Bleed On, Liberals

Harvard's "thinking" liberals deceive themselves.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I frequently enter into political discussions with fellow Harvard students. when I first arrived here as a wide-eyed first-year, I was amazed by these conversations. What a high level of intellectual discourse!

Now I realize that almost all of us, myself included, have little or nothing intelligent to say about important issues. But I never learn my lesson. I attend student panel discussion, engage late night bull satins and write obnoxious editorial. Last weekend, I had a typical conversation with a bright-eyed bushy-tailed pre-frosh who wanted to learn about the political scene of Harvard. I asked about his political views.

Instead of giving me a straight forward answer, he gave me a facile and glib speech questioning the value of political labels.

"Oh please," I said with the contempt reserved only for preforsh, "Give me a break. Are you liberal or conservative?"

"Well, I guess...if you looked at my views... well, you might call me a liberal," he said. "But I'm a thinking liberal."

I though to myself, I had better watch out. This kid's dangerous. he's not just a liberal, he's a thinking liberal!

This incredible thinking liberal is not the first person I've talked to at Harvard who passionately embraces liberal dogma and then say. "I've though really, really hard about the issues. Don't confuse me with the knee jerks."

I certainly enjoy hearing people use the label "thinking liberal." It's a concession by Harvard liberals that their ideological comrades haven't though carefully about their beliefs.

Nonetheless, these "Thinking liberals" disgust me. Don't get me wrong--although I am conservative, I have nothing against thinking. But I greatly prefer the honest liberals who refer to themselves as "bleeding hearts." I respect them for their self-awareness and their sophisticated understanding of how political views are to a large degree socially determined.

The idea of the thinking liberal assumes the existence of perfect ideological independence. This is a falsehood. Our political views are not created in a vacuum. Our personal beliefs are influenced by the values of our families and communities, our educations and our personal experiences. To pretend, as the thinking liberals do, that one's view have evolved entirely free of bias is to commit an act of dishonesty. To idealistically proclaim that we can, through the cult of rationality, break free of these biases is to exhibit the most extreme naivete.

If anything, It's conservatives at Harvard who have to do all the thinking. The ideas they bring to Harvard are thrown into the crucible of liberalism, attacked by students and professors, challenged at every turn. These attacks force conservatives to refine their views, to think even more carefully about the issues. Liberals, by contrast, do not have their prejudices challenged when they come to Harvard; instead, they are reinforced.

The team "thinking liberal" reflects a dangerous world view. It the idea that thinking, the splendor of cold-edged rationality, is all that matters in politics and in life. This is certainly not the case. The most profound questions lie beyond rationality. They will never be resolved, even by the deep thoughts jack Handy has to offer.

The think liberals should also remember that while their deep contemplation is all well and good, there are limits to its power. To bring about meaningful change in the world, though must be combined with action.