Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street,
or simply the crowd demanding exclusion of some ideas from their
colleges. They make so much noise that nobody looks at how many
people they actually represent. Too many simply assume that any group
that noisy must be important.
I've no idea what percent of college
students want to exclude some ideas, what fraction of people support
the Occupy Wall Street and related movements, or what percentage want
to claim that Black Lives Matter to the exclusion of all lives
mattering. I doubt anybody has solid data; the questions are simply
not being asked, much less answered. However, it is almost certain
that those groups have influence beyond their numbers. Serious
students who want real education, working people who want to work and
live in peace, Blacks who agree that all lives matter, all those are
likely to be too busy to join the screamfests. That means that the
protestors are self-selected and almost certainly not representative
of the population in general.
Those screamers have excessive
influence for at least two reasons. First, too many decision-makers
pay attention to them and ignore the majority. Second, many in what
we can aptly call the silent majority, allow themselves to be
intimidated and do not speak out.
This is a travesty for our democratic
society. It puts unwarranted power in the hands of those with no
productive employment, the students who scream instead of studying,
the fanatic wing of any movement, those who have no jobs and plenty
of time to protest. Our government, including university
administrators, is supposed to work for all the people, not just
whoever who can scream the loudest.
The solution is simple, though not
necessarily easy. The silent majority must be silent no more. We must
insist that our representatives represent us, not just the noisy. And
we must insist that tax money supporting colleges be contingent on
those institutions allowing free speech, on any subject. Only when we
do that will we turn around the ridiculous state we now find
ourselves in.
Do you think this will not work? Look
at the facts. Government officials may not agree with the majority,
but they do agree on one thing: they want to keep their jobs. A few
years ago some friends were testifying at the Oregon legislature
about a proposed law. They had data, facts, charts etc. Their
presentation was impressive. Then one state senator took them aside.
“You guys need to understand something about the legislature. We
don't care about your charts and data. What we care about is getting
re-elected.”
Let's let our representatives know that
their re-election depends on representing all of us, not just the
noisy. Letters to them and to news organizations can go a long way.
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