Carville's First Corallary

I was lucky enough to have the following piece run in the opinion section of Emerson's school newspaper, The Berkeley Beacon. I hope to write for them something like every three weeks or so. I'll post my pieces here, but they may need a little contexualization. The following piece may not hold true at other institutions of higher learning, but I think that that the criticism is fair. In general, young people do not understand the economy, and make no effort to understand it. A few years ago I was having a survey discussion of all things poltics. Abortion, the war, same-sex marriage, and capital punishment all got their due, but when we came to the economy, this is what one person said: "I'm for the economy, I support it. A good economy is good." And that was it, we moved on to censorship. The entire economy summed up in one, meaningless sentance. Damn we were idiots. The following is my draft, not the edited version that appeared in the Beacon. This one is about 150 words longer. I'm really not that good at that whole brevity thing.

Since I arrived on campus this fall, I have heard the same words being used to describe Emerson College students. “Creative,” “Diverse,” and “Eccentric?” Yes, yes, and yes, I agree completely. “Politically active and aware?” Actually, not really. Although we Emersonians are passionate, the scope of our political knowledge is narrow, and when politics is discussed, we usually harp on the same, tired subjects.

Being politically aware does not mean knowing about and holding strong opinions on two, three, or four issues. It means having a handle on all aspects of current affairs, and being able to apply and discuss the government’s desired role (or desired absence) in every facet of your life.

Our student body tends to be concerned with social issues, especially abortion and same-sex marriage. As Emerson students may soon find out, putting “Legalize Same-Sex Marriage” on the campaign issues of their Facebooks does not count as political awareness.

There is another elephant in the room, and no one is talking about it: the economy. The state of our economy is the most direct determinant of the well-being and mood of the people of our country. Nothing is more crucial in the day-to-day lives of working Americans. Whether or not you have a timecard to punch and money in your pocket reigns supreme all other political issues. Three months worth of unpaid rent and an empty refrigerator sort of makes the debate over gay marriage seem petty.

This is not to say that political activism on the issue of same-sex marriage or other non-economic subjects is not admirable or not a public service. It certainly is. But there are a myriad of other issues that need to be addressed that are vitally important to our entire population, not just a small stratification of it.
Advocates for same-sex marriage argue that because the issue only directly effects same-sex couples, the rest of the population should lay down their arms and let the people whose lives it will impact have what they desperately want. It is frequently said that it is irresponsible and unfair for Congress to put so much time and energy towards efforts to abolish gay marriage. If this is true (and it is), then it is also irresponsible and unfair for intellectually gifted college students to expend the majority of their political energy on this issue and a few others.

To be completely transparent, I am personally opposed to same-sex marriage (but support legal partnership rights). Yet whether one fights for or against these social issues is irrelevant. Both sides of this debate are polarizing, and poison our political climate. We need to put things into perspective. We need to reprioritize. As a country, we have not reached the point where we can endlessly quibble at each other over these relatively inconsequential issues. We have too much left to solve, and too many problems that need solutions.

While they are important to many people in our country, the debates over gay marriage and abortion have grown into all-consuming monsters, and dominate the nation’s political discourse. After debating the issue of same-sex marriage, people are in no mood to talk about anything else. As a result of this, nothing gets done, and the maintenance of our economy has been halted in its tracks.

Anyone want to talk about our trade gap? Outsourcing? Big Oil? The estate tax? The national debt? Social security? The housing gap? CEO pay? Eminent domain? Our porous borders and hapless immigration system? I hope so. These are the exact kind of issues we need to be talking about when we are forming our generation’s vision for the future of America.

There is an economy going on, and we all need to understand it, because within the next four years, we are going to be a part of it, looking for a job. My Dad has always told me (more often in my more liberal days) that “when you grow up, you’ll understand money and you’ll understand politics.” I do not know if Emerson College students truly understand either of these, but understanding of the first leads to understanding of the other.

Emerson is an extremely liberal campus, and that is fine, as long as we look at issues all across the political spectrum, not just the “hot button” issues of the day. As James Carville once said: “It’s the economy, stupid!” I do not wish to insult the intelligence or intentions of Emerson students. It is because of our conviction and our enthusiasm that I know we can do better. So next time when you are complaining about Bush, be comprehensive: bash last year’s overtime law or CAFTA or something. Now if only we can find a way to form a Facebook group to protest corporate corruption, we may be on to something.