The Kindling of Free Thought By: Brian Young Political Science Major University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point College of Letters and Science 2682 Quail Lane Suamico WI 54173 byoun043@uwsp.edu (920) 621-­‐6250 I hereby affirm that this is my own work, an original essay, and agree that it will become the property of the UW System Board of Regents and that it can be reproduced in the public domain. Before going to college, I felt that I knew it all. I knew, for the most part, the right religion, the right political stance, and the proper sense of morality that our country so desperately needed. All those who disagreed with me were either ignorant, willingly ignorant, or were greedy and self-­‐centered. I was homeschooled for my primary education. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to receive one-­‐on-­‐one attention in my education. While being homeschooled, I primarily studied conservative thinkers, both in terms of creation science and in terms of political ideology. Because of this background, before coming to college I had given relatively little thought to evolution science, or the theory and reasoning behind progressive values and ideas. Because I was unaware of the merits of progressive arguments, outside of the vilification they received from conservative radio talk show hosts like Michael Savage and Sean Hannity, I had a great deal of difficulty understanding how people could believe “that” way, and I must confess I often criticized the opposition, or wrote them off as greedy people who only voted liberal because they wanted freebees from the government. Because my exposure to other views while I was young was scarce, I became very passionate about politics, and viewed the world in terms of black and white, and good and evil. I can remember canvassing door to door for Congressman Mark Green’s campaign for governor, congressional hopeful John Gard’s bid for United States Congress, and senatorial hopeful Robert Lorge in 2006. I can remember making countless calls and canvassing for Mike Huckabee’s unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination for president as well. Everyone of the above candidates lost his election. I became angry and sick over this; I asked myself how could Wisconsin, and in the case of Mike Huckabee, the country be so stupid and selfish. I never stopped to evaluate the arguments of the progressive side until I started working for the Black Forest, a local restaurant in Green Bay, to help pay for college my senior year of high school. While working at the Black Forest, I befriended many single mothers, and a veteran who recently returned home from the war who all became waitresses and waiters because it was the most lucrative job they could find. These newfound friends would work at the Black Forest every night (the Black Forest was a upper-­‐tear supper club), and many had jobs at other restaurants that were popular for the breakfast part of the day. So often, they would start their day at 5:00 am and then end their night at 10:00 pm. These people were still strapped for money. I can remember having conversations with them about how, even with two jobs, they were unable to make ends meet, and how many of them relied on the government for financial assistance at various times of the year. As I came to care for these people I began to second-­‐guess the merits of conservative principles focusing on individual responsibility; it was clear that these people were not selfish or greedy and just looking for a handout. These people were genuinely working as hard as they could, yet our system was making it hard for them to live and support their children. During my time at the Black Forest I still considered myself a Republican; however, a seed was planted. I knew deep down that something was not right; some element was missing from our free market system; these people worked so hard to scrape a living together, and still had so little. Upon coming to college, I began to take classes that exposed me to new ways of thinking. I studied evolution; learned about the working poor; heard the arguments for government spending igniting the economy; and learned about white and heterosexual privilege. I began to realize that the arguments I had so often vilified and preemptively wrote off had a lot of merit. I started to look even further into these new ideas that now fascinated me. I dived deep into studying the problems of lower socioeconomic classes, as well as the problem of white privilege, and eventually, I came to believe that I had been wrong in my previous notions of politics. After studying the merits of progressive policies and ideas, I began to reconsider my conservative beliefs. I eventually joined Students for a Democratic Society in an effort to be exposed to new, progressive ideas. In my new organization I became very active. I spear-­‐headed the event “An Evening with our Founding Fathers: A Discussion on Patriotism and Islam,” among other events, and when the president/signatory position came open I ran for and won the position; however, after working within the club for some time I realized that I was not politically “left” enough for the organization, and I departed, confused not knowing which worldview was right, and which worldview was wrong. I felt lost and confused. Before this moment I always knew how I felt about issues. But now, I felt conflicted. I decided to take a break from political activism, to determine what I actually believed. Taking a break from political activism, I decided to take classes that would expose me to the philosophical arguments of different world-­‐views. Hearing and understanding the arguments of Social Darwinism, Marxism among other ideologies allowed me to process information on a higher level. With this background I became able to hear a news piece and now, instead of jumping up and expressing my outrage, sit back and critically consider the merits of the issue. Using the court case Citizens United as an example, before reading and discussing conflicting political viewpoints I would have either become outraged, calling the court a puppet of corporate America, or ecstatic declaring that the court has finally stood up to unions with its ruling. With my liberal education however, I can now look at the issue and say that, while I may disagree with the idea that limiting campaign spending equals limiting freedom of speech, I can understand and appreciate the arguments on both sides and know that our justices are not necessarily evil and corrupt as I once thought merely because they held different viewpoints. Rather, they assign themselves a different interpretation of the law that has just as much merit, and deserves just as much respect as my views do. As I advance in my academic career, I am exposed to new ideas, cultures, and worldviews that differ greatly from my own values and political opinions that make up my worldview. By undertaking a liberal degree I have gained an invaluable understanding not just of ideas and viewpoints that differ from my own, but also an understanding and respect for different worldviews. This understanding helps me to appreciate people with different beliefs, whether that person is a Washington protestor declaring corporations are people, or the business associate that argues that we need to pay our employees less. With my liberal education I am able to understand and respect the arguments on both sides of a debate because I know that the answers to the complex issues facing our society are not black and white, rather, they are very complex.