The other day I was accosted as usual by a dozen different people as I mae my way across campus (I exxagerate, but not by much some days). It was OK, since I got a free movie ticket to the new American Gangster flick, which looks pretty good.
I also was the target of the Campus Progressives latest stunt. Previously, they had put up posters for Columbus day arguing that it was a terrible day of mourning. Their arguments basically ran (a) lots of Indiands died of disease and (b) Columbus wasn’t a Saint. Now both are true, but also irrelevant. Columbus’s actions weren’t unusual for his day and it’s not like he went around planning how to give measles to the natives. To the extent that anyone remembers it at all, it’s because he kinda was the reason for our entire existence. Besides, I don’t think anyone would have noticed it was Columbus Day if they hadn’t brough it up! In short, it was pointless attention whoring about an issue that no one else even notices.
Today’s issue was Depleted Uranium. (DU)
The lanky fellow wanted to give me a printed flyer arguing against DU. Now, this I thought rather odd, and I asked him why.
He asked me if I liked nuclear waste. I avoided making the honest comment that I liked it just fine, given that our planet, ourselves, and our sunshine were all nuclear waste.
I asked him what, specifically, was the problem with it. He kinda hemmed and hawed. I then gave him some brief instruction on the problems and risks of using heavy metals, it’s safe radioactivity levels, and why it was unlikely to cause birth defects in anything, as there were many other heavy metals which were much, MUCH more likely to cause problems almost anywhere.
He came up with “some guy who was in the Army” and came back “from Iraq” (no information as to where, what he was doing, or if he had anything to do with DU stuff at all) and had a kid born with no eyes. This, I informed him, was actually a measurable, regular birth defect which cropped up regularly among all populations. Did he have any numbers on relative birth defects among Army personnel, those who may have been exposed to DU, and the general population?
Nope.
OK, then, well, why IS he against Depleted Uranium shells, which aren’t exactly used every day anyway. Hemming and Hawing and talking and it turns out he’s really against (a) war in general, (b) nuclear power, and (c) DU, probably because it’s a combination of (a) and (b).
I work it out a little and help separate his ideas. I explain that I support nuclear power because I believe it’s much cleaner in the long run than other current power generation techniques (barring only tidal, hydro, and wind, but not solar, and in any case those cannot generate as much power as we need reliably when we need it, but we glossed over the various shortcomings). The waste, of course, ti concentrated, but this is good thing: concentrated waste is more dangerous but easier to deal with than dumping all over the nation. And of course we do have many techniques to deal with nuclear waste - just not the political will to get the job done.
Next we move on to war. Without specifically arguing for any war, I explain the rational and purpose of the war in Iraq, why in principle war is eventually neccessary for nations, and why it is better than the alternative. By this time he’s almost silent, staring at his feet and shuffling, hemming, and hawing, having rolled up his cars into a ball and looking awfully small for someone 6’5". I don’t think he was capable of answering anything logically, because he honestly didn’t KNOW why he thought things.
At this time I have to leave for class, but I had great fun and hopefully made him consider what HE actually believes and why and what is more fundamental to his beliefs. Now that he’s separated his arguments, I think I guided him in creating new ones which may help him in the future.
I’m so glad to be back at college! 