So there I was, watching the final laps of the Daytona 200, when I realized that the United States has become the economic whore of the modern world.

Though you may be perplexed, I can assure you that my jump from the opening round of the AMA Superbike series to our nation’s economic policy did follow a logical thought process.

You see, I was watching the race tape-delayed on ESPN2 because the American Motorcycle Association sold the broadcast rights to Daytona. Every other AMA-sanctioned Superbike race is instead broadcast live on Speedvision.

But Daytona is considered by many to be the single most prestigious motorcycle race of the year, and ESPN was willing to pay a large sum of money for it.

So the AMA sold the rights, despite ESPN’s lack of passion for the sport, and in the process managed to shaft every person who watched the race.

The coverage was appalling, on par with what ABC does to the Indy 500.

While the frequency of television commercials in the closing laps was highly annoying, the most glaring example of broadcasting incompetence was a five-minute racer profile shown in the opening stages when the field was sorting itself out.

However, ESPN2 reaches more people than Speedvision and that means more advertising dollars.

Knowing this, it does not surprise me in the least that the bean counters at the AMA sold the broadcast rights.

They are only following the current administration’s unspoken policy of economic whoredom.

This country has always been about the pursuit of economic gain, and that is what the phrase “pursuit of happiness” in the Constitution means.

However, we have always looked out for ourselves and acted with some amount of moral compunction.

In the ’80s, the United States sacrificed economic prosperity in order to concentrate our resources on defeating the Evil Empire.

Though the dissolution of the Soviet Union left many Americans ecstatic, the feeling was fleeting and it was realized that economic prosperity was what kept the masses happy.

This is very disturbing, especially when issues of national security are at stake.

I mention this because only two weeks ago our government vetoed a sale that would have transferred sophisticated satellite technology to a Chinese-controlled consortium (CNN, Feb. 25, 1999).

While the sale by Hughes Electronics and Loral Space & Communications was initially approved by President Clinton, the administration reversed itself once the situation became known publicly. Strangely enough, last May Loral was granted an export license for missile technology over the objection of the Pentagon.

Would it surprise you to know that the current administration allowed the sale of a Cray supercomputer to China despite concerns by the Department of Defense that such a sale would erode our margin of technological superiority?

Though some people have said that the Chinese will simply purchase what they want from European companies if they can’t buy it from us, I find that reasoning a poor excuse for what our administration is doing.

The truth is, this nation would now sell its own mother up the river to make a quick buck.

We have become whores as our focus has shifted from any sense of moral integrity to blatant economic self-gratification.

We no longer concern ourselves with the consequences of our actions, but instead calculate the value of our stock options.

The closest parallel I can find to the current situation with China would be if we had sold the Soviets our nuclear technology because we figured they would eventually discover it themselves.

Following that logic, we probably should have supplied Nazi Germany with weapons on the same level as Great Britain. After all, a buck is a buck.

Though China and the U.S. both have enough nuclear weapons to ensure a quick and fulfilling game of MAD, selling off our advanced satellite and missile guidance capabilities could mean the difference in the next conventional war.

I really hate seeing our nation on this path because it can only lead to trouble down the road.

While economic prosperity is unquestionably a good thing, should it come at the price of national security?

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Aaron Woell is a junior in political science from Bolingbrook, Ill. He knows where Carver is.