I would like to respond in general to the Nov. 11 Viewpoints by Ryan Cullen ("Prescriptions provided for party's woes") and Michelle Mihalik ("Frustration over Bush unleashed"). We live in the greatest country the world has ever known but to listen to these people you would think we were on the verge of total collapse.

They speak of health care as if it was non-existent and people were crawling in the gutter to some abandoned hospital to die. We all know health care in this country is the best and even people with no money or insurance can access it. Maybe they cannot access it to the extent as those fortunate enough to afford good insurance but care is nonetheless available.

Jobs are another subject that is blown totally out of proportion. The fact is that the unemployment rate is one number that cannot be spun as easily as other points. We are bombarded with the number of jobs lost but rarely hear about the jobs that replace the ones lost. The unemployment rate is very low and close to what is considered full employment. It is virtually impossible to have 100 percent employment at all times. There will always be people changing jobs and for other reasons unemployed for a time but to listen to the whiners you would think we were going through the Depression again.

The war is another thing said to be going bad. I hate to see any life lost in war, but it is clearly obvious that the casualty rate is much smaller than other major conflicts of the past. While some may disagree with the war in general, our military has evolved in recent decades and has done an outstanding job of fighting with a minimum of casualties. We also do not get enough positive stories from the mainstream media and believe it or not, good things are happening in Iraq. Spreading freedom to others is a worthwhile goal.

Education is obviously controlled by the stranglehold of the teachers union so I don't think President Bush should be blamed for the all of problems in the public education system. We constantly hear about the lack of money in the system. But since we pay about $10,000 per student per year, I think that is more than enough money needed to provide a quality education. Where are the "pro-choicers" when it comes to school choice? School choice would put competition into the system, and competition almost always improves the product.

As for taxes, the only problem is that far too much is taken from everyone who works in America. The myth that only the rich benefit from a tax cut is demagoguery and class warfare at its finest. If you add up all of the taxes and "fees" collected by the government, Americans are paying way too much to the government. This includes rich, poor and everyone in between.

The bottom line is that I for one do not understand people who can't seem to find anything good about living in the United States. We are the envy of the world on almost every aspect of daily living and some people have nothing positive to say about it whatsoever. I think it is a show of disrespect that some are constantly complaining while others are dying for their right to do so.

Kopietz is the kitchen manager at the Marquette University Jesuit Residence.

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