Trigger Warning, Snowflakes: You May Find This Column Hurtful

leaving the safe spaceThe University of Virginia Student Council has created a “safe space” for students disconsolate about the election of Donald Trump, and has called upon faculty members to be understanding toward students who have trouble focusing on their work.

“To those struggling, please reach out for support,” reads a letter from the Council, as reported by the Daily Progress. “It is OK to feel sad, angry, frustrated, scared.” Student leaders encouraged faculty to “adjust their expectations in the classroom as they saw fit because caring for mental and emotional health should be top among our priorities.”

For crying out loud. Get over it, you babies! The world is not a safe space. Do you think ISIS, al Qaeda, the Iranian mullahs, Vladimir Putin or Kim Jung Un cares one fig about your precious feelings?

The United States is not a safe space. Americans have disagreed about just about everything over their 240-year history. The nation fought a Civil War. People fought for labor rights. People fought for Civil Rights. They didn’t win those battles by retreating to safe spaces. By the way, the last time I checked, you delicate flowers were never especially sensitive to the feelings of those you disagreed with. You label anyone who opposes your vision of society as a racist, anti-Semite, homophobe or xenophobe. To you, Trump voters are “the other.” They aren’t just wrong — they’re evil.

It’s time to get out of your higher-ed echo chamber and start interacting with people not like yourselves. And by interacting, I don’t mean shouting down. Try partaking of civil dialogue. It is possible. That’s what we do on the Bacon’s Rebellion blog. Participants don’t agree about much of anything, but they do engage with others with different views. And while few ever change their minds, they often learn that their answers aren’t as neat and tidy as they thought. That’s the real world.

(For the record: I find Trump loathsome. I did not vote for him. But I don’t think the world ended when he got elected.)