My second opinion piece for the university paper was published today. The title speaks for itself. Enjoy. Think. Criticise. Question.

Here is it:

Numerous scholars have maintained that the main difference between humans and animals is our ability to think, our consciousness. This consciousness is what has guided us to create the world structures that we have today (and also to terminate them if we want).

It is this consciousness that has driven us to transition from feudalism to industrialization, which lead us to modernity and finally the present times (who some call post-modern times). During these periods so much has happened, all kinds of revolutions, two World Wars, colonization, voyages of discovery, the start up and fall of empires, the start up and fall of social movements, the list goes on.

Human kind has really been through so much, so much that this piece cannot do justice to human history. Now my consciousness was really sharpened when I enrolled in an institution of higher education back in 2004.

This was a time of real change in my life as I was learning, growing, and coming into my own. What I loved the most about the university environment was the freedom to question and the platform for criticism. Coming from a home environment where adults cannot be questioned and you keep your criticism to yourself, because you are a child, and subsequently don’t know anything, and shouldn’t have anything to say.
Remember when you sometimes asked your parents the “why” questions? They either get annoyed and tell you “because I say so” or give you a bent version of the truth. That does not occur at the university (or at least it shouldn’t), questioning and criticism are part and parcel of the university culture and curriculum.

It is through questioning and criticism that we form social, political and even economic affiliations, as we see the need, because we asked questions. This questioning and criticism is not only for some, but for all.

There has been a tendency of late, which I have found on television, radio, regular conversations, books, newspapers and even some professors, where some people are seen or portrayed as above questioning and/or criticism.

It really boggles my mind when public figures are portrayed as un-penetrable as if their ideas are without fault.

I hate to break to you, but nobody is above criticism, not president Obama, nor president Potter, no SCSU department, not Vandana Shiva, not my boss, not Dr. Phil, not bell hooks, not even Oprah is above criticism, not Foucault, not Judith Butler, not Nelson Mandela,  not even a black gay man from Africa in a social justice type program  is above criticism, and did I mention no religion is above criticism either (try a “sociology of religion” class and you will know).

The workers movement was born out of questioning class, the civil rights movement was born out of questioning race and human rights, the “sex movements” came out of questioning gender and so on and so forth.

Now, just because you have the platform to question and criticize, does not mean you have to abuse it. You need to know all the facts surrounding the issue you are questioning or criticizing, your arguments need to be valid and you should be able to back them up.

The university is where most of us find our freedom, where we can go against the tide, with reason of-course. So next time someone tells you that you can’t question or you feel scared to criticize, do it anyway.

You might be doing them a world of good, they might not have thought about the aspects of an issue you are thinking about. Remember we are different from animals because we have an ability to think, we can discern right from wrong (sometimes anyway).

Because we have this conscience, and we can reason, nobody, absolutely no one is above criticism, not even my mother, who I love dearly.

Retreived from: http://www.universitychronicle.com/opinions/no-one-is-above-criticism-1.1917183