Vida Newspaper, Volume 2, Issue 4 - December 1974

5о«»с»»ос»оосхзсосоа™юаомшоо&со<^^ LOYOLA MAR YMOUNT UNIVERSITY M.E.Ch.A. DEPARTMENT OF CHICflNO STUDIES DECEMBER, 1974 1 + 1-2 VOL. II — NO 4 Senior biology student Steve Vega called his Harvard summer experiences "invaluable " (Story on Page Two) A Realistic Christmas LOS POBRES Por Mercy Solorzano There are several ways of ce¬ lebrating Christmas. In the U.S., it’s fantasytime for children. They have their decorated Christmas tree up, mistle-toe hanging everywhere, and most important their stockings hang¬ ing from the chimney all in anticipation of Santa Claus’ ar¬ rival. They pretend they’ve been angelic all year and dres's to play the part. In Mexico, most Mexican children don’t know — or care— who Santa Claus is. They have something much better. It may be “El Nino Jesiis”, who brings them gifts on Christmas day or (Continued on Page Eight) There has been much discus¬ sion lately as to whether or not this country is in a depression or recession or who knows what. For those of us who are poor it matters not what you call it. We are hurting! A well known principle in bu¬ siness circles is the “wedding cake theory.” This simply sta¬ tes that, as income decreases, less and less of a person’s in¬ come goes towards the neces¬ sities of life. These necessities are food, clothing, shelter, and in this day and age^ transporta¬ tion. Those of us in the lower income brackets have no wed¬ ding cake. It was all we could do to survive, before inflation, rising costs, and stagnant wages. Now that times are tough we are asked to eat less. We were al¬ ready eating less! The prices on basic food staples such as beans, com, flour, etc. have risen to such astronomical prices that we do not have en¬ ough left over to save 6 months wages as suggested by Eliott Janeway on the boob tube. Of course if we could, then we should invest in a savings and loan account at between 5 to 8 percent while prices increase by about 12 percent a year and the dollar buys less and less. One of the benefits of being poor is that we get to participate in the progressive income tax system of this country. The pro¬ gressive income tax means that as your income increases a lar¬ ger and larger portion of your income goes to taxes. What the real effect is, is that as your income increases you progressi¬ vely have more and more tax loop holes to take advantage of. The present economic condi¬ tions of this country do not help the poor people. While econo¬ mists are going crazy looking for a name for our present con¬ dition, politicians and those in power are not eating less as they suggest that we do. The poor people continue to struggle to feed their families and try to etch out a living. The poor people who work in the fields to put fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs on America’s tables do not make enough to feed themselves. All of these conditions are not new to pxx>r people. Until now the middle class was not invol¬ ved. This new economic pheno¬ menon has now affected the middle class as it affects us. The result of this is that more and more people are becoming aware for the government’s inac¬ tion and uneffectiveness in sol¬ ving the problems of hungry peo¬ ple. This same government sends men to the moon, rockets to Jupiter and has enough ato¬ mic power to blow up the world 100 times. Why won’t this same govern- mest, supposedly of the people, solve the problems of the major¬ ity of the people? PETER D. JUAREZ