We will never be able to grow as human beings if we do not expose ourselves to controversy.
If you constantly surround yourself with people and opinions you agree with, you will become more and more convinced you are right, since you hear and see nothing else.
Even a slight disagreement becomes troublesome to read or listen to.
Some time ago I watched an interview with Steve Bannon at the Oxford Union.
He entered the Union hall draped in a long black coat. The small feet barely protruded from his pants. His eloquence surprised me. So did his coherent and convincing arguments, spiced with a sentimental desire to look after “the little guy”. He frequently returned to the fact that he was protecting the “deplorables and left-behinds.”
For those of you who do not who know he is:
Bannon is the founder of the right-wing Breitbart News website, and he is Trump’s former Chief strategist. He calls himself an “economic nationalist” and was a strong opposer to the Paris Climate agreement. Frequently he his accused of being a racist and a facist, though that does not say much in today’s crazy debate climate. It may still be tempting to dismiss what he stands for as outrageous. That will not make him, and his supporters go away. Quite the contrary.
What is most dangerous about characters like Bannon is not what that they say, but what they leave out. For instance, that many of those who voted for Trump were not among the so-called “left-behinds”. Or that Saudi-Arabia might be a strong ally of the U.S., but he did not mention that the country, sponsors mosques and Islamic schools around the world, and thereby spreading jihadism and radical Islam. As well as forcefully opposing free speech and women’s rights.
Furthermore, populists are never concerned about details or concrete measures.
Sadly, neither are their fans.
In the video, Bannon could easily dismiss the questions and revert back to his eve-of-battle preaching. Now and then, he fixed his watery blue eyes on one of the attendants, and said “OK?” But Bannon was not there to talk to Oxford students. The controversy around his attendance rendered thousands of clicks and likes on social media. The roars from the outside protestors penetrating the stained glass probably gave his campaign a boost.
A sad fact to accept is that we are easily duped.
And highly susceptible to propaganda and selected information. Even if you consider yourself to be educated and discerning.
Most of us know that social media companies give us what they believe we want. Their role is to attract advertisers, who in turn can make money from us. Hence, they need to make sure we stay hooked. As a consequence, my Twitter feed looks totally different from yours. My search for “democracy” will not render the same results as your search. What we have not fathomed to the same extent, is the tremendous impact this has on us.
If you want to read or watch something you do not like, you have to actively search for it yourself.
Unfortunately, we are not good at doing that. Because it brings about unpleasant feelings and may force us to think. That unpleasantness is a tell-tale sign of what we should do.
Like a muscle, you have to build up your receptivity to listen to and search for differing points of view. Then, ask yourself, despite any discomfort you may feel, if they might be: right? partly right? wrong? but not totally wrong?
Before you decide to dismiss a statement, or scream for crucifixion, you need to figure out if those opinions actually are intolerable. Criticising people for their behaviour is not racism, as long as you know you would have criticised any person for the same behaviour. My claiming that Robert Mugabe has destroyed his country and caused tremendous suffering to his people, does not make me a racist.
My not liking what I see and learn about Islam or Catholicism, does not make me a racist either, especially since being a Muslim or a Catholic is not about race, but about believing in a set of ideas I do not agree with.
(I am not religious).
Seeking out divergent views is also a test of our own convictions.
You will never know how good or correct they are, if they are never tested. As the philosopher John Stuart Mill said “He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.”
To be able to dismiss Steve Bannon’s ideas you have to answer “Why?” – Why are they dismissible? To find out you need to listen to him. And lo and behold, you are even allowed to like people with repulsive rhetoric. I did not find Steve Bannon likeable. Despite his alluring “people like you and me”, his mane of grey hair and his well-oiled voice. He displays a promising mixture of healthy ingredients, that has spent too little time in the oven at too high temperature. Together with concealing all the unhealthy additives. Presenting appetizing problems is one thing, coming up with wholesome solutions are another.
Mocking other human beings, is not part of any wholesome solution either. It might boost your ego winning an argument, but you will not change the minds of those you defeated. And as the number of your “victories” grow, you will, in equal measure, distance yourself from any personal growth.
Watch Steve Bannon’s performance at the Oxford Union here.
Reading the comments below the video, will give you more opportunities to exercise critical thinking,
