Subject: file no s7-25-97: SILENCE NOT THE VOICE OF DISSENT!

Date:    11/22/97 12:13 AM
     
     
to: Jonathan G. Katz 
    Secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 
    450 Fifth Street, N.W.
    Washington D.C. 20549
     
mr. katz--
     
i am concerned that the proposed rule changes (file no s7-25-97) will 
simply be another step towards tearing power from the hands of the people 
and placing at the foot of the corporate throne.
     
for example, the change is purported to 'streamline our administration of 
the rule whereby companies are permitted to exclude propposals furthering 
personal grievances or special interests...' (this and later references 
from the web page, http://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/34-39093.htm). this 
seems to me to be
just another mechanism for ensuring that the voices of those affected by 
corporate greed will not be heard; indeed, it sounds from this language 
as though they will actively be silenced by a partnership between the sec 
and companies. and another concern: who is to decide what is a 'personal 
grievance' or a 'special interest'? if it is the sec/corporate 
partnership, it seems likely that what are vital questions of life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness to relatively small segments of the 
world population may be excluded from consideration. i stand against 
having this rule on the books.
     
likewise i am wary of the statement that the change will 'streamline the 
exclusion for matters considered irrelevant to corporate business, to 
permit companies to exclude proposals that relate to economically 
insignificant portions of their businesses...'. what may be an 
'economically insignificant portion of business' may translate on the 
other end of the market into a life or death situation for hundreds of 
thousands, or even millions of people. in other words, the economy, the 
value in dollars of a venture or a project or whatever, will decide how 
important is a person's claim on life, on liberty, on the right to live a 
life of dignity under self-determination. this should not be so!
     
along the same lines, it should not be made more difficult 'to present 
proposals again that received an insignificant percentage of the votes 
cast on earlier submissions...'. the reasoning behind this change is that 
it will allow shareholders 'to decide for themselves which proposals are 
important to the company'. in reality what it will allow is further 
development of the frightening trend to rest power in the hands that hold 
the dollars, at the expense (forgive the econonmic metaphor!) of those who 
suffer under corporate dominance and oppression. a proposal that will, for 
example, take steps toward putting an end to human rights abuses or 
environmental destruction, should by no means be excluded one year simply 
because the people who raised the concern did not have the money to buy 
the votes, or to organize and get the word out about their position the 
year before. our humanity must not be sacrificed to such a profit-minded, 
exploitation-driven, corrosive lack of compassion.
     
these are just a few of my concerns with the proposed rule changes. 
what we are dealing with at bottom here is a system that allows for the
continued exploitation of human beings, the continued destruction of our 
world, and the continued SILENCING OF VOICES OF DISSENT. i implore you to 
have concern for something other than the almighty dollar; have 
compassion; find a love of life that will enable you to realize that the 
system needs changing, and it must start now.
     
please respond with comments explaining your position, and with 
information as to how i can remain updated on the proceedings of the sec.
     
in solidarity,
frank j. gorke
harvard university '99