As you may know I’m still on the process of trying to finish my school. With my increasingly heavy workload at my job, I’ve been working through school at a snail’s pace, which has resulted in me taking a lot of classes that have nothing to do with my education and are generally a waste of time. Enter my latest class: Social Problems.
I signed up for this class because I apparently need an Arts/Humanities credit and figured this would have been an easy course. Little did I know that this class is just another example of political indoctrination in higher ed, and this class should essentially be renamed “Social Problems caused by Evil Conservatives".
I try to stray away from politics in my blog, but as far as my political leanings, I classify myself as a South Park Conservative: I’m a fiscal conservative that doesn’t subscribe to social right wing views, but I despise liberal socialism.
I realize that there is a level of political complexity when you’re talking about Sociology, but I don’t understand how spending the first 10-15 minutes of each class period talking about the political candidates. We don’t discuss the issues, but more just make baseless disparagements without any claims – with the instructor making statements such as "Sarah Palin is setting back the woman politician by 30 years", but without any details.
Now we’re on the topic of Health Care, which basically becomes a Republican blame-game as to why we don’t have universally socialized medicine. In addition, when it comes time for us to watch the movies, our instructor went to the best source he could find: Michael’s Moore’s "Sicko". I’m not saying that the movie doesn’t make valid points, but really, Michael Moore? And are there any plans to show any other documentaries like Dead Meat or Uninsured in America to some kind of balance? At this point it doesn’t look likely.
I’m not naive to think this type of bias doesn’t exist on college campuses, but I am continually frustrated that this kind of propaganda runs rampant in the guise of higher education and inclusiveness, creating an aura of anything but tolerance and acceptance for anyone that doesn’t agree with them.
Call for Help: I’ve been given a pretty lame assignment in this class. I’ve been asked to ask someone about their experience receiving medical treatment in the US. What kind of treatment did they get? What was the end result, not just physically, but also financially, socially, etc. If you have a minute and have a story to tell, would you mind sharing it in the comments section of the blog? It would be a really big help, especially if it’s a positive experience getting the medical attention.