Opinion



Shock politics serve little purpose

By Justin Vann

I remember a blissful point in my life when I had no understanding of the way the world worked. I floated through the day laughing at the squabbling between those strange Democrats and Republicans or the infinitely stranger independents.

This wonderful outlook on life ended abruptly as I entered the debate classroom the first day of my freshman year in high school. If I had known what I was getting into, I would have run from that room screaming, never to return. I would have joined the dance team if I could have foreseen the struggle I am in today. I couldn't see my own future though, and because of that, I doomed myself to ponder one question for all eternity: 

Which ideology is better for America, liberalism or conservatism? 

While it is obvious that I lean toward the former, I will admit that I have argued on behalf of conservative ideals before. I've argued in favor of globalization, nuclear deterrence, pre-emptive war and countless other liberal no-no's. Has this brought me any closer to answering my question? Nope.

Lately, I've turned to reading the extremist authors from both sides of the political spectrum. After skimming through books by Michael Moore, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Al Franken, Michael Savage, Bill Maher and Laura Ingraham, I have come to the conclusion that they are all wrong. They have the right to say whatever they want, but I believe these authors and their ilk are ideological poison.

After reading these books for some time now, I think there may just be a general template for them. Like a computer program where you can just enter "Republicans = bad," and out pops a Franken book. All you would have to do to make Coulter sound like Moore is switch out the word "liberal" with "conservative."

I can paraphrase them all at once by using the word "Canadians" instead: "At risk of giving away the ending, its all the Canadians' fault. Canadians have a monopoly on the media, and exploit it to their own selfish ends. Canadians hate America. Canadians are elitist, greedy and often make their millions by shortchanging the everyman. Canadian politics have laid waste to the economy, unleashed international terrorism, and made a mockery of the White House."

Not only is the homogeneity of these books bothersome, but the rhetoric they use to describe "Canadians" only serves to further polarize readers. Republicans reading Savage don't learn anything new; they just give themselves a hearty pat on the back, while they give liberals the finger. 

One might contest that given their shocking nature, these books cause more interest in politics. But it seems to me that in their fervor to justify their political views, they deride the process of debate and analysis that our democratic society should be using. The embarrassing part is that I am occasionally guilty of that too.

I guess the point to this tirade is to be skeptical. Don't burn your copy of Dude, Where's My Country?, but don't accept it as fact either. Read more opinions you disagree with. These books just present their interpretation of raw data. So if you must, let them serve only as a precursor to your own search for wisdom.

Having said that, I think it's also helpful to note that Savage's books make especially good drink coasters.

Vann, an editorial writer for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at vann_mann@hotmail.com.