Political Atmosphere

NYSkins1
Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:39:47 +0000

I wouldn’t say that Rice is so much politically apathetic as it is moderate. I don’t mean that the school is balanced on the political spectrum (it sways pretty strongly left), but that there aren’t that many extremists. It doesn’t mean that Rice students don’t care; it just means that you’re less likely to incite us into some sort of furor over any sort of political issue, because we’re more likely to agre with at least some of your points. I’m not saying that we have some sort of hive mind towards the center, but that we are very pragmatic in our political ideals, regardless of what kind of policy we favor. For example, I consider myself ideologically socialist, but I’m too much of a pragmatist to believe that pure socialism can be applied to the US government.

So, yes, perhaps we seem apathetic on a group level, as college316 said, but that’s only because very few of us are political extremists. Pragmatism and moderatism do not equal apathy.