Liberalism today has morphed into a constraining — yet ironically out-of-control — illiberal monster. It is no longer an open-minded or well-rounded political philosophy, but instead it has evolved into an ideology based on political buzzwords and confining identities.
This is seen across college campuses, where anyone moderately right of center, supporter of President Donald Trump or not, is bombarded with accusations of racism, homophobia and xenophobia. These accusations are largely unfounded, with the accuser knowing little of the accused aside from a small aspect of their political opinion. I have seen numerous posts on my Facebook feed of students saying they will not be friends with a Trump voter (different than supporter), or even a Republican for that matter.
Interestingly enough, a study was conducted at Dartmouth University that found that only 39 percent of students who identified as Democrats said they would feel comfortable living with a Republican and 16 percent said they felt neutral about it, while 45 percent said they felt uncomfortable with the hypothetical arrangement.
On the other hand, 69 percent of Republican students stated they would feel comfortable living with someone with opposing political viewpoints. The difference and sheer disproportion in tolerance of other opinions is astounding and frightening.
Are blatant intolerance and the ostracizing of differing opinions not a hallmark of fascist ideology? Ironically, are so-called liberals not the ones espousing that all mainstream conservatives are fascist? And are they not the ones taking violent action against people trying to hear right-leaning opinions? For example, the far-left group antifa protested the arrival of conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro at the University of California, Berkeley for an event that was ultimately canceled, calling him a neo-Nazi. The group also set fires and threatened violence to prevent other right-leaning opinions from being heard on Berkeley’s campus.
Where is the openness that liberalism once entailed? It seems like liberals don’t practice the tolerance they seem to preach. I myself identify as a classical liberal, and based on that I must hold myself to a standard where I am open to any and all forms of civil discourse, because how else are opinions formed or changed? How else are fair and conducive solutions generated?
Being liberal on college campuses today seems to translate to mean that you have the moral high ground to denounce all those who reasonably question your opinion. For many on the left, it seems totally valid to label anyone who does not share their stances as being a racist, homophobe, xenophobe or any other offensive political buzzword. Even my coming out as a former Trump supporter was met by “liberal progressive” hate in saying that I am still a racist xenophobe, unaware or simply looking for a “pat on the back.” It is almost as if these self-proclaimed liberal progressives would prefer a Trump supporter to stay on the Trump train rather than remain open to different possibilities and opinions. Maybe this is just another example of far-left psychological projection, but hey, I’m not one to judge.
Quite frankly, this is how constructive discourse is eliminated. If we want to keep our campuses unified under a shared ideal of free thought and speech, we must collectively attempt to nip this intolerance in the bud before it blossoms into a truly fascist ivory tower. By drowning out defiant opinions, no matter how unfounded they may be, we are drowning out intellectual discourse and entrapping ourselves in echo chambers that only serve to stagnate our awareness of the world rather than progress it.
As liberals, we should champion open progress, not shrink away from it out of some false sense of subjective groupthink moral righteousness. Liberalism on today’s college campuses seems to have become intolerant, hence illiberal. If you are not open to new or different opinions, or changes in belief for that matter, you cannot call yourself a liberal.
Gunnar Jurgensen is a junior majoring in political science.