Johnson said, "It's cool to be socially accepting and fiscally conservative." While I wouldn't say "cool", I would say that being a libertarian at a university like Loyola is interesting. There is room for disagreement on campus, but most importantly there is room for discussion. Not many students on campus are libertarians. However, whenever people find out I'm a libertarian, it is met with curiosity and openness. The more I talk with people around campus, the more I see people actually willing to accept these ideas. Liberty is a great ideology and what I've found at Loyola is that while it still isn't as cool as being a Democrat, libertarians are becoming more popular and more accepted on campus.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Libertarian on Campus
Johnson said, "It's cool to be socially accepting and fiscally conservative." While I wouldn't say "cool", I would say that being a libertarian at a university like Loyola is interesting. There is room for disagreement on campus, but most importantly there is room for discussion. Not many students on campus are libertarians. However, whenever people find out I'm a libertarian, it is met with curiosity and openness. The more I talk with people around campus, the more I see people actually willing to accept these ideas. Liberty is a great ideology and what I've found at Loyola is that while it still isn't as cool as being a Democrat, libertarians are becoming more popular and more accepted on campus.
An Unbiased Media
I was sitting at the dinner table of family friends when I was asked, "What journalists do you want to be most like?" I listed the first couple names that came to my head: Woodward and Burnstein, Cronkite, and Cooper. Their response, "Yeah, the unbiased good ones" and then started a conversation among themselves over the need for unbiased journalists.
It was then that it hit me: Is that even possible?
I mean, all humans have a bias. It is in our nature. The question is do we let it out. As journalists, we are not supposed to reveal our biases but instead be objective. That is the goal. Is it reachable? I don't think so, or at least not completely.
Everyone has their own spin to things. Everyone spins certain information a certain way. It is in our nature. But do we see it as bias? No. For the person doing the spinning, it is the natural way of seeing things. It is how it is, the truth.
For example, as a libertarian, I believe that Austrian economics is true and Keynesianism is wrong. If I got on the air and stated using logic and reasoning to prove that Austrian economics was write and Keynesianism wrong, I would be mentioned in an angry column in the New York Times by Paul Krugman accusing me of spinning and bias.
However, I may not see that as spin or bias but me presenting the facts and drawing a conclusion (and Krugman would do the same in defense of Keynesianism).
It is difficult to catch spin for the person doing the spinning. So what is a viewer to do? Read and watch as much as possible. I'm a big supporter of exposure to media. Use all the sources available and see all the sides and come to your own conclusion.
As a side note, at a libertarian conference I went to in DC, one of the talks was about becoming your own media. A panelist was asked, "What do we do about being objective yet also advancing libertarianism?" Her response, "Libertarianism is true! So just report the truth (libertarianism)."
And that is what the communists are saying about themselves as well.
It was then that it hit me: Is that even possible?
I mean, all humans have a bias. It is in our nature. The question is do we let it out. As journalists, we are not supposed to reveal our biases but instead be objective. That is the goal. Is it reachable? I don't think so, or at least not completely.
Everyone has their own spin to things. Everyone spins certain information a certain way. It is in our nature. But do we see it as bias? No. For the person doing the spinning, it is the natural way of seeing things. It is how it is, the truth.
For example, as a libertarian, I believe that Austrian economics is true and Keynesianism is wrong. If I got on the air and stated using logic and reasoning to prove that Austrian economics was write and Keynesianism wrong, I would be mentioned in an angry column in the New York Times by Paul Krugman accusing me of spinning and bias.
However, I may not see that as spin or bias but me presenting the facts and drawing a conclusion (and Krugman would do the same in defense of Keynesianism).
It is difficult to catch spin for the person doing the spinning. So what is a viewer to do? Read and watch as much as possible. I'm a big supporter of exposure to media. Use all the sources available and see all the sides and come to your own conclusion.
As a side note, at a libertarian conference I went to in DC, one of the talks was about becoming your own media. A panelist was asked, "What do we do about being objective yet also advancing libertarianism?" Her response, "Libertarianism is true! So just report the truth (libertarianism)."
And that is what the communists are saying about themselves as well.
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