University of Virginia Library

'Inverted Priorities'

Speaking on "America's Inverted Priorities,"
Mr. Rawlings stated that he felt that campus
unrest was in part due to the feeling of students
"that nothing is being done to re-order our
priorities." He said that he felt we must try to
solve our problems if we wish to see student
unrest end.

Mr. Rawlings hammered away at the idea
that he wanted to re-order the nation's
priorities to meet peoples' needs and that he
was the "Peoples' Democratic Candidate."

The first step in re-ordering our national
priorities, he said, was to end the American
involvement in Southeast Asia. "It is wrong to
spend $30 billion a year in Asia," he stated,
"when funds are needed for life in America."

Mr. Rawlings called for Congress to
"re-assert its authority over war-making." He
also called for a definite deadline for the
removal of all of our troops in Asia.

In speaking about the draft, he stated that a
solution was not "a volunteer army, but a fair
and democratic draft and an opportunity for
young people to give service in organizations
other than the army, such as the Peace Corps."

Mr. Rawlings also answered questions on
crime. He stated that we "must protect people
in their homes and on the streets and must
enforce the law but we must not trample on the
rights of individuals." In response to a question
from the audience, he stated that the preventive
detention and 'No-Knock' laws were
unconstitutional , in his opinion