The All-American Dissident

Monte Reid, November 19, 2010, Essay #2, COML 509 B2 Fall
Dr. Alexander Kuskis, Gonzaga University




Introduction
When is it proper and just to raise one’s voice against the status quo? Exactly where is the line drawn between traitor and patriot? These were questions the founding fathers of the United States dealt with and they are questions we are still dealing with today when individuals raise their voice to question the endless flow of disinformation that trickles down from positions of power. To answer the question “is there room for the dissident in today’s America?” we need to recall these important words:
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation (U.S. Declaration of Independence).

Were it not for dissidents among the early American colonists, there would be no United States of America. Our country has always fostered dissidents. It’s in our blood. Imagine, what this nation would be like if our forefathers had acquiesced as King George did everything he could to tax the spirit of the early colonists? Where would we be now? Certainly not a nation, and the words to our national song My Country Tis of Thee would still end with “God save the Queen.” Let us therefore remember:
That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security (U.S. Declaration of Independence).


Same problems different landscape
The geography of power has changed much over the past 234 years. Institutions, communication media and industry are all interconnected and seek to form the conscience of society according to their own agendas. The populace acclimatizes and life goes on until a dissident begins rocking the boat with words and thoughts that would call people to wake from their slumber of complacency with the status quo. The words and thoughts of people like Noam Chomsky might be unsettling to many, for they cause us to feel uncomfortable. Yet, they are necessary. Intellectual dissidents are not armchair quarterbacks complaining of how they would have done things, but they spur us to carefully weigh information presented to us with analytical and thoughtful minds.
However, when debating for change there are those who are blinded by their preconceptions and will not see another’s perspective. Can a paradigm shift open our minds to other possibilities? For centuries, the world was flat and anyone suggesting they could reach the East by sailing west was considered insane. In retrospect, we wonder how anyone could ever have been so simpleminded. Still, there are pundits today who hang on to their positions as tenaciously as a bulldog with a bone. In a recent interview on the David Letterman show, Fox news anchor Bill O’Reilly asked Letterman if he wanted the United States to win [the war] in Iraq. For O’Reilly this was a simple question and when Letterman did not come with an immediate answer, O’Reilly asked impatiently, “What’s the matter! It’s a simple yes or no question?” To which Letterman replied, “For you maybe, but I’m thoughtful.” (Youtube, 2006).


What price freedom?
According to Jesus, the truth shall set you free (Jn 8:32). Unless you are in a country that does not allow freedom of speech; there, the truth can land you in jail. Our freedom carries with it a great responsibility to speak out against injustice. In fact, more so than in a country where actively speaking out may be cause for imprisonment. Case in point; the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, principle author of the Charter 08 manifest calling for political reform and an end to Communist one-party rule in China. Xiaobo has been thrown in prison and his wife is under house arrest. And even though the Chinese government has tried to censor the manifest and Internet access to it, many students across China are aware of it and adding their signatures. Now, even intellectuals loyal to the Communist Party have recently begun demanding political transformation in step with China’s economic reforms. Mao Zedong’s former personal secretary, Li Rui, in an open letter has called for the National People’s Congress to “abolish censorship and realize citizens’ rights to freedom and freedom of the press.” (Spiegel Online International, 2010).
The bravery and dissent of Xiaobo, and his global recognition through the Nobel peace prize, has opened the door for the possibility of real change for over 1.3 billion people. All too often, people feel that the safest way forward is the road of complacency. However, choosing not to choose is a choice as well. It is a choice for the status quo and supports whatever ills and inconsistencies institutionalized power may be enforcing upon the populace. When the marionette mouthpieces of these institutions here in America label those who disagree with them as “un-American”, they need to look in the mirror. Perhaps the dissident is the true American.

Conclusion
The questions our founding fathers addressed July 4, 1776 have changed little over the years. The play is the same, only the names have changed. Is there room for the dissident in today’s America? I believe so. The role of the dissident is to call us to reason, regardless whether our present reasoning is sound or fallible. It is a lonely voice “crying in the wilderness” of disinformation. It is the voice that helps us maintain our balance and keeps us from falling into one ditch or the other as we navigate the road towards a just and fair society.


References

Lorenz, A. (October 19, 2010). Nobel Peace Prize Inspires Chinese Dissidents. In Spiegel Online International. Retrieved November 18, 2010, from http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,723808,00.html.

Fuyb. (October 30, 2006). Letterman loses it [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKftpGB03vU

Manufacturing consent noam chomsky and the media. Chomsky, N., Achbar, M., Wintonick, P. and Symansky, A. (Directors). (2002).[Video/DVD] New York: Zeitgeist Video.

Outfoxed rupert murdoch's war on journalism. Greenwald, R., Cheek, D. and Cronkite, W. (Directors). (2004).[Video/DVD] New York: Disinformation Co. Retrieved from http://www.outfoxed.org/; Materials specified: Accompanying web site:http://www.outfoxed.org/

United States Declaration of Independence