Right?
I am not claiming that nobody has else noticed this phenomenon. A quick perfunctory Google search brought forth nothing.
I think I noticed it first a year or so ago. It was among fellow academics. And then, journalists and pundits, on CNN, and pretty much everywhere on television. A statement would be made, a pause, and then the question: “right?” But, it was less of a question and more of a check-in. Typically, what follows the “right?” is a continuation of the original statement. What is the “right?” all about?
I have two theories:
- As a society, we have deep insecurities. We are less certain of what we know and of who we are. This could very well be a collective acknowledgement of that. We want to be right but we are really not certain. Traditions are being thrown out the window. Institutions, families, etc.
- The second more sinister explanation is that this “right?” is an enforcement of a certain narrative. I have interpreted many of these “right?”s as a subtle way to check if the other people on set or in the room are on the same page, if they have voted the same way.
I have noticed this a ton…it has become the defining word of our time, from my perch. I do not begrudge its use too much, since, after a while, I caught myself doing it from time to time as well.
So, my concern is not to draw attention to coerce people to not say it. Rather, I ask if this phenomenon means either of the two things I think it may, what does that say about our society?
- If this reveals a broader insecurity, then we are in trouble. We expose ourselves more and more for the world to see on social media, but we are less and less sure of what who we are, what we stand for, and if what we are saying is true. In other words, President Trump may be the symptom of our problem, not the problem itself. [It is so easy to bash him; I wish I would feel as free to bash President Obama, but that’s another blog post.]
- If this “right?” is about ideological conformity, it is just as troubling but less surprising. No, we do not all agree with the presuppositions of most academics and most journalists. We should have discussions and debates without having to appeal to the prevailing narrative about something.
Or, maybe, I’m just imaging so many people saying this…right?
Baltimore and Charlotte
In every profession, there are a few bad apples. I teach; many in my profession care about teaching students. Some don’t. People in a given profession can also change. I am a more passionate teacher than I was a decade ago. We should not be surprised that not all police officers are angels but neither should we expect anything less.
Furthermore, only the naive can ponder an America that has transcended racism. I was so naive. Living in academia, a politically correct bubble, I really thought racism had been mostly expunged from America. Then, last December (2015), I went on Twitter and did a search for “Trump alt right…” Wow — that was a quite a wake-up call. Racism is alive and well in the United States and we need to contend with that.
But, the recent narrative surrounding white police officers shooting unarmed black men has troubled me some. Although some incidents such as the Eric Garner case in New York City are clear examples of where the police went too far, some of the incidents leave many unresolved questions.
In two cities, the responses to a police shooting of an African-American man have been strongest: Baltimore in the spring of 2015 and Charlotte, this past summer. Something so obvious seems virtually ignored by the entire media and our politicians. In both of these instances, it was not a simple case of a white cop shooting a black man. In Baltimore, three of the six cops transporting Freddie Gray were African-Americans; the police officer in question in Charlotte was African-American.
Why were the reactions most combustible when the police officers were African-American? That really does not make sense. Is this a movement about race, or is it simply an anti-police movement? I remained puzzled about the protests, particularly in Charlotte, where there was not even a white police officer involved in the case. And if this is about the police and not about race, please let’s say that.
Large sections of the African-American community have serious problems; muddying the water in police shootings of African-American men will not help resolve those problems and may even delay possible solutions. Judging individual police officers based on the particular evidence of their performance seems like a great place to start.
In GOP, Rubio Best for Middle Class
It is a shame that the Republican most helpful to the middle class has been dwarfed by the supposed populist Donald Trump. Senator Marco Rubio has crafted the tax-cut plan most helpful for Trump voters. Rubio’s expanded child credit would reduce the tax burden of working-class families. Rubio has also acknowledged the reality that vocational training may be a better financial investment for some than college. He has crafted plans to allow for more financial assistance to those types of programs.
Rubio has become better known for his specific plan to defeat ISIS, or explaining the nuclear triad to Mr. Trump during a recent debate. The Senator’s pro-life convictions are also abundantly clear. If he wins Florida, Rubio may even steal Bill Clinton’s comeback kid reputation. Yet, it is a travesty that Rubio’s economic proposals are not better known, in part, due to a media obsessed with the New York billionaire.
Sure, Trump’s vague promises to stick it to China feel good, but will he really be able to undo NAFTA and magically bring back millions of manufacturing jobs? I grew up in Michigan and I wish he would, but he can’t and he knows it. Yet, he preys on people who have lost hope about our country’s economy. Trump’s lack of specific proposals indicate how little good he would achieve as President on behalf of the American people. [How much evil he would do is unknown but depends on how seriously we should take his quoting Mussolini and keeping Hitler next to his bedside.]
