It’s no secret that liberalism predominates at Lakeside, and some students with opposing viewpoints feels that their opinions have been tamped down. Still, there is no shortage of conservatism, or even ideologies like anarchism, at this institution. The written responses below are condensed versions of five different Lakesiders’ non-mainstream views (in the context of Seattle) on five separate issues. Each person spoke about exactly one issue.

The opinions features do not necessarily reflect the views of myself or of “Tatler.”

Affirmative Action

I understand the fundamental point behind affirmative action — it is an attempt to remedy past injustices. And in that respect, it has failed miserably. The statistic we look at when evaluating it is minority enrollment at colleges like Harvard and UNC, but most don’t go to these colleges. It would be much more effective to equally fund school districts, which are the primary source of education for the majority of Americans. Affirmative action, then, seems like a way for many on the left to claim they’re championing racial equity without doing the difficult work of restructuring the public education system. To add onto the absurdity, affirmative action results in there being white Americans who are four times as likely to gain admission as Asian Americans — that’s hardly a remedy for past racial injustice. Based on the numbers, it almost seems like the current system suggests there has been a systemic racial bias towards Asians, which is utterly absurd.

Individual Freedom

The government’s role in our lives should be severely diminished. That is, after all, what the founding fathers envisioned — the Bill of Rights is quite literally a laundry list of what the government cannot do. Of course, I’m not promoting the kind of anarchism we see in failed states, but frankly, we citizens should be trusted more than we currently are. Politicians take advantage of us, pit us against one another, and try their best to divide us. And in this respect, many liberal versus conservative issues are fundamentally identical: Why should they be able to determine where we can park, whether we can own a gun, what vaccines we’re mandated to take, what we can and can’t do with our bodies, and even who we are? Furthermore, why should they be able to regulate companies? If you don’t like what a company is doing, don’t buy from them. Sustained economic pressure is often far more useful than government regulation.

Immigration

Of all nations, the United States is the last one that should complain about immigration. By this, I mean it would be most fair for the nation to have completely open borders. After all, it’s not like most of the people in power are “native” to the land — their not-so-distant ancestors were also immigrants — and thus they shouldn’t have the power to decide who can and can’t live on that same land. Other nations, like the U.K. or Germany, can justify their oft strict immigration policies as a need to maintain their age-old culture. The United States cannot.

Donald Trump

Trump is being unfairly prosecuted for crimes that are being wildly blown out of proportion. I mean, do you really think he was the only politician to pay off an unsavory actor or debate election results? Nope. If you look at all modern, federal elections won by Republicans, at least one Democrat, in the House or Senate, contested the result of that election. Furthermore, during the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, the Democratic nominee Stacey Abrahms falsely claimed that her election was “stolen” and “rigged” — and for a full four years, she continued claiming that she had really “won” the election. And yet you don’t see the Democrat-controlled press reporting her — instead all the focus is on Trump. Some might claim that “she was just doing it to expose irregularities in voting” but wasn’t Trump doing the same? The double standard here is ridiculous. It seems that the rich on the coasts just don’t understand that Trump speaks for the vast interior of our nation.

Policing

I remember a comedian once saying, “Democrats have good ideas but horrible marketing.” And I find that sentiment ringing true today. Most people can agree that policing is racially inequitable, and yet most can agree that they’re an essential part of a functioning society. To “defund the police” is to strip all communities of protection under the law. I think it ridiculous to believe that “leaving communities to their own devices” is somehow better than our current state, which I admit to be subpar. If anything, we need a larger police presence to ensure order in our cities once again.