American conservatism is dedicated to the proposition, etched in eternity by Thomas Jefferson, that all men are created equal and endowed by a Benevolent Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers for the consent of the governed. American conservatism holds that self-government through representative democracy is the only moral government; that the principles of liberty apply to all humans, in all nations, and all times, antecedent of any state. American conservatism honors history and venerates our founding fathers. It understands that power resides with We the People and not the state. American conservatism yearns for an energetic yet limited government that protects individuality and promotes self-reliance. American conservatism believes dependence on the government is ignoble and antithetical to liberty. American conservatism places its faith in the American people, the American dream, and the Benevolent Creator.
Despite the generally accepted proposition that America is a center-right nation, its colleges and universities remain dominated by individuals with liberal political ideologies. Perhaps no event highlighted this divide more clearly than Sarah Palin's brief tenure as a vice-presidential candidate. Mainstream media and prominent lefties reacted in disgust to the idea of Palin and if you watched the Katie Couric interview you know why.
The character assassination of the Republican vice-presidential nominee only set fire to what was essentially a sinking ship, but the tirade against Palin quickly broadened into a liberal jihad against the Christian right; a systematic effort to humiliate and dehumanize conservative Americans.
All too easily this vicious, anti-conservative sentiment was adopted by the mob of hopey-changers desperate for a new cause. An entire generation of Bush haters lapped up every Saturday Night Live skit and teenage-pregnancy rumor they could find. And so it was that the uneducated conservative became the new straw-man of the left and the intellectual value of American conservatism was forgotten.
Truly, the conservatives of Bowdoin College face real adversity, but when I reflect on my time here at Bowdoin I am forever grateful for the intellectual opposition I have found within the student body and the institution. Indeed, I feel a great sorrow for those students who drift through this wonderful experience in perfect submission to the culture of reflexive liberalism.
It is important to distinguish reflexive liberalism from the liberalism espoused by left-leaning academe. Scholars on the left have legitimate points of view and their experiences justify these views. Students should seek in earnest to emulate our professors' desire, sagacity, and character; however, reflexive liberalism fatally assumes the perfection of the sciences and higher learning. Reflexive liberals accept Hegel's historicism, share Nietzsche's disgust with religion, and entertain idealistic notions of neo-Marxist world government. In classes led by progressive faculty, crumbs of liberal policy stick to reflexive liberals' brains and are used as defense mechanisms against substantive political inquiry, introspective or otherwise. Peer pressure and the liberal media only confirm this mirage of righteousness. Alas, though he drifts through life absent of moral foundation, the reflexive liberal will be content here at Bowdoin, will likely succeed in life, and may even be a wonderful person; however, reflexive liberals pose a real threat to the prosperity of this nation.
Reflexive liberalism is the great tragedy of our generation. It is intellectual complacency in its most ironic form, for it is fostered by the very professors who built careers in resistance to established ideas. I bet my left shoe that not a single professor at this college achieved scholarly success by agreeing with everything they were told. Think about it: we are being educated by a generation of dissenters that blossomed throughout the counterculture of the 60s and 70s. The idea of dogmatic submission to collegiate authority disgusted our professors as youths and likely sparked the flame of their academic passions. Now I'm not suggesting you hitch-hike to the West Coast, experiment with recreational drugs, and "find" yourself; all I prescribe is that we honor the past and present of liberal academe with a healthy skepticism. The alternative is to remain in this mind-numbing dogmatic slumber, quietly acquiescing to liberal assertions that leave life without purpose or meaning.
Honestly, I chose to come to a liberal arts school, so I have no right to piss and moan about the overwhelmingly liberal environment. As I said before I love Bowdoin and its liberals. Some of my best friends are liberal Democrats. But on many occasions my conservative disposition has evoked behavior from students that is, to say the least, peculiar. I remember clearly the first time I entered the Orient House. Having launched an op-ed campaign I was ready to take on a column, but I needed a title. A helpful girl offered up "Robinson's Radical Right." Thanks, but no thanks, hun!
The incident last Tax Day was really devious, though; you probably all remember the infamous sidewalk chalking. Conservative slogans and even a racial euphemism decorated our sidewalks. The act was attacked by a group of professors as "juvenile and unthinking" and attributed to yours truly by the Occident. In reality it was not I, nor any conservative, who deployed the "ugly and obsolete slogans" on our community. The true perpetrator was a real Pecksniffian liberal and this evil political subterfuge was unleashed in a deliberate attempt to falsely portray conservatives on this campus as racist. So who is the real bigot?
American Conservatism Week has certainly provided an alarming image of tolerance at Bowdoin. All across campus posters bearing the schedule of events organized by the College Republicans were defaced and discarded. Hundreds of table cards with conservative quotes vanished within hours of being placed. Our display in the student union was vandalized. George W. Bush was stolen, probably for use in idolatrous Satan worship or to satisfy some depraved liberal's sick sexual fantasies, but most likely for some combination of both.
Throughout this week our campus suffered a dramatic attack against intellectual freedom and political expression. This attack was not coordinated, but it was certainly systemic. Few knew that such prejudices were lurking beneath the surface, ready to manifest in ugly action all along, but American Conservatism Week cast light onto the hypocritical and twisted notion of tolerance emphatically endorsed by American liberals. I would like to think that my efforts to promote conservatism and a more noble idea of tolerance will reverberate in this community. I would like to think that the College will make a novel, genuine effort to include conservatives in their idea of tolerance; that intellectual diversity will be ennobled over superficial differences of race, but I would only delude myself. I can only hope against hope that those who promote strict adherence to progressive notions of morality someday confront the prejudice and intolerance now innate in leftist culture.
Until then I will take solace in knowing that, outside of the idealistic halls of Bowdoin College, in the real world, American conservatism reigns supreme. It always has, it always will, and that is why I love America.