ideologies – The Concordian

The differences between experiencing student life and working life

Being a 40-year-old university student has its ups and downs. The downside is that it can be difficult to build relationships with your classmates due to the age gap—in the last three years of school, I have been older than at least three of my professors. The advantage, however, is that I am here because I want to be, and that helps with applying myself to the work. Before university, I was a warehouse manager in Winnipeg for five years, and before that, a long-haul truck driver for 10 years. I am here because I was tired of using my back rather than my brain.

Now that I am in my fourth year of studies, I sometimes—but only sometimes—look forward to one day rejoining the workforce. I say this because I really like school, and I enjoy the cocoon I have constructed for myself. My friends and acquaintances are people with whom I generally agree, both politically or otherwise, and my peers are usually like-minded in that we all attend the same university and, more often than not, the same program and even the same classes.

This is a far cry from the work life I opted out of in order to “retrain” for a new direction in life. Now, when I am brooding over a looming due date for yet another dull paper topic or one more obligation-infused group project, I try to keep in mind how much more appeasing and flexible student life is.

In the workforce, for me at least, the contents of my surroundings were a lottery—I was exposed to people from all walks of life. Don’t get me wrong, I met a lot of great people, some of whom I still keep in touch with. But I was also exposed to a mix of ideas I did not always find appealing, some of which I found downright distasteful.

If we all have a right to a particular workplace environment, then there will need to be some compromises. Yes, it is highly unlikely in certain workplaces that one would be exposed to extremist thought (be it left- or right-wing) in any workplace, but it’s not unlikely that one will be obliged to work with someone who is outspoken about their hatred of cyclists or denies climate change or, heaven forbid, is a Trump supporter. We all have the right to a certain kind of workplace, but this means the people we do not agree with do as well.

At school, when we are confronted with uncomfortable ideas or issues, we often have the choice to seek higher ground. We are encouraged to treat each other with respect, and that is often the case. However, in the workplace, we are exposed to a much more colourful array of ideas, perspectives, backgrounds and opinions that we have no control over. Add to that the fact that workplaces are seldom democratic spaces; concerns and comments may not necessarily be met with open arms (or minds).

My reason for bringing all this up is the recollection I have of a classmate who, at 24, was accustomed to academic life and wondered aloud if the working world would be a shock. They questioned whether or not they were simply living in a bubble. I did not take the opportunity to answer at the time, but I will respond to them now: Yes. You do live in a bubble, but that’s okay. We all do to some degree, and for good reason.

We live in bubbles that help us make sense of our surroundings and are constructed so that we don’t need to constantly fend off discomforting ideologies. When outside of these bubbles, we are exposed to a broad range of new and sometimes exciting, sometimes frightening, ideas.

In the world today, we are all exposed to a lot; a lot of news, a lot of information, and a lot of opinions. So build that bubble. Show me a person who exposes themselves needlessly to cognitive dissonance, and I’ll show you a masochist.

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Balancing silence and rage in discussions

The difficulties of facing arguments with those who hold different opinions

There is no winning or losing when it comes to a discussion. At least, this is what I try to tell myself after every heated argument with a friend or relative. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to convince myself of this with much success.

It is easy to get carried away when a subject you are passionate about is brought up by somebody whose opinion conflicts with your own. While some may react rapidly with directness, others may feel the need to remain silent, fearing the aftermath of a disagreement.

Comedian Tina Fey recently wrote a segment for Saturday Night Live following the events in Charlottesville, Va., denouncing white privilege and white supremacy through satire. In the skit, she jokingly said that people should just eat cake in response to white supremacists. A lot of controversy emerged in response to the segment as many criticized Fey for encouraging people to ignore racism rather than take action against it.

Disregarding racism gives it the space to grow and the time to strengthen, eventually leading to atrocities such as the ones seen in Charlottesville on Aug. 12 which led to the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Closer to home, according to a Statistics Canada report, the number of Islamophobic hate crimes reported to police in Canada increased by 60 per cent from 2014 to 2015.

Facing racism and bigotry can be terrifying, but reminding yourself of the experiences their victims go through should be enough to motivate you to try changing someone’s mind. Regrettably, some may see it as a hassle or a useless fight to confront a narrow-minded person, and prefer to silently avoid conflict.

While I strongly encourage people to stand up for their beliefs, I have not always done so in my own life. France, my home country, only legalized same-sex marriage in 2013. In 2010, when I began to discover my sexuality, homosexuality was still rather taboo in France, especially in the countryside where I am from. I hid my very own traits from most, making sure not to show signs that would reveal who I am. Yet, it was hard to ignore the comments, the degrading names, the unfounded criticism or the blatant disgust some people around me expressed toward openly queer people. Unfortunately, directly calling them out was challenging. Avoiding confrontation can sometimes be the safest solution, and it is sometimes the only thing that can be done.

This tendency to avoid conflict has unfortunately become even easier in our social media age where you can effortlessly choose the content you want to see or ignore. Yet, interacting with people who hold differing opinions is a good way to understand why they don’t agree with you. Furthermore, focusing on one issue and ignoring other issues around social matters such as gender identification, religion, women’s rights, healthcare or historical truth is not a way to be actively open-minded.

Over the years, I’ve become more and more outspoken about some of my opinions. An example would be a three-day long argument my roommate and I had about whether taking in refugees in Europe and North America was a good thing. The opinions he had on the matter were the gasoline fueling my fire. Occasionally during the argument, we would lose track of the points we were making or try to use irrelevant information as evidence—we just wanted to be right. After three days, we both agreed on one single thing—you need a strong will to learn and have a productive, mind-changing discussion.

Simply believing that opinions will evolve and shift over time is the worst way to seek change. Protests that turn violent and arguments that focus on winning rather than proving a fact-based point aren’t good solutions either. It is important to speak with people of different backgrounds and ask them about their own experiences. And while a person’s experience may not be enough to change your view, complementing it with research from diverse sources will allow a productive exchange of ideas.

Graphic by Zeze Le Lin