This past week, I was in my Political Science class when the professor asked for my opinion on a topic that he had finished briefly presenting to the class. “What do you think of this?” he asked me. I replied that I had no opinion, and that I didn’t think I fully understood the details of this particular topic as we had spent under five minutes talking about it. “I like to make sure I understand all the information on things before I form an opinion on them,” I told him. At the very least, I try not to voice an opinion when it may be ill-informed. He appeared surprised at my remark but did not press the issue.
Have we at Miami forgotten that opinions mean nothing to others unless we understand what it is we have an opinion on exactly? I must clarify that I have the utmost respect for the professor who asked me this question. Though we disagree on many topics, there is a level of mutual respect and openness to conversation that I wish all members of our community would maintain. I truly admire him, both as an academic and as a person, which is part of the reason this interaction made me stop and think.
So many people—on both sides of the political spectrum—are quick to voice an opinion on social issues, news stories, and political ideologies without taking the time to understand what the “other side” truly believes, or what actually happened. If everyone stopped for a few seconds to wonder “do I understand this person?” perhaps our nation and our Miami community would come one step closer to achieving President Biden’s call for unity.
Now, it is true that sometimes unity is not possible. For instance, I would never consider myself to be “in union” with white supremacists, anarchists, or Marxists. All of these groups have firmly-held beliefs that are in opposition to mine. But to me, unity means a lot of different things. Instead of joining with someone, I think about unity as the willingness to cooperate despite a difference in opinion. Unity is the ability to come together and have a debate, or even disagreement, in the hopes that common ground can be found. Unity is the desire to create a better tomorrow and the conviction that this tomorrow can only be achieved through open discourse.
Let’s entertain, for a moment, the idea of a group with ideological values that are abhorrent to everything we hold to be true. I’m sure this is not a difficult thing for most of us to imagine, so think of a group that you oppose. Because we fundamentally disagree with this group, we say “I don’t need to know what they think: I can see it for myself.”
Is this really the best way to combat ideas we disagree with? Whether we like it or not, there will always be people who are drawn to ideologies with values we deem harmful. By refusing to listen and understand, we allow these groups to recruit new members to their ideology and live in their very own echo-chamber. Believers in the ideology become more confident in their worldview and lack of opposition, learning more about the values which their group holds and understanding what their side of the aisle teaches.
While the extremists dig deeper into their ideology, those of us who refuse to give them the privilege of conversation fall out of the loop. We have no knowledge of their thought process, and therefore have little way to refute their arguments. Refusal to engage leads to lack of opposition, and when there is a lack of opposition people grow more convinced that they are in the right.
Now let’s get something very clear: I do not believe that most conservatives and republicans are extremists, nor do I think most liberals and democrats are extremists. But when any opposition is treated as an extremist group, we lose the ability, or perhaps the desire, to make logical criticisms of ideological differences.
Everyone has opinions, and everyone has the right to freely voice their opinions, but an opinion based in knee-jerk reactions and preconceived notions has no value. I believe that if one does not have a complete understanding of the topic or group they are discussing—an understanding that comes from listening to the beliefs of that group—you cannot ever fully agree or disagree with them.
If the word “unity” still doesn’t appeal to you when thinking about ideologies you oppose, perhaps the word you should take away from this article is “understanding.” We may never find common ground with someone we oppose, but an understanding can allow us to realize what exactly it is that we disagree with, and have a productive discussion about why we disagree. Let’s strive to understand one another: without it there can be no reasoning, no common ground, and no change.