MCCC professors prepared to speak their mind
RINO (Republican in Name Only) and DINO (Democrat’s analogue) are two insults commonly thrown around in our polarized society today and are the least vulgar or obnoxious insults we wanted to print today.
As Americans, we are passionate about our world and want what’s best in it, but we are forgetting how to talk and debate civilly. Democracy rests on our ability to do so.
We have two political parties, and an entertainment/news media environment that encourages us to get angry, yell a little, and then stay fired up long enough to vote against the party that makes us angriest.
We feel that is why a recent Pew Research study found 65% of Americans believe our country will be more politically divided by 2050. About 88% of Americans say our political leaders are not up to the challenges our nation faces today. Roughly 44% of Americans predict a worse standard of living by that same year. When we’re angry, we’re not thinking critically about what our problems really are and how to approach them as citizens and voters. When we’re angry and worried, we’re not thinking, “What do we want to vote for and what can I do to make things better?”
So, when Ray Kisonas asked if any faculty at Monroe County Community College wanted to contribute to the editorials at the Monroe News, several of us saw it as a great opportunity. We could focus on civil-minded debates between college professors about topics important locally and nationally. Hopefully, our friends and neighbors will chime in and write how they feel too. We already hope to debate journalists’ desire to keep the public informed and police officers’ needs to keep information secure to do their jobs, or the monumental changes happening to the Supreme Court today – from national to local. These issues matter.
So, when the Monroe News finds the space for us, we’ll contribute different opinions on these topics. As professors who live in Monroe County, we care deeply about these issues. Our backgrounds are varied; we do not always agree on politics, religion, or which restaurant has the best food. Some of us are liberals, some conservatives. We are religious and un-religious – our differences abound. But we use evidence, debate ideas, and try to find compromises and the space to disagree. You can turn on cable news to watch angry fools yell back and forth, but our town deserves civil discourse. We want to hear from you too. We’re all in this together.
We include: Matthew Bird-Meyer, journalism professor at MCCC and adviser to the student newspaper, the Agora; Edmund La Clair, professor of history with a focus on political history and 20th century popular culture; criminal justice professor Dan Wood, who previously worked in public safety in police, fire, and as a paramedic while pursuing his academic endeavors; and professor of political science Michael Snyder, who has a particular interest in political theory.
It goes without saying, these will be our opinions. We do not speak for Monroe County Community College. We’re speaking as private citizens who love Monroe County, and love America’s promise as a land where all people are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. It’s possible we might not agree on what that means today.
Edmund La Clair is a professor of history at Monroe County Community College.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: MCCC professors prepared to speak their mind
