On October 27th, the Upper School held an assembly on Conservative Theory led by Senior Ben Kava.
A video was presented at the beginning of the assembly depicting how the “average Fieldstonite” viewed the Conservative Theory. The video showed a lack of knowledge on the subject and Junior Jack Zalta says, “it was very disappointing because the Conservative Theory is extremely under taught, considering that Fieldston supports a wide array of opinions.”
Jack feels that his political views are often misunderstood because while he feels heard, he does “not feel respected.” He believes that there should be a “conversation in which students form their own opinions based on information provided by the teacher and not just the liberal point of view, because not all solutions are from the democratic side.”
This sentiment was also shared by fellow classmate, David Runte, who said that with “over 90% of the school being liberal, there seems to be no place for this discussion outside of a roundtable or an assembly.”
The guest speaker, Andrew Langer, who serves as the President of the Institute for Liberty, presented fiscally conservative viewpoints, which were very well received by the community. Students — Democrats, Republicans and everything in between—felt as though that side of the story has not been fully taught by both the teachers or the students. Jack also said that it was important to hear Langer’s opinion because, “he was 75% to 25% (conservative to liberal) and it was great to hear someone who he could relate to that could possibly be silenced (by the community) because of his views.” When asked about the assembly and what “conservative theory” entails, Kava said “conservative theory is a way of thinking in which individual rights and freedoms are prioritized. While is is perfectly okay not to agree with these ideas, it is necessary that we hear them in the classroom.” When asked about conservatism in terms of the presidential election, David responded that “Donald Trump is a racist sexist, bigot, who is running only for his own ends and goals, with no thought at all for the greater good of the country.” David Continues stating that he strives to be someone like Andrew Langer who, “is an educated Republican who does not want to be associated with the stereotypical Republican norms.”
Hopefully this assembly will serve as a stepping stone for a more diversified debate between students with differing political views in classes and in school-wide discussions.
