Misunderstanding the term “Liberal” Arts, Brown University student Peter Makhlouf ’16 took his own biases and hatred to the extreme in a column he wrote for the University’s paper, The Brown Daily Herald. The target of Makhlouf’s ire…the ROTC program.
Basically Makhlouf’s column calls for the University to ban all ROTC activities from campus. So much for the notion of the free exchange of ideas and freedom to choose. Makhlouf is of the liberal ilk that believes that everyone has the right to do as they please, so long as they agree with him.
From his article:
“It’s a bit disillusioned to think that Brown students should be exposed to every potential career — even more unthinkable to assume that they should be exposed to all potential military careers.”
So yeah, according to Makhlouf, if you want to be a Community Organizer, a Communist Philosopher or a lawyer defending NAMBLA you should be exposed to those opportunities and dare I say encouraged to follow them. But service to your country via the military? Oh, no…that just shouldn’t be allowed according to Peter Makhlouf.
“By outlawing ROTC and its byproducts on our campus, we have the opportunity to maintain and strengthen a tradition of refusing to capitulate to the increasing demands of military engagement in today’s global agenda.”
Basically, he doesn’t like it so it shouldn’t be allowed. Very open minded liberal we have here.
But wait…it gets better. The article continues on by admitting the purpose of Makhlouf’s desire to kick the ROTC program off campus is so that the students at Brown don’t have any exposure to anything other than Makhlouf’s preferred liberal slant. He admits in his article that he wants a liberal vacuum at Brown so that other viewpoints or ideas that conflict with his are not allowed to influence other students.
“Admittedly, Brown is more active than most schools, though the overwhelmingly centrist nature of our campus’ political discourse should be further reason for opposing military presence. The push for normalizing militarism on our campus needs to be opposed because Brown students are so often unsure of their political leanings.”
If you’ve come to my site often that last bold part may ring a bell. It’s basically gun controller 101 when it comes to gun controllers attempt to demonize firearms to those unfamiliar with them, namely children. By not exposing people to firearms and only letting them hear the liberal gun hating slant they are more likely to grow up thinking that guns are bad and should be banned.
Makhlouf believes that Brown University should be complicit in the same kind of brainwashing.
Fortunately, there are many at Brown that argue against Makhlouf’s hatred and vitriol for freedom of choice and service to country.
Taylor Grenawalt ’17, wrote a counterpoint article following Makhlouf’s rant. In it he states the following:
First and foremost, attempting to obtain a college degree through an ROTC scholarship does not make one a criminal, as Makhlouf’s title suggests. I simply couldn’t believe that such a generalized statement that referred to the ROTC and its participants as criminals was made by a fellow Brown student. Not only is it disappointing, but it is also incredibly offensive to the honest and hardworking individuals who have chosen to continue their educations while preparing themselves for future careers in defending and serving their country.
All of us are provided with the right to association and are able to affiliate or distance ourselves from whomever we choose. The claim that ROTC is a “return of the criminals” is incredibly slanderous and narrow-minded.
I am glad that there are students at Brown and alumni who have spoken out against the hate speech that Makhlouf has sullied the Brown Daily Herald with. In his column and the one by Grenawalt, commenters have expressed opinions both of support for the ROTC and also support for the right for ROTC to exist on campus. That is one that has been overlooked.
Much like people who don’t like guns or want to have them around, yet believe other people have the right; so too are there many students at Brown who may not agree with the military complex but do not wish to see it sanitized from the campus thus denying others that pursuit.
Makhlouf encapsulates liberal hate to a T and it is a hate that is represented in gun controllers. “You don’t agree with us so you must be silenced so others won’t hear what you have to say and think for themselves.”
Makhlouf is an example of the worst that academia has produced…but hearing from Brown students personally before writing this article, and reading others’ comments I am happy to see that his mindset of hate and control is not the only one present on campus.
People love freedom, even in Providence!
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