Letters
The Editors reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity. The views expressed on this page do no necessarily reflect the views of The Oxford Student. Email letters [a] oxfordstudent [.] com.
The Letter of the Week comes from Will Dorsey, who wins two return tickets from Oxford to London.
Taking Lib-e-Tories
Dear Sir and Madam,
Lib Dems on top of the student vote? I am not so sure. The poll you quoted last week shows that 66 per cent of students nationwide do not support the Lib Dems.
Students in Oxford elected two Greens to one Lib Dem in ballots in the central student areas in 2004. The Lib Dems' inability to shrug off the challenge from the Green Party, despite a much stronger campaigning machine, surely says something about students' common sense.
The Green Party is running strong campaigns this year for the County Council and general elections. Few people want to see the Lib Dems in coalition with the ex-OUCA-type Tories who run our County Council. The choice is quite clear: Lib Dems in bed with Tories or a Green Party with a proven track record of electoral success and hard work for students in Oxford. The alternative party in Oxford has been shown to be the Green Party; they've been delivering for us and there's only one way to keep them there.
Chris Williams Somerville College
Dear Sir and Madam,
While Charles Brendon's feature (10th February) was a more rational look at immigration than has been expressed by others in The Oxford Student, he is severely mistaken about today's political scenarios.
Firstly, I would very much contend that Britain is moving towards the American culture which has turned so sharply against liberal politics. If he thinks being a liberal in this country brings with it a negative social identity, he should try being a Conservative. Far from the Lib Dems' shameless approach of taking the popular side of everything, or Labour's courting of celebrities (which is more deeply understood thanks to the Freedom of Information Act's forced release of Chequers guestlists), it is those of us on the right who are victimised, portrayed as cold and mean spirited for merely cautioning against basing immigration policy on emotion above practicality.
As for the years since 1997 promoting responsibility and duty, I must contend that neither has been achieved, nor will be under the presentgovernment. Manifesto pledges are only of any worth if policies are maintained that reflect them – something at which this government has failed spectacularly.
Feelings of ‘responsibility' and ‘duty' grow through a culture of expectation, not that of dependancy fostered by the biggest spending peace time Chancellor in history.
Brendon achieves a level of consciousness greater than that of most liberals by realising the reason they are losing the debate is because they are not contending it. However, what he fails to understand is that his feature's approach repeats the same mistakes as those which he bemoans. Instead of presenting his plan for how such an immigration policy could be achieved, or why it could provide great benefits to our society, he reverts to the tried and tested approach of attacking those who don't advocate similar beliefs.
Far from right-wing populism, this country is descending into a self induced state of politically correct authoritarianism. Instead of rational political debate angry personal attacks are launched at those who merely want a rational political debate, rather than a sincere challenge in the arena of ideas. It is regrettable that Brendon could not avoid joining the movement while writing his feature.
Timothy Stafford St Anne's College
Bush bashing
★Dear Sir and Madam,
It was the caption competition that did it: last week's winner poking fun at George Bush as a member of the KKK, with next week's prize of 25 free cocktails at Thirst going to whoever had the best go at a picture of Condaleeza Rice. Come on, guys. Do we have to go through every single member of the Bush Cabinet so you can feel better about losing your precious election last November?
As a Republican I'm beginning to feel that I am in something of a minority at Oxford, but more than that, I must also be an idiot. The views and beliefs of Bush-supporting American voters are constantly marginalised and mocked across Oxford, without a second thought given to why people might hold these views. Republican voters are caricatured in the British press as ignorant rednecks who don't know what's good for them. The Mirror asks (before the full election results were known) “How can 59,054,087 People be so Dumb?”
This intellectual arrogance is also present in our student press. Witness this quote from Peter Cardwell,Associate Editor of The Oxford Student, describing the President of the United States as an “irresponsible, uneducated, unelected, lying, corrupt, political disgrace and dire excuse for a human being” (Between the Sheets, 27th January 2005). I know there is often only a subtle distinction between mature student journalism and playground name-calling, but it seems obvious to me which side this particular quote falls on. Somehow it has become acceptable to make these kinds of allegations about George Bush, a man who has achieved in his chosen career a higher level of success than most of us could hope for.
The Oxford student press has a responsibility to inform and educate the student body, and it should take that responsibility seriously. Churchill once remarked, “Any 20-year-old who isn't a liberal doesn't have a heart, and any 40-year-old who isn't a conservative doesn't have a brain.” If in 20 years' time many of us are likely to have completely changed political views, would it not be more dignified to give those views just a modicum of respect now?
Will Dorsey, Christ Church College
17th Feb 2005