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NO HARM DONE?
It is easy to criticize a judge who reinstates a scofflaw car dealer's right to do business ("Rogue of the Week," WW, Nov. 19, 1997), but in all fairness to Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Nely Johnson, it should be noted that she merely was following conventional legal wisdom that "no harm" means "no foul" in fraud cases. "'Not a single person...has been harmed' by Scott's (Auto Sales') practices," argued the dealer's attorney, who moved Judge Johnson to issue her temporary restraining order (The Oregonian, Nov. 1, 1997). What the attorney really meant by that statement was that no one could trace any physical injury to the trade practices, which ran afoul of DMV regulations. Scores of customers' trying to get valid titles for their cars is not seen as a compensable "harm" in the eyes of the law, despite the anxiety and frustration these consumers may have felt along the way. Emotional distress and inconvenience alone are thought to be insufficient to qualify as "harm." What's interesting is that in my research for the Oregon State Bar's book on consumer law, I could find nothing specifically mandating such a narrow construction of the word "harm." Among the many cases decided under Oregon's Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA), not one appellate opinion even has dealt with the question. It seems that such a restrictive definition of "harm"--accepted for so long as legally correct--is just one of those many unquestioned myths waiting for the right court challenge. Edward J. Benett
Past Chair, Consumer Law Section, Oregon State Bar
SCHOOLS, NOT BOMBS
The Oregon Legislature has not, surely, been courageous or helpful in dealing with matters of school budgets. We hope that the Portland Schools Foundation gets many "kicker" checks ["Kick Back the Kicker," 500 Words, WW, Nov. 19, 1997]. However, I must express my shock and outrage at their advertisement this Thanksgiving week (page 19, WW, Nov. 25, 1997). Half of the ad deals with a plea for money. The upper half, with a school child of elementary age pictured, says "GIVE A KID A CHANCE TO BLOW UP THE CHEMISTRY LAB." I know it is meant to be humorous. But, as one who has worked in Colombia, Palestine-Israel and as one of the bishops of the Diocese of Washington, D.C. (as well as eastern Oregon), I know and have experienced varied types of street violence. It is not helpful. Below the phrase is an exploding "thing"...test-tube? bomb? fire-cracker? How does Willamette Week feel about it, since, I have learned, the ad space was donated by the paper as a public service? Oh well, now we can go back to hearing about trials of the Unabomber and an alleged conspirator of Oklahoma City in California and Colorado respectively! And see violent movies like Face-Off and L.A. Confidential and, God save the mark, give them Academy Award nominations. Thus did Imperial Rome fall! William B. Spofford, Southeast 21st Avenue
GREED, NOT RESENTMENT
Steve Buckstein's vicious little gem of political doublespeak (Letters to the Editor, WW, Nov. 25, 1997) cannot go unanswered. As a clinical psychologist, I am at least as qualified as Mr. Buckstein to diagnose maladaptive and/or pathological behavior. While Mr. Buckstein holds that the "so-called pursuit of social justice, or class struggle, is really resentment in disguise," I would offer a different analysis: that Mr. Buckstein, his cohorts at the Cascade Policy Institute, and others like him (Bill Sizemore, for example) suffer from an all too common failure of mature emotional development characterized by pathological greed and pathological lack of empathy. My income is well above average. I do not resent the wealthy. But when I look at Nike's palatial headquarters, and then at our collapsing schools, deteriorating parks and closed libraries--in the midst of a supposedly booming economy--I am angry and heartsick at the pathological greed and lack of social conscience of those wealthy individuals and corporations who fight tooth and nail to keep another million or billion dollars for themselves rather than pay their fair share for the common good. I do not begrudge Phil Knight his hard-won success, and I don't think he is an evil man. But what are we to make of the fact that Phil Knight could personally pay for the entire Portland school district budget every year and still have billions of dollars for himself? Why did Oregon corporations receive huge "kicker" tax rebates that they did not need, with our schools and communities in economic crisis? What, fundamentally, is the purpose of human economic activity? To produce the best possible life, on a fair and equitable basis, for every human being? Or to allow a tiny minority of the human race to live in 40,000-square-foot homes with gold-plated toilet seats, while the rest of us fight over scraps amidst the smoldering ruins of our social infrastructure? I guarantee you, Mr. Buckstein, that if wealthy individuals and corporations would simply treat their employees fairly, and pay their fair share of taxes to fund basic public services, as they can well afford to, there would be no "resentment" and no need for class struggle, and very few would then begrudge the slightly-less-wealthy their expensive toys. The Cascade Policy Institute's official position is that there should be no minimum wage whatsoever. It is this kind of deeply immature and pathological greed and lack of empathy, masquerading as "free market forces," which is "...guaranteed to keep [people] in poverty"--not "resentment of the wealthy." Mark Tilson, Portland
RENTERS HAVE MORE FUN
As a person who has rented apartments for my entire adult life (16+ years), I am extremely aware of the hostility most of my fellow adults have toward renters ("Flattening Grannies," WW, Nov. 25, 1997). Americans are so brainwashed from a very young age that owning your own home in the suburbs is the only way "normal" people live, that any other life, by default, must be deviant. I greatly enjoy the freedom of apartments because 1) I love spending that rare sunny January or February Saturday on the beach instead of replacing the plumbing, 2) Since I don't spend every penny on housing I can actually go to the symphony and other cultural events on a regular basis, and I can do a lot of traveling, 3) Since my small apartment doesn't require as much cleaning as a house I have more time to pursue my interests and hobbies, 4) somebody else does the maintenance, and 5) I don't dump toxic chemicals on a lawn so the neighborhood dogs can have the best-groomed potty on earth. It's time more people realized that renting is an acceptable, lower-impact way of life. Also most adults who now own their own homes used to be renters themselves, since most 18- to 24-year-olds can't afford to buy homes. Guesshey haven't figured out that by trashing renters they are also trashing their own pasts.... Jane Bolton, Southwest 35th Drive
AN EXPLOSIVE ISSUE
My name is Mikhail Smotkin, and I am 22 years old. I immigrated here from former Soviet Union 4 years ago. My nationality in Soviet Union was Jewish, here I am Russian; I don't mind to be called Russian, because the greatest part of my life belonged to the Russian culture and traditions. Vancouver's explosion on Halloween morning touched most people in the Russian community. But the cover story and article in Willamette Week [a] month later have seriously disappointed everyone ["Who Killed Oleg Babichenko?", WW, Nov. 25, 1997]. Every Russian I know thinks this article uses general stereotyping and could be very misleading for its readers who [are] not familiar with the Russian culture. "In the former Soviet Union, trading on the black market was necessary for survival." I don't know about the United States, but in the former Soviet Union black market was illegal and dangerous, and only few people could afford to trade there. In the article you have also included the following words of state official, Portland Police Officer John Laws: "Back in the former Soviet Union, you couldn't live without getting involved in some kind of criminal activity...", which touched not only Russian immigrants' community, but also visitors and exchange students from Russia Far East. The article "Who Killed Oleg Babichenko?" is not only misleading, but potentially dangerous. Can you imagine [an] employer who is seeking new employees and who has a Russian applicant: the image of "criminal and thief." I think the same has already happened with blacks and Hispanics. I am expressing the thoughts and points of view from the whole Russian 35,000 community of greater Portland. The article should be overwritten, because [the] small Vancouver explosion could grow up to a larger-scale explosion of people misunderstanding and hate. Mikhail Smotkin, Southwest 102nd Avenue |
