OPINION & EDITORIAL
McCain a freethinker’s choice
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Also by Allison Nelson:
- Free speech a doubled-edged sword (September 21, 2007)
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by Allison Nelson
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
A couple of weeks ago, I was on the PostSecret website and came across a submission that hit very close to home. Now, don’t get scared. I am not talking about confessing to cheating on a lover or having a crazy sex fetish, but about the upcoming presidential election. The post read: “I’m 26. I’ve drank, I’ve done drugs, I’ve lived though my teenage years, but never have I felt more peer pressure than I do in this election.”
From the day I moved in freshman year, I have had many discussions with both liberals and conservatives about the pressure to not only become politically active on campus but to hold liberal views. While I support encouraging political involvement, the intense pressure to lean to the left has created strong tensions between both sides of the political spectrum, constantly putting everyone on the defense. During this very important election year, this peer pressure and animosity is putting a strain on the value of our education as college students and as voters; this is why I found my relation to the post to be troubling.
What place does peer pressure have in a democratic election? The fact is it doesn’t. Democracy is not about who your friends are voting for but about finding out what you believe and educating yourself about which candidate will represent your beliefs the best. What better place to do that than a college campus, right? Unfortunately for us, students at the University of Wisconsin, the political reputation of the school is outweighing its educational values this election year, which threatens not only our own education and the prestige of this university, but democracy.
As we all learned in high school history, the age of enlightenment demonstrated to society the great benefits of the exchange and debate of ideas. It is a strong root in the history of democratic government and higher education. As students of one of the top liberal arts schools in the nation we are taught to question and analyze every idea we are presented with before accepting it as fact. That debate at both an individual level and a communal level makes us who we are as people and as a country. It is how democracy works. Yet there is no political questioning being done on this historically liberal campus, and when there is, if it is not in agreement with the reputation of the school, it is immediately attacked and shunned.
Last month, Students for McCain held its first educational town hall meeting on some of John McCain’s issue stances. When I invited my Obama-supporting roommate, she responded, “No, I’m not conservative.” I explained I wasn’t asking her to change her vote, but just to consider a new idea. She then said, “I don’t care what conservatives think.” And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been peer-pressured into keeping my mouth shut in discussions, knowing I’ll immediately be stereotyped as a war-loving, homophobic racist (none of which I am) or, worse, graded down by a biased TA.
And I’m positive I’m not the only one. This pressure from either the liberal or conservative side is hurting our education. Succumbing to the pressure in discussions and not sharing my point of view defeats the whole purpose of our “discussion.” Ideas are not being shared and analyzed when they are stereotyped and attacked. We, as a respected American university, need to fix this.
To be an educated voter and student, you need to hear and analyze all sides of the spectrum. That is the only way our education will be worth its full six digits and the only way our government will work as a democracy.
When you go to vote Nov. 4, you will be the only one standing in that little booth, ready to connect the arrow. Your parents won’t be there, your roommate won’t be there, and I won’t be there. You owe it to yourself and your future to make a decision you believe in. The only way to effectively do that is to open your mind to new and opposing ideas. For the sake of our country and our university, we need to recognize this. So as you make your decision come November, ask questions, consider everything, don’t assume or attack, and hopefully you will learn something along the way.
Allison Nelson (awnelson@wisc.edu) is the co-president of UW-Madison Students for John McCain.
Anonymous (September 1, 2008 @ 10:15pm):
Although I disagree with the substance of your argument and the presumptions it is based on, the headline misleads your discussion and that is unfortunate.
For the editors who made this headline - you really should have conveyed that her argument was about peer pressure, not impliedly suggesting that Obama voters are not "freethinkers."
Anonymous (September 1, 2008 @ 11:38pm):
Great message, unfitting headline.
Anonymous (September 2, 2008 @ 12:21am):
One of the better articles I've seen from the conservative side - certainly not nearly as shrill as the article from the chair of the College Republicans. While your usage of the word 'freethinker' is suspect, and while I do not understand your logic in supporting McCain (good on you for not being hawkish, homophobic, or racist) because of many of his different positions and how they intertwine, I think you and I both understand that discussion ought to be fostered in an environment which permits speech from all parts of a discussion and nobody should be pressured to not speak - either liberal or conservative.
I'm a liberal, by the way.
Anonymous (September 2, 2008 @ 8:48am):
Oh, we could be one heartbeat away from having the political love-child of Dan Quayle and Harriet Meyers become president of the United States. Just for the theatrics and the potential finale of the Republican party, I might just vote for McCain.
Anonymous (September 2, 2008 @ 9:52am):
In this day and age, you're only a freethinker if you don't think like the other camp does.
Anonymous (September 2, 2008 @ 11:58am):
I so hope that McCain/Palin are elected so that we can be a heartbeat away from the 3-mile-island of the Harriet Meyers/ Dan Quayle political love-child executive branch.
Anonymous (September 2, 2008 @ 2:27pm):
The headline to this article is a joke. McBush has been the least freethinking senator of the past eight years. He used to stand up for issues he believed in and I even would have voted for him eight years ago. Then he realized that his self-interest in becoming the next President Bush was better served by selling out to special interests and now he has voted 95% of the time with Bush's policies. Freethinking? Hardly!
Anonymous (September 2, 2008 @ 4:58pm):
I think I'm going to buy a Zune, because everyone else has an iPod. Not because the Zune is any better.
Anonymous (September 2, 2008 @ 6:19pm):
where's Sara Mikola-fmwicmczx? she's more fun.
Anonymous (September 3, 2008 @ 9:14am):
Mr. Zune purchaser, the insight reflected in your argument makes it clear that you will be voting for McBush regardless of logic. It should be noted however, all policy issues aside, putting Obama in office would in itself restore faith in the US economy, people, and open-mindedness abroad based solely on the boost that it would give in restoring belief in America. The amount of hope that other nations feel Obama represents pales in comparison to what even us as American Obama supporters feel. If you want national security, the international perception is the single most important step. This is not change for the sake of change. This is change for the sake of immediate results in the perception that people have of Americans.
Anonymous (September 3, 2008 @ 11:00am):
6:19pm,
Maybe she's busy sleeping with the Chair of the Dems? Wait, that was last semester. Check the beds of the CAN members, maybe?
Anonymous (September 3, 2008 @ 11:00am):
6:19pm,
Maybe she's busy sleeping with the Chair of the Dems? Wait, that was last semester. Check the beds of the CAN members, maybe?
Anonymous (September 3, 2008 @ 4:39pm):
6:19pm:
Where's Sara? Hmm... sleeping with the chair of the dems, maybe? Wait, that was last semester.
Anonymous (September 3, 2008 @ 11:36pm):
"And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been peer-pressured into keeping my mouth shut in discussions, knowing I’ll immediately be stereotyped as a war-loving, homophobic racist (none of which I am) or, worse, graded down by a biased TA"
well, you can hardly complain about being called a homophobe, especially when the party you support DIRECTLY seeks to limit the rights of homosexuals and make gays even more ostracized from society. Well written article, but you should at least acknowledge that you do help push an anti-gay agenda.
Anonymous (September 4, 2008 @ 12:34am):
The article is so true, I remember last semester when a political debate sprung up in Spanish and the TA asked a student what she thought and she replied "I don't discuss politics." At first I thought it was because she was uninformed, but soon realized it was due to fear of being told she was "wrong" or any other repercussions from her opinion. Both sides could tone it down to make discussion possible.
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