Today one of my students, who is from China, told me that he discovered my blog yesterday. He asked if I was worried that putting my opinions right out in public might get me in trouble.
I responded that on the contrary, I see it as my responsibility as a citizen of the United States to do my part to stand up for our democracy, and to fight autocratic political shifts which threaten that democracy. Then I told him an old joke from Ronald Reagan:
“Two men, an American and a Russian, were arguing. The American said, “in my country I can go to the White House, walk to the president’s office and pound the desk and say ‘Mr president! I don’t like how you’re running things in this country!'” The Russian said “I can do that too!”
“Really?”
“Yes! I can go to the Kremlin, walk into the general secretary’s office and pound the desk and say, Mr. Secretary, I don’t like how Reagan is running his country!”
Somehow I don’t think our current president would get that joke. An that’s why I need to keep speaking up.