Posted by Garnet71 on March 25, 2009, at 8:32:46
In reply to Pathological Extreme Views, posted by garnet71 on March 23, 2009, at 16:07:57
Thanks for adding all your opinions. I think some of it culture, some of it is dysfunctional herd mentality, and some of it are the other reasons.
In UG school, I could state a dozen left-leaning views that I agree with, then state one right-leaning view, and be given evil looks and other disapproval from classmates or professors who were 90% white Americans. There was open hate against men-extreme feminist views too. I did not feel comfortable openly expressing my views there. I do not feel comfortable at all there and cannot wait to graduate this spring. Never fit in.
I got to Grad school where 75% are foreign students. My first day there, I felt a sense of belonging-I finally fit in somewhere. We had lengthy discussions criticizing Obama and Bush admin. and everyone else, discussing the merits or demerits of their policies. No hate or mass thinking. From my experience there, I could stand up in front of a class of 30 people and say theoretically "I love George Bush" and we could have an intelligent, lengthy discussion about it. In response, someone would simply ask for example "which of his policies do you advocate for? Strong opinions would emerge, but it would be argued respectfully (backed by argument is extremely relevant here). Politics is not too personal for people who live in oppressive countries, or countries that were recently opressed. I can't believe how political speech has changed in our country on a mass level. In some ways, it has become dysfunctional and lacks individual thought. Anywya, it's ironic I have to be around a group with no common ethnicities as myself, to feel like I fit in.
At UG school, there was fear (of it affecting one's grades for one) to criticize Obama for anything, while it was acceptable to criticize Bush openly. One could not even question Obama, even as one of his supporters. I think that is what concerns me most-the social bullying-type behavior that emerges from questioning a popular leader. That is scary.
poster:Garnet71
thread:886693
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090227/msgs/886915.html