A Former College Student Explains

Beliefs and ideas evolve with new information and time for reflection.,

I know that many of you feel isolated where you live and work, surrounded by people who disagree with your political beliefs and position. Sometimes, it gets personal. I have always valued the opportunity to differ with friends, and even strangers who I hope are on the way to becoming friends. The world is better for such experiences and I believe our future is stronger when neighbors talk to each other, and listen, with respect.

Greg wrote this response to the blog I wrote about “woke” and “cancel.” Greg changed his thinking while in college, but I believe it was not because of “propaganda,” but, as he says, because of his exposure to new information. It was also the result of the privilege that he had as a college student to take some time out from job and family responsibilities and spend these important “growth” years (18 to 21) in a relatively relaxed and supportive environment where he lived with friends from different backgrounds and different perspectives.

He now finds himself in a different place. I don’t know whether or not we should “fear” such environments. They can make someone very uncomfortable. I know that Greg is a strong person and can handle the “discords.” But I regret that we are not widening the spaces in our society where people of different ideas can share their beliefs and reasoning. But let Greg speak for himself.

Greg Burgin: I'm frequently reminded that I'm not the mirror image of many of those around me who call themselves "conservatives". I've wondered about this quite a bit and I think I tend to live in a world where ideas exist in various shades of gray while "conservatives" I know think and argue in absolutes, absolutes that are like boxes of judgement. This goes in the box of things "we" like and that goes in the box for all the things "we" hate. Another thing is what I would call "false equivalence" and "conservatives" seem unable to see a difference. For instance, to fight "cancel culture", a county in my state of North Carolina banned Coke from all county property. The reason given is that Coke made a statement about restrictive voting laws in Georgia. Georgia isn't even in North Carolina! The statement given by one of the offending politicians is that this is what the "left" is doing with "cancel culture". I see it as a fake cause with a slogan they can use, but this is nothing like what the "left" is doing. If I, or a business, make a decision to buy or not buy something, even because of politics, that's called free speach. When a government makes that same decision, that's crony capitalism. Not the same. I also want to say that I did change my views when I left home and went to college. I don't know anyone else who switched from right to left or vice versa. So, in my case they might have a point, I changed when I had more information.

John Bing: Greg is not raising a battle flag. He is genuinely sympathetic toward those who think differently. But he is saying something that in this present debate needs to be said. The college experience is not brainwashing, unless you accept the idea that washing gets rid of some of the dirt. Between the ages of 18 and 22, men and women rebalance their ideas, learn shades of grey, find areas of passion and learn to discuss ideas with civility. It happens while in college because space and time for reflection in the company of people who think differently from oneself is the nurturing soil of such “growth.”