Letter to the editor

BANDWAGON'S DEFENSE

I guess I sort of understand where Christina Siderius is coming from in her July 14 article, "Brewing Over the Bandwagons." It is commendable that she takes seriously the intellectual value of coming to an opinion through her own process and not simply follow a herd. That being said, one can also take this too far, into an independent-for-its-own-sake approach to the world that leaves one unable to grasp a true movement when it appears.

I think that latter point is where Siderius has ended up with her critique of people who dislike Bush. She may well be right that calling him an idiot is not the most productive way to go about political opposition. But she also cheapens that opposition by describing it as some kind of bandwagon populated by "those who can't think for themselves and follow the groupthink." That each of those individuals on the so-called bandwagon could have arrived at their conclusions about Bush through their own process of independent thinking is something she doesn't consider.

To compare people's convictions on this matter to a consumer fad strips legitimacy from their political stance. I would hope that with an election as important as this one, we can agree that people deserve more respect than to be labeled as bandwagon jumpers simply because they have an idea and have found others who share it.

-- Robert Cruickshank, History doctoral student