Liberal Cowardice
Perhaps you saw it on
television. A gaggle of students at
Cornell University engaged in what they called a “cry-in.” They sat on the steps of one of the school’s
buildings and blubbered away about the horrible news that Donald Trump had won
the presidential election.
Entertainers, such as Miley
Cyrus, were equally distraught. They too
could not hold back the tears. Cyrus was
especially concerned by the psychic damage that might be done to Hillary
Clinton. After all, Hillary worked so
hard and she deserved to win. Her loss
was thus a tragedy.
I have myself been privy to
some of the anguish that liberals experienced.
Hence, when I suggested in one of my classes that Obama’s actions might
have fanned the flames of the racial discord that motivated many Trump voters,
several students stood up an walked out.
While I did not say this in
class—and probably will not—I regard their behavior as example of liberal
cowardice. When people will not stay put
to hear opinions with which they disagree, this shows a lack of courage. When they publicly weep after sustaining a
political loss, they are scarcely demonstrating bravery.
Consequent to publishing my
latest book (Unlocking Your Inner Courage), I have sought to explain how people
can become more courageous than they usually assume. I have further sought to clarify why courage
has become more necessary in a world where we must make independent choices
about our occupations and personal relationships.
One way I attempted to do
this was by organizing a courage workshop on the Kennesaw State University
campus. Unhappily only two students
showed up. When I inquired as to why the
turn-out was so low, the answer I got was that many were afraid of what they
might discover.
Now I am busy putting together
public presentations about the need for courage in the modern world. By the time this column is published, I will
have done one of these at KSU. It is anybody’s
guess about whether it will be successful.
I do know this; when I
offered a workshop on courage for the Georgia Sociological Association, the
room was full and the feedback I received was uniformly positive. There thus seems to be some recognition that
we, as a society, could use more courage.
Many liberals, however,
think not. Not only are they unashamed
of public displays of weakness, but they would disperse this attitude as widely
as possible. They believe it is evidence
of their sensitivity. It supposedly
proves that they care about others.
What these folks do not seem
to understand is that genuine concern cannot exist in the absence of
courage. If people are unable to stand
up in the face of adversity, they cannot nullify it. If all they can do is emote and complain,
then what has gone wrong will continue to go wrong.
I saw this when I worked as
a counselor at a psychiatric hospital.
Each year bright-eyed recruits came on board dedicated to providing
relief for our mental patients. But each
year, just as regularly, most of them decided to drop out. Because they could not endure being exposed
to the pain of their client’s diseases, they left for less challenging
endeavors.
The same applies to those
distraught liberals who cannot contemplate a government in the hands of someone
they regard as the devil. If all they
can do is wring their hands and insult those who defeated them, they are
setting themselves up for additional losses.
If they want to win in the
future—or exercise influence in the present—they have to suck it up and deal
with reality. The election, as Barack
Obama once opined in his own case, is over.
It is time to deal with it or get out of the way.
Courage is not about a lack
of fear. It is about grace under
pressure. It entails being able to think
clearly, and act decisively, despite one’s fears. Snowflakes of the world, if you melt, you
will only leave behind a puddle that will soon evaporate. If your cause is just—in any respect—you
should defend it as bravely as you can.
Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University
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