Political Dissent
Yesterday I had the good fortune of hearing Tony Kushner speak to my theater class. During the 50 minute question and answer session, he gave us some very interesting insight into his life and how his experiences influence his work. One young woman raised her hand and asked the question \”What would you tell someone our age who isn\’t going to vote on November 2nd?\”
Personally, I felt the question was out of place in a theater class, but I was interested in his response nonetheless. He began by explaining how it is unconciosable to live in a representative democracy like ours and not participate in the voting process. He made the appropriate analogy to a leach–reaping the benefits but not putting in the work to vote.
Towards the end of his response, he moved to a general discussion about how different the two candidates are this year. He spoke briefly about gay marriage, gun control, women\’s rights, and social justice. At this point, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and watched as a young man walked out the door of the classroom, exclaiming \”Bullshit!\” as he left.
At the time, I thought it was disrespectful and foolish, but that sort of thing is expected in a large lecture hall. As I thought more about it during the day, I realized that the student who left perfectly embodies my biggest complaint with the current crop of conservatives–a refusal to hear dissent.
Every time I\’ve tried to engage in political debate with a conservative who I disagree with, I\’ve been either ignored, told to shut up, or called a terrorist/traitor/flag hater/communist. And the problem goes all the way up. Who is allowed to hear King George when he prances about the country campaining? Why, only those who swear their loyalty to the party, of course.
We live in a democracy, where the exchange of ideas is absolutely crucial to the survival of our nation. The habit of shutting down debate and silencing dissent is downright dangerous.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Oct 14th, 2004 by tadfad
