet@gwu.edu
with DWU in the subject line or see
http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/DWU.html
Is America (Still) a Monochromatic Society?
On October 22, the Communitarian Network will conduct a day-long dialogue among scholars about the
social meanings of the recent Census figures, under the heading: Is America (Still) a Monochromatic
Society? do demographic change--which show an ever-increasing number of minorities--point to a significant
break in the prevailing creed and institutions of American society? Meeting to take place at New York
University, NYC.
The day-long deliberations will be followed with an evening session open to the public, to take place
from 7 to 10 p.m. at Hemmindinger Hall. It will take the format of Author Meets His Critics--a debate
format. Critics will challenge the thesis advanced by Amitai Etzioni book, The Monochrome Society. No
fees but space is limited, hence preregistration is required. Please contact: comnet@gwu.edu with NYU
in the subject line.
Believe or Not: ACLU Still Condemns Clinton's Minor Attempts to Enhance Airline Safety
"The Clinton Administration's promise to improve aviation security in the aftermath of TWA Flight 800
disaster and other high profile accidents has opened the door to new technologies and more draconian
security measures. Several of these cannot deliver what they promise, and are severe threats to liberty
as well." From the ACLU's web site, accessed 9/18/01. See:
http://www.aclu.org/issues/security/hmns.html
Shaming Taxpayers
Louisiana's revenue department began posing names of delinquent taxpayers on its Web site in January in
the hopes of shaming them into paying. The state says it has collected $857,352 from those on the list,
plus $219,267 from those seeking to keep off it. (Wall Street Journal, 8/22/01)
Hidden Benefits of Abortion?
John Donohue and Steven Levitt, two economists, claim legalized abortion is responsible for the drop
in the crime rate. They compared crime trends in the five states that legalized abortion in 1970 to
trends in the rest of the nation, where abortion was only legal in the wake of Roe v. Wade in 1973.
All five states experienced declines in crime earlier. What's more, states that had high rates of
abortion in the 1970s and 1980s, enjoyed sharper declines in the 1990s. On balance, Donohue and Levitt
estimate, fully half the decade's decline in crime is associated with legalized abortion. (Quarterly
Journal of Economics, May 2001)
Encryption Laws Late?
Amitai Etzioni argues in his 1999 book The Limits of Privacy that public authorities should be allowed to
read encrypted messages in order to fight terrorists. (See especially pages 78 to 81). Congress enacted
such a law this week. For his op-ed on what the US should do next, see USA Today 9/18/01.
Teen Sexual Experience: Perception vs. Reality
The perception that "everybody is doing it" is widespread. In two Kaiser Family Foundation surveys,
both adults and teens overestimated the percent of teens who were sexually experienced. Adults estimated
that 69 percent of teens have had sex by age 15 and teens estimated 38 percent. However, National Survey
of Family Growth and National Survey of Adolescent Males data show that 25 to 27 percent of teens are
actually sexually experienced by that age. (Child Trends)
Become an endorser!
Read and endorse our communitarian platform. Go to our web site:
http://www.communitariannetwork.org.
Recent endorsers include Ian Packer of Perth, Australia, Dr. Mark Kuczewski of Loyola University Chicago,
IL and Mavis Tuten from Corvallis, OR.
First Amendment or Palestinians?
The Palestinian Authority threatened the media when it showed pictures of Palestinians celebrating the
September 11th assault on America. In response, the media suppressed most footage and pictures on the
subject. (Various newspapers)
Safer Studies
About 12 of the world's most prominent medical journals are issuing a joint editorial this week stating
that they will reject any scientific studies that do not come with an assurance that the sponsor gave
researchers complete access to the data and freedom to report the findings. Editors say drug companies
have excessive control over how the results of studies they sponsor are analyzed, interpreted and reported,
which has profound public health implications. (Washington Post, 9/10/01)
Less Safe Behavior
A recent survey of gay men in San Francisco found that the percentage who reported having multiple partners
and unprotected anal intercourse had increased. In 1994 the percentage was 23.6 in 2000 it had doubled to
47.1 percent. (New York Times, 8/19/01)
A New Kind of Marriage Counselor
An international gathering of Christian counselors in Nashville is undertaking to reduce divorce among
church members by training 100,000 married couples over the next five years to be "marriage mentors" for
people getting married or working to keep their marriages going. (New York Times, 9/1/01)
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