One of my wishes for the New Year is less fear. We are a people gripped by fear these days, and such fear is not our friend.
It is not the fear of calamity that concerns me. It is our fear of the monster known as discussion. Many millions of Americans quiver at the thought of free, open discussion.
We quake that we might be forced to patiently listen to a point of view that trashes ours. What? You say we might have to truly consider that opposing view? We might have to concede it offers a few valid points? No way!
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Campuses are supposed to open the minds of their students. Yet universities galore draw up lists of forbidden topics. Many professors punish students who dare to state views that question their teachings. Faculties fight the hiring of conservative profs. They fear them and their “whacky” ideas.
Universities create “free speech” zones. Then they prohibit students from speaking about various subjects in those zones. For instance, if you are not crazy about same-sex marriage, you better shut up. No discussion is allowed.
Text books at all levels of education present one side of some contentious issues. Many teachers fear even introducing the opposing sides. Administrators might crack down on them. Parents might complain.
Most of us move in circles where genuine discussion is frowned upon. Take the wrong view in a discussion and you’ll find yourself talking to your drink. Your friends will have fled to another room. What folks call discussion is mostly various levels of agreement on a topic. The libs are over in that corner of the party. If you are conservative, you can join the folks on the terrace. That is, if you even get invited to the party.
Maybe you think I exaggerate. A Pew survey out this week says 94 percent of Democrats are to the left of the typical Republican. Twenty years ago, the figure was 70 percent. Meanwhile, 92 percent of Republicans are to the right of today’s typical Democrat. Twenty years ago, that number was only 64 percent.
Today, we exchange views with our own sort — behind social barricades.
I live near two colleges. Many of my long-time friends are liberal academics. We never discuss politics. Or, the president’s performance, welfare programs, the size and role of government, racial matters, or Hillary Clinton. We don’t discuss various global climate matters, Obamacare, the pros and cons of fracking, carbon emissions, or pipelines. Such is the scorched earth that lies between our barricades. None of us dare enter it, lest we trod on land mines.
One academic friend is especially eloquent on most of these subjects. We once discussed the divide I just described. We agreed we should form a club among friends and acquaintances. We would draw from the left, right, and middle. We could meet once a month. We could lay down rules of discussion. That is, a structure in which we could have civil discourse.
Then we tossed out names of those we would invite. I said we should include a local newspaper columnist. “What? That SOB? Not in a million years!”
Do you know him? “Never met him. But I won’t stay in the same room he’s in. I’d be contaminated. If you want to invite flame-throwers like him, let’s call the whole thing off.”
We remain friends. We no longer talk about “discussion circles,” nor the topics I listed above.
What? You are not gripped by such fears? You are willing to actually examine views that oppose yours? Well then, you might look at the sites run by the folks at RealClear. One is realclearpolitics.com. Others are realclearscience.com, realclearworld.com, and realclearmarkets.com. Every day, these sites present articles on both sides of popular issues. “Economic Disasters of Obama” is followed by “How Obama Rescued Our Economy.”
A gentle site on global warming is Roy Spencer’s, available at: drroyspencer.com. Lots of interesting reading there. And it’s presented in a non-confrontational manner.
Now don’t pick up any of the wrong ideas at these sites!
From Tom…as in Morgan.
Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows and TV show. Contact him at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com