Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
O P I N I O N 3 This is not your grandfather’s politics INTRODUCING A NEW COLUMN, THE PARADOXICAL BY AUTUMN BEREND EDITOR IN CHIEF O ften I find m y self tired by the ever grow ing annoyance that is H i American politics. If I ’ve learned anything from the p residential election o f 2016, it’s how low and unenlightened o f a country w e’ve become. Often I find m yself as the outsider, holding ideas that make me appear more nuanced than the general public. That’s not saying I ’m more intelligent, but I don’t adhere to labels like “liberal” even though I am one by definition. I ’m not afraid to hold right wing or left wing ideas at the same time and state my dislike for such titles as “left” or “right.” People who engage in p o litical discussion typically commit fallacies, or fallacious reasoning, and Americans are no exception to the rule. In fact, they typically commit it far more than Canadians and our European brothers and sisters. Why? Because they generally have more parties and beliefs that are more open, whereas in America we tend to see black and white, or Republican and Democrat; liberal and conservative just to start off. W hile we did have the Green Party w ith Jill Stein, highlighting a new face to the party system, and due to the last election, even the Libertarian Party had more o f chance than prior, but nonetheless, people still see left and right. My problem with this is it blinds and causes us to stick w ith hasty overgeneralizations. The Republicans and conservatives will argue an idea is stupid and blame it on the Democrats or liberals and the liberals and Democrats will do the very same. This creates a toxic environment that prevents anyone from having any discussion when we’re far more nuanced than that. Don’t believe me? through? O f course not. Not every conservative supports Trump or has all the same views just as not every Bernie supporter agrees 100 percent with Bernie on everything he says or the level of taxation. This issue needs to stop and the use of labels or identity politics, being a “leftist” or a “right-w inger,” being a Socialist or Communist or anything. You should not nor need to tell people you are X, Y or Z. What you are is simply what you believe. If you believe in the Second Amendment but believe in a 90 percent tax increase, that makes you hold views associated with the conservatives and socialists. We as people who should seek enlightenment and adhere to intellectualism must stop the odious use of labels and political identity and simply argue based on views. Argue taxation with people you disagree with. The level of taxing the people varies with person to person. Being labeled anything puts you in a bubble and subject to lumping. By definition I ’m a classical liberal and yet as a liberal I ’ve been lum ped with A ntifa, which I hate, political correctness, which I don’t agree with, fascism, which I ’m arguably the biggest proponent on campus of thanks to the works of George Orwell’s brilliant 1984, and anything you can assume I as a liberal believe. I promise you, you’ll be wrong most of the time. Don’t be like others, you’re more nuanced than that. You should act like it. “ We as people who should seek enlightenment and adhere to intellectuallsm must stop the odious use o f labels.” - Autumn Berend Jake a look at any issue, such as gun control. Does anyone truly believe that only the left believes in'it? And does anyone truly believe that everyone that supports gun control has the same level of control they wish to see pushed Interviews 1 ►esecake in l i 12OOO SE 82nd Ave Suite 204 4 Happy Valley, OR OPENING SOON Now Hiring at Clackamas Town Center Apply online at CakeCareers.com Clackamas Print theclackam asprint.net OCTOBER 25, 2017
