On the Fence | The danger of narrow-minded liberalism

Ian Saxine Columnist

I was recently informed of a certain conservative, off-campus website where students can register complaints about being “indoctrinated” by their liberal college professors, eerily reminiscent of 1950s anticommunism efforts. Although this was not a Vassar-specific group, I got to thinking about how almost every single professor I’ve had has thrown in their own opinions about how bad our president really is. I certainly don’t buy into conservative “liberal brainwashing” complaints, but it did make me realize just how politically narrow-minded this college can be.

While professors have the right to express their views, it is interesting how often a professor’s opinion is given even when there is no real context for it in class. Usually the professor insinuates that they expect everyone in class agrees with them, and then, as an afterthought, sometimes suggests that maybe someone disagrees. Thus every class drives home the overwhelmingly monolithic liberal message being broadcast to students here. Just last week, a professor warned me after class that a certain book I mentioned reading was “dangerous.” By this, it soon became clear, she meant “conservative.” (The book, by the way, is Empire by Niall Ferguson, a conservative, though hardly dangerous, Oxford scholar.)

I have been at this school for five semesters, and so far I have been called an ethno-centrist, imperialist, elitist—you name it. Every time this has happened, the people who called me those epithets were reacting to something I said and really didn’t want to listen to what the content of my statement was. My freshman year, someone suggested that I was being ethnocentric after I said that any person who voluntarily moved to any new country should be expected to become familiar with the language there.

What makes experiences like those at Vassar so irritating is that ignorant liberals here are able to derail reasoned arguments simply by insinuating that anyone who disagrees with them must hate whatever group of people is being discussed. Pro-lifers hate women. Fiscal conservatives hate minorities and the poor. Usually non-liberal opinions here are attacked for their style rather than their message, which is about as sophisticated as insisting that a defendant on trial is guilty because of a typo on his legal deposition. (And of course, to make things more frustrating, when some conservative student here does speak up, her or she usually says something that really is offensive.)

Last year, I was asked to moderate a panel “debate” on gay marriage. I met with the four panel members beforehand to ask what stances they would be taking. Their positions ranged from “pro” to “pro-but only until all marriage can be dismantled in this country.” When I asked if someone would at least take a “con” position for the sake of debate, using the arguments about law, culture finances, and other non-religious objections, one professor offered to pretend to be a “bible thumping asshole” before informing me that there were no valid objections, period. Needless to say, the following two hours were about as intellectually stimulating as listening to Pat Robertson talk about evolution.

This environment isn’t just bad for conservatives, moderates, and other non-radicals; it’s bad for everyone. How is anyone from Vassar who plans to enter government ever going to accomplish anything? I’ve actually heard people here who say that they don’t read mainstream newspapers because they are “too conservative.” Democracy is about more than waving signs and barking at people as they drive past your street corner. Liberals have been taking a beating on the national scene lately, and I’m starting to believe the cause is because their persuasive abilities have become so terrible. The Republicans come up with good slogans like “We’ll lower your taxes and protect you from terrorists!” I haven’t heard anything nearly as catchy from a Democrat lately. Maybe Kerry’s campaign staff came from schools like Vassar.

If Vassar was a bit more open minded, fostering real debates, maybe our student body could not only be more informed, but be better equipped to convince other people of the validity of their fundamentally good ideas. It might help to remind Vassar liberals that they aren’t the only well-meaning people in America. Even with this in mind, Vassar’s liberals may find that listening to people who disagree with them and considering their arguments fairly can be unpleasant. But then again, so is losing a presidential election because your arguments stink.