Bill O'Reilly was on the Daily Show last night, peddling his tired schtick about being a traditionalist against the "far-left elite." I find it hilarious that so many people seem to adhere to this mythical, traditional paradise of the suburban fifties. Our country is just over two hundred years old; where do these traditions come from, and what exactly are they? When blacks and women wanted the right to vote, I'm sure the outcry was exactly the same, "It's too soon, that's too crazy, that sort of thing simply isn't done..." We cite these "traditions" without examining what they are or what they mean, or where the idea comes from. It seems to go as common sense because it's just a stereotype that we're conditioned to take the natural, sensible way the world has to be. If you balk at this kind of notion, the "traditionalist" counters by associating you with stereotypes that have nothing to do with politics, totally non-political items that carry stereotypes of elitism, effeminacy and liberalism. "Latte-sipping book reading musical theater singing gay-marrying journalist-type!" What is this type, and how can it be associated with so many things?
This argument, the "It is what it is" argument, is just a way of excusing ourselves from thinking, from confronting our predispositions.
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