With $19 trillion worth of national debt, a debt crisis is not out of question in the next five years. Yet, in comparison to Rubio’s tax plan, Trump’s would add an additional $2.7 trillion of debt over the next decade. Should the U.S. government be unable to pay the interest on debt, the default will hit the working and middle classes most. Is Trump’s tax cut so expensive to help the middle class? No. As opposed to Rubio’s 35% top tax bracket, Trump lowers the tax on the wealthiest to 25%. Whereas Rubio lowers the corporate tax rate to 25%, Trump would take it down to 15%. Trump is no friend of the middle class or of the working class. Mitt Romney’s recent call to have Mr. Trump release his tax records was significant. Trump’s tax records would probably shine more light on how helpful Mr. Trump is to himself at the expense of hard-working Americans who pay their fair share of taxes.
Trump’s rhetoric somehow suggests that he will fight for average Americans. This is not true. He will only fight for himself and his fellow billionaires. That is fine but let us not pretend otherwise. But, if somebody wants a champion for hard-working American families, that man is Marco Rubio, not the celebrity clown posing as a populist.
“One Right That Secures Them All”
There has been a significant fear over the past seven years that President Obama would restrict guns. But, the number of guns purchased over the past seven years has been indicative that this was a significant fear. President Obama has not. He might have…with a different Congress – we will never know.
I took the title for this post from a bumper sticker I saw in suburban Atlanta a few weeks ago. The implication is that the Second Amendment guaranteeing individual gun rights also protects other fundamental freedoms (speech, press, religion).
In the past seven years, Catholic organizations have been forced to violate their religious beliefs in order to provide birth control under Obamacare. Commencement speakers have been disinvited from universities because of various things they have previously said or supported. In other words, freedom of religion and freedom of speech have been challenged much more significantly than guns. There are many more guns in the U.S. in 2016 than there were in 2008. And, yet, those guns have not protected the First Amendment. None this would have surprised George Orwell.
Is this an anti-gun blog post? No. Although I am open to some moderate gun control, I have written in previous posts that gun control is not the best solution for mass shootings. One only need to remember that the San Bernardino terrorists wanted to kill people with pipe bombs as well. In Israel, terrorists successfully employ the technique of stabbing. Gun control is not the point of this post.
There are more dangerous threats to our general freedom than a Democratic President taking away our guns. Besides the threat to freedom of speech and religion noted above, the fact that the Kardashians have tens of millions of followers on social media is as much a threat to our basic freedoms. The smartest of pundits and scholars I follow on Twitter have tens of thousands of followers. They figure out how this country can survive, how more jobs can be produced…yet, I cannot think of one of them who has 1M followers. This is not small reason that another reality star, “The Donald,” has received three million Republican votes. Can democracy survive a society where our leaders are simply those most visible?
How about kids? What kind of society will we have in twenty years when we allow Netflix and iPads to raise our kids? Yet, having guns is somehow going to solve all our national problems. That’s ridiculous. The opposite of crazy is crazy. It’s like switching out Obama for Trump – pure insanity. Opposing gun control is one thing; suggesting that keeping our guns will make all our other problems and threats go away, c’mon.
A Tragedy in New England
Almost two years ago, on Dec. 14th, 2012, Adam Lanza killed twenty children, six teachers, and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary. He had already killed his own mother back home. The state of Connecticut’s Office of the Child Advocate has put out a report explaining Lanza’s life and how many times his poor mental health […]
College in Trouble: Still Worth It?
A recent CNN documentary, “Ivory Tower,” takes a thorough look at higher education. Having watched the documentary, here are five issues raised in the documentary about which I provide my own perspectives: Total student loans have surpassed one trillion dollars in value. Lack of employment for graduates after college. Lack of rigorous education connected to student culture of drinking […]
Fixing the Illegal Immigration Mess
Here’s how a solid immigration plan would look like [Florida Senator Marco Rubio proposed something similar to this in 2013]: 1. First and foremost, the United States government would create real border security. In 2006, President Bush sent 6,000 National Guard troops to the border; today there are 300 – why? Given how the Secret […]
Illegal Immigrants and the Death of the Middle Class
The immigration debate comes down to whether or not people who have come into the United States illegally should be given a chance to stay (amnesty), or if they should be forced to leave. This blog post will try to understand the reasons behind both positions. In a future post, I will offer my […]
Finishing College
Perseverance – if one characteristic could propel us along in life, this would be it. It just means keep going. Don’t stop. Or, if you do, start back up again. 120 credits is the goal. The importance of finishing college is documented in many places, including here. I assume that you want to finish college, […]
Chick-Fil-A and Sundays
The fast-food restaurant is closed on Sundays. Chick-Fil-A is owned and run by Christians. But why they do they close on Sundays? Even for Christians, who might want a breakfast burrito before church, it might be difficult to understand why the chain is closed on Sundays. Chick-Fil-A provides a brief answer. But, I propose a […]
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