Leftist liberal thinkers dominate this campus in many departments and student organizations. Political correctness has become the College's ideology in daily dialogue. Conservatives have generally been shunned, laughed at or ignored.
One example of a flawed political ideal is evident with Saddam Hussein and Iraq. The idealists on campus generally agree that Saddam is a violent dictator, committing inhumane atrocities against the people he governs.
These same idealists, for the most part, would like to see Saddam removed from power, but in the same respect do not want to do so militarily. Saddam's track record, like that of Fidel Castro, shows that he will not relinquish power voluntarily.
The idealist has created an unachievable situation. Granted, weapons inspections can continue and sanctions can be employed.
But these peaceful mandates simply place a veil over the issue that Saddam will remain the leader of Iraq and choose to lead his people in a manner that destabilizes the region.
The idealist also sights that the reasons for war are rooted in oil and are clouded with lack of proof of Iraqi warheads. True and possibly true.
The realist admits this because the realist understands the importance of oil in America and the significance of large corporations who refine, distribute and sell oil to Americans.
Corporations are centers of large sums of money and capital and America is home to the world's most powerful corporations.
These corporations, with their large sums of money and capital, allow America to design and create the best technology and equipment, which bolster American safety and preserve its position as the world superpower.
Although some corporations commit great atrocities in and of themselves (from environmental to humane) they allow the American idealist to enjoy a centrally cooled three-bedroom, two-story house filled with cars, electronics, gadgets and food.
The idealist will not have these luxuries at the prices they cost if America does not exploit resources from around the globe. And to the faint of heart, unfortunately, this exploitation may mean war.
The American citizen must now decide if American lives are worth the gain. Idealists will almost certainly argue no.
However, the realist does not waste time even making a decision, because the realist recognizes that corporations are the true political, economic and social hegemony of the United States and that this war will be waged regardless of public outcry -moral justification is a mere afterthought.
The idealist can vote out Bush in the next election, but the corporations will carry on.
Realists can simply recognize that in the grand arena of world politics, certain things are beyond the ordinary person's control.
Idealists, who scream, chant and protest for equality amongst all people, can also be called elitist. There are winners and losers and no one can share everything equally. Only an idealist wouldmake such a claim.
Therefore the winners have successfully found a way to subjugate and exploit the losers regardless of how much diplomacy is involved. The question for the idealist is which side to be on.
If reading this opinion has evoked a sour and/or angered feeling, then you most likely are an idealist or confused. If you refer to the realist as the problem - all that is wrong with society - again, you are wrong.
The realist accepts the status quo, because to truly change it would mean a change in life that the great majority of American realists and idealists would not be willing to make.
This article is a brief and limited understanding of the world's eco-political situation, using Iraq as a setting, which is often neglected by the bleeding heart liberals of this institution.
This article was written in the memory of John Karras.
