The Cadre +

10 February 1998

This article isno more. It is an ex-column, It is not sleeping — it’s bleemin' dead.

About a year an a half ago, I started “Sacred Cows” in order to discuss taboo sub- jects that most of us do our best to hide from. It was designed to make you, the reader, think about the myriad

\f preposterous beliefs that we hold, the lies we are fed, and the sheer stupidity by which many of our esteemed and noble leaders attempt to con- duct and control our lives.

In short, it was designed to search for the truth. Some- where along the way, it all went wrong.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped challenging your ninds and settled for enter- taining you instead. A little song here, a nickname there — all used to tell you, in 500 words or less, the way things are. You were supposed to figure out the way things could and should be; and then act upon your reasoning. It seemed simple enough, but I forgot one little thing.

The truth must be dis- covered, not given. Only then does it provide us with the motivation we need to do what's aa It’skind of simple, if you think about it. Every day we gain new information in our classes and from our text books. We are bombarded with advertisements, news, and countless other ‘facts’ that

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people want us to know. The only truths we retain, though, are the ones we have actively research and discovered for ourselves. That’s the way truth works. Have it handed to you and its worthless. Look for it, earn it, and it has all the importance in the world.

Maybe that’s why you, both students and professors, could read about the Soc/Anth department and still sleep at night. Maybe that’s why you could listen to me rant about the administration’s warped priorities, or about rising stu- dent debt, or about poverty, abortion, femi-Nazism and other injustices without ever once standing up and scream- ing “Enough!!”

It meant nothing to you. Just a bunch of details to be filed away between the cur- rent hockey standings and Bill Clinton’s sex life — and I seri- ously doubt that this one will be any different. That’s why I’m done. I honestly don’t believe this column is doing anything important anymore. But be- fore I leave, there are some things that I want to say.

Many of you really don’t give a rat's ass about what's going on in this world. This has gone way beyond y and entered the realm of bitter iso- lationism. | can’t help but be disgusted by such a stance because I truly think that, in one way or another, we all have some level of duty to- wards the thousands of people

that pass in and out of our lives. Ican give youno logical reasons for this belief, accept to point out that the alternative somehow feels wrong.

Many of youdocare, but fear you can’t make a differ- ence. Don’t you realize that each and every one of you is capable of changing the world. Our history is full of hundreds of great men and women who have done so. There was nothing special about them. They were merely ordinary people doing what we human beings are supposed to do — achieve our potential. Why should you be any less than they?

You just can’t read the paper, put it aside, and then continue on your way com- fortable in the knowledge that either the problems discussed don’t have anything to do with you or, if they do, someone else is going to take care of them. It doesn’t work that way. If you don’t believe me take a look around you. Most of our troubles have been caused by that kind of attitude; and if it doesn’t change soon, we will be left nothing. Nada. Just a big bag of ‘what ifs’ to keep us warm at night.

Don’t take my word for it, though. Go figure it out for yourself. In the end, you really have no choice.

Because the truth sets us free. In fact, it is the only possible freedom that any of us will ever know.

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