What to say in my final contribution to Pipe Dream? It could go one of two ways: I could try some heartfelt soliloquy about how wonderful it’s been and how I really enjoyed expressing my opinions on these pages; I could go on and on about how it would be great if we could all get along better and work together to solve our problems and live happily ever after. Or, I could see how many people I could piss off in 500 words or less.
Believe me, I am very tempted to go with the second choice, but I figure there’s a better use for the space. I can at least get some mileage on the issue that has bothered me the most and compelled me to start throwing my two cents into the paper in the first place.
It’s been a frequent and unpleasant characteristic of academia and our campus for conservative speakers to be subject to protests and verbal abuse. How many times has the Binghamton Review board in the New University Union been defaced with stupid slurs like “ignorance” and “racist?” What the hell kind of cowardly B.S. is that? College is supposed to be a place to learn and exchange ideas, and instead people seem to entrench themselves in their own little mental bunkers and snipe at anything that moves outside their closed-off world view.
I remember when Dinesh D’Souza came to speak last year. Some idiotic women interrupted after only letting him speak for five minutes and yelled for him to “shut up.” All the subsequent questions from the people who disagreed with Mr. D’Souza were asked in a rude and condescending manner.
The liberal elements on campus spend their time assuming that they have won the debate without ever actually engaging in one.
The self-righteousness only got worse after the elections, as the Democratic gains in Congress and the Obama victory seemed to give the Democratic Party and the liberal side of the country the silly idea that just because they were different they were right. I’m not saying they’re wrong. I’m saying different doesn’t necessarily mean better. No matter how much you worship Obama and his administration, the jury is still out on whether his presidency will be a success or not.
I still have my doubts about the Obama administration. I’m not trying to change your mind, but it would be helpful if the debate was at least characterized by a little more respect. The country has been polarized for nearly a decade and the future doesn’t look bright. Maybe a little less name-calling is the kind of change that we really need.