Haymond is a financial service manager at the Office of
Instructional Development.
By Adrian Haymond
It isn’t often I take the side of a conservative like Ben
Shapiro against a liberal. However, Jennifer Shane’s
diatribe (“Liberals have open minds in common,”
Viewpoint, Mar. 6) does damage to the liberal cause and only
perpetuates the myth of all liberals as hedonistic, non-religious
reactionaries who wear nose rings and tongue studs. She makes
arguments that make no sense and add fuel to Shapiro’s
views.
As a self-confessed and proud “liberal,” I’d
like to refute some points Shane brings up in her closed-minded
view of the world as seen through reactionary eyes.
Shane tends to think most parents and authority figures are
ultra-conservative, religious types that “completely stifle
self and world exploration.” Since when has she been in the
houses of most parents or authority figures? Is being a parent
or authority figure a prerequisite for being a stifler of
self-exploration? Or are parents merely trying to tell their
children about things they have experienced?Â
Parents do not feel their views are incorrigible;Â however,
their viewpoints are ridiculed because they are not “up with
it” or “modernized,” as if they’ve turned
into dinosaurs. And why is it that when one tries to
“rebel,” it’s with a nose ring? It appears
that so many people get nose rings these days it has turned into
the conforming thing to do.
How does Shane know the university’s smartest people are
liberal? Do liberals have a monopoly on smarts?
And what is “conservative philosophy?” Doesn’t
conservative ideology cover a wide range from near-center to
far-right, just as liberal ideology spans from near-center to far
left?
What does she mean by a “broader perspective?”
Isn’t a broader perspective the result of looking at both
types of ideologies ““ conservative and liberal ““ and
comparing, contrasting, analyzing and studying the two? Both
views usually have enlightening points as well as rhetoric
drivel. Confirming the “righteousness” of one over
the other is somewhat akin to upgrading your own beliefs and values
over all others, which seems to be Shane’s definition of
“religion.”
While it is true that conservative thinking forced us to believe
that the sun revolved around the earth, it is also true that
ultra-liberal thinking taught us that LSD was a mind-opening
experience. So, you tell me which one has the monopoly on
“smartness” or on clear thinking.
It also seems fashionable for people like Shane to bash religion
““ especially Christianity ““ as the reason for all the
problems in the world. But elements of both conservatism and
liberalism can be found in most religions, including Islam,
Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and even New Age. As conservatism
can be found in a capitalistic, monarchical, oligarchical,
dictatorial, or communistic society, no one system of government or
society can be totally characterized by the term
“conservative” ““Â or liberal, for that
matter.
The statement Shane makes about “bombing starving children
in the desert” is inane and does not belong in a rational
argument. No one is trying to bomb starving children in the
desert, so this sentence was inserted merely to provide an
emotional “hook” calculated to overwhelm common sense
with inflammatory rhetoric. This only feeds the point of view
conservatives have that liberals argue not with reason, but with
emotion and hyperboles. It certainly helps whip people into a
frenzy, but it does nothing to prove the liberal point and detracts
instead of adds to the argument.
Shane tends to believe that liberals have a more substantive
view of the world than conservatives because they tend to have a
more open mind. This could be arguable, but I would be more
inclined to agree if the argument she posed demonstrated that she
had an open mind to the views of both liberals and
conservatives. However, all I saw was the same type of drivel
that drives reactionaries to shout down anyone who does not agree
with their beliefs.
As a liberal, I can only shake my head in sorrow, for as long as
people like Shane continue to make broad generalizations,
unsubstantiated accusations and sensationalized statements,
sensible liberals like myself will have a hard mountain to climb in
presenting our views.
And no thanks, I don’t need a nose ring ““ I can be
liberal without one.