Don't Mistake US Criticism for Contempt hat have you done? What have you done? It’s the question I wanted to ask my American friends after last week’s election result. But I already knew the answer. They did everything they could. They just lost. So now we have four more years of George W. Bush’s regressive social, envi- ronmental, and foreign policies to look forward to. That certainly doesn’t bode well for science, the environment, or human rights in America—or elsewhere for that matter. Do such statements make me anti- American? According to many pundits and politicians weighing in on both sides of the border after the election, it does. Apparently, disagreeing with the US pop- ular vote makes you either “anti-American” or “intolerant” or some sort of “high-minded liberal elitist.” Even “ili David Suzuki, David Suzuki Foundation You are not alone The Students’ Union’s Pride Collective provides resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students at the college. The Collective meets Thursdays at 4:30 in room 328 in the students’ union building at the New Westminster Campus. All lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered, questioning and allied students are welcome. Douglas Students’ Union Canadian Federation of Students Local 18 8 | ObnEPPP ess some of our elected parliamentarians insist that any critical analysis