It outrages me that so many people have responded to George Zornick's "Coulter Shock" (March 2) with nothing but insults and degrading remarks about the opposite side of the political spectrum. I lean towards the left for the most part, but this is not a letter of anger towards the right. The labels of "conservative" and "liberal" are just that - labels.
In Monday's Spectrum, one letter stated "most 'college liberals' are yet-to-fully mature and sometimes hopeless and delusional parrots when it comes to politics." Being a liberal or being a conservative does not mean you don't know what you're talking about, nor does it mean that you have a low maturity level. A label does not define who someone really is, and lately, too many people are forgetting that. We are all students at UB, citizens of America, and citizens of the world. As hard as it can be to admit this, everyone has at least one opinion that tends to lean more towards the opposite end of the political spectrum. We all want some things to remain the same and some things to just change. Would it be so hard for us to just stop trying to insult each other's intelligence and start realizing we're all human beings?
Ann Coulter is not my favorite person. But it is not because she is Republican or because she speaks her opinions loudly. I give her credit for putting herself out there like that because many of us can't or haven't yet. She is not my favorite person because she is an example of what is wrong with this country today and why we are as divided and in as much trouble as we are socially. Ann Coulter continues to slander liberals and Democrats alike, calling us "the party that supports killing, lying, adultery, thievery, and envy." The liberal end of the spectrum has done the same. Although I agreed with some aspects of the movie, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9-11 is another example of this war between parties that just needs to calm down. Why is it that we must continue to insult each other and judge each other based on some silly labels?
As upset and outraged I am that Bush was re-elected, it can't be changed. The only thing we can do is to continue to express our opinions kindly with open minds. The only way to truly unite and to solve all the problems that are facing us today in the world, such as discrimination towards the homosexual community and the ongoing debate regarding Social Security, is to stop insulting and start compromising. Instead of solving problems, we're only making bigger ones. What's missing is an America that will let every side speak their mind, discuss it in context of the issue at hand, not insult each other's opinions, and resolve it with a compromise. If we could learn how to do that, maybe then we could start seeing past the labels and actually make some progress in getting our act together as a country.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
