Over break, I received a book in the mail at the Herald office written by Max Gold, a New York author, called “Don’t Judge a Dick by its Foreskin.” The absurd title caught my attention, so I started thumbing through it. Essentially, the author tries to address the major issues dividing Americans in a semi-serious, semi-joking manner.
I think the introduction to Gold’s book addresses our goal for the Herald opinion page well: “Almost every topic that can ignite a bar brawl gets ample attention here.”
And what are these issues? From Gold’s back cover: “God, humanity, psychology, religion, family, drugs, war, health, food, shelter, ideas, abortion, sex, homosexuality, guns, gangs, aliens, abuse, taxation, politics, bureaucracy, communication, countries, Middle East, China, education, housing, terrorism, immigration, privacy, power, global temperatures, mental illness, mentally disabled, money, death, morality, justice, corporations, communism, socialism, capitalism, foreign policy, revolution.”
If you tacked on trains, Bascom Hall and ASM to that list, you’ll have a good overview of things we try to address on this page.
That’s what we do here: attempt to address the issues of the day in a way that is relevant and informative. Sometimes we’re serious. Sometimes we’re far from serious. Sometimes we’re chummy. Sometimes we’re cerebral to the point of seeming crass.
But it’s important to remember that just because these things divide us, there’s a lot more that we can come together on.
This is a simple notion that seems to be forgotten, partially due to how saturated the media is with artificial conflict and mindless gossip. But it’s also a notion we’ve been thinking about recently after the tragedy in Tucson, irrespective of whether toxic political discourse had anything to do with what happened. And it’s something I want to reiterate here.
We’re all humans. We all need water to live. At UW, we’re all students. We all were accepted to this school, so we all possess some level of intelligence. We all trudge up Bascom Hill and spend time at Memorial Union. We all enjoy what Madison has to offer socially, even if we partake in different aspects of it. We all smile at the first sight of snow in November, and question why we live in Wisconsin come February. We all hope for a better future. We all want to see our country prosper, even if we disagree on how that should happen or how prosperity should be defined. We’ve all done things we’re proud of, and we’ve all done things we regret. We generally respect peoples’ right to do what they please. We all want the best for ourselves, for our friends and for our family. We all – hopefully – have people who love us, who care about us, and who would move Heaven and Earth to help us succeed in life.
Those are the things that define us. The differences are what we have to work out. The Herald opinion page tries to be a part of that process, and we encourage open discourse through our online comment boards, letters to the editor and guest columns.
Together, we can sift through the competing sects of society and try to come to some kind of resolution, never losing sight of the fact that the things that don’t lead to bar fights are the ones that makes us who we are.
On, Wisconsin!
If you’re interested in writing for news, opinion, arts, sports or for our online Wiki, or if you’d like to shoot or edit video, come to one of the Herald’s two New Employee Meetings. They’re on Monday, Jan. 24 and Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 5 p.m. at the Herald’s office, 326 W. Gorham St., above Silver Mine Subs and Madhatter. If you can’t make either meeting but still want to be involved, e-mail Kevin Bargnes at [email protected].
