Editor,
It is deeply disturbing to witness the conservatism and conformity prevalent among the majority of youth at UNM.
In a time when it is crucial to question authority, because the lives of our own citizens as well as those of Afghanistan are at stake, I have heard few dissenting opinions of conviction.
What I observe is a generation heeding and creating a popular culture lacking creativity and individuality; a generation that has been undermined by their own education and social institutions. It is a generation that does not take the time and initiative to research the facts before believing the conclusions given to them by conventional media.
All sources of information have an agenda of their own, but it is necessary that as citizens, we research the present and past actions of our government and military as best we can before deciding for ourselves what we believe to be true and worthy of support.
Perhaps there are dissenting opinions, but are those who harbor them afraid to speak?
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
It should be obvious to everyone by now that to speak controversially is tantamount to treason. Yet, if there are no dissenting voices, how can we extol the virtues of democracy?
Extreme dissention is the necessary opposite of conformity. And shouldn't conformity worry us?
Have we not learned form the Soviet Union and Third Reich what it means to root out intellectual dissidence and resistance?
Not questioning authority in the past has resulted in the compliance and participation of fellow countrymen to commit atrocities against their fellow citizens.
Conformity is the handmaiden of ignorance, the murderer of individual conviction. It breeds a fear that allows people to look the other way when thousands are murdered and oppressed or it leads them to commit those acts themselves.
Conformity strangles the potential of a culture to nurture and accommodate great art and literature in all expressions.
It demands that no one raise their head too high or dare to be different or controversial in their self-expression.
However, if human intelligence is to evolve, we must not bow down to the common denominator.
Our leaders voted almost unanimously to undertake a war effort against an abstract enemy. If there is no intelligent debate, with all sides willing to listen, weigh evidence and contemplate arguments of opposition, how can they arrive at the best possible path of action?
How can they vote for war opposition and say they are acting on the public's behalf when thousands of people directly affected by the tragedy in New York City are protesting against retaliation and advocating peace?
Why is there an absence of a national debate concerning the global consequences of capitalism - as manifested in the power of international corporations based in the United States and our military presence throughout the world?
They are possibly the source of the symbolic targets of Sept. 11 and clearly the reasons for protest in Seattle, Washington, D.C., Prague and Genoa.
By making criticism and asking questions, I do not attempt to hold myself above others or my peers, for my own hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Whoever, I ask everyone to challenge each other and ourselves to be more conscious than we are now.
We must not fear criticism or the persecution by our peers if we are to question authority, improve our society and culture and explore our individual potential.
Rebecca Crumbacher
Student of history
and Asian studies
