After reading last week’s opinion piece about the Occupy Wall Street movement, I found myself deeply troubled. The author asserted that the Occupy movement is representative of decay in the American value of hard work and symptomatic of what he believes is a cultural transition toward socialism, one that is enabled and secretly supported by the current administration. Furthermore, he stated that he feels “another red scare” is what this country needs most.
I think that, as students of an advanced liberal arts institution, it is our responsibility to be adequately informed about political issues and to participate in the democratic process. Not only that, but we should also utilize the critical thinking and analytical skills that, for example, would lead an intelligent individual to the logical conclusion that while one may not agree with Obama’s policies, he would make a terrible socialist. Furthermore, they may question how a “red scare,” which last time resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of citizens for their (alleged) political beliefs, could possibly be considered American.
As such, I feel that what this country needs far more than another “red scare” is to stop allowing this sort of antagonism to be considered acceptable political discussion. The democratic process is built and relies upon lively debate over issues and policies; however, these discussions need to stop hinging on who can more adequately prove that the other side hates America and instead should begin with the assumption that all participants in the process want what is best for all American citizens. A reliance on these sorts of nonfactual, counterproductive discussions of which political party is trying to ruin our nation enables politics that produce no results, evidenced clearly by last summer’s debt ceiling crisis.
Nobody needs to agree with the Occupy Wall Street movement or its ideals. There is no reason to say that everyone has to agree with the Tea Party, Nancy Pelosi, Michael Moore or Michele Bachmann. We should not look at any of them as individuals with disdain either. It is important to question the messages and policies that any political participant advocates. However, productive political discourse should follow three simple rules: 1) begin and end with policies; 2) not include assertions that others are un-American, lazy or “fat cats”; and 3) do not build on disgust for others as people. In fact, next time we look at something with “great disgust,” it should be disrespectful political opinion articles.