Recently, I was informed by the DTH’s own Caroline Leland that UNC students who identify as conservative feel a certain anxiety about speaking their political beliefs. They fear grade retribution from their professors and social retribution from their peers, leading these bright young minds to suppress their inner desire to hold casual conversations about politics. Well, young conservatives, I’m here to tell you that it only gets worse — I’m kidding, sort of.
As I learned from the less-than-constructive feedback regarding my defense of voter ID, those who will disagree with you to the point of responding to you are those who you should probably hide from. When your opponent is convinced you’re carrying water for Jim Crow reincarnated, there’s little you can do but quietly nod your head in recognition of his or her ad hominem supremacy while secretly crossing your fingers under the table.
I, too, am afraid to say I’m a conservative, but that’s mostly because I’m not a conservative — at least in my mind. That word just frightens me; my great-uncle smoking a pipe in his high-waisted pants is conservative, not me. No, I’d rather be an economic neoliberal with libertarian social tendencies who toes the line on environmental conservationism, like Jon Huntsman but less Mormon.
I haven’t been persecuted by Chapel Hill. My sophomore year suitemate still speaks to me to this day despite the many times I told him that the Obamacare individual mandate is an absurd interpretation of the interstate commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. My admittedly liberal History 140 teacher awarded me an A for a paper on North Korea that actually used the beloved George W. Bush phrase “axis of evil.”
Until recently, the only backlash I had ever received for my political beliefs was an isolated incident where a fellow student audibly booed my sartorial decision to wear my “Reagan is my homeboy” T-shirt in public. I promptly responded with a one-finger salute, and we reached a state of detente.
However, the response to my voter ID column should be a lesson to all young conservatives nervous about speaking their minds: There are less than 30 people in the entire world who care what you think about politics. The people who are genuinely offended by your views will call you glib, perhaps even worse, but most people will simply ask you to stop ruining dinner with your political ramblings.
That’s not to say that the issues at hand aren’t important. On the contrary, issues like the voter ID law and Obamacare will have enormous impacts on all of our lives. But the fear of backlash is the fear of a very petty few who have little else to do but ridicule you for your sincerely held, if at times weakly informed, beliefs.
Don’t be afraid to disagree with the majority opinion if it leans left, but don’t be surprised if no one’s actually paying attention.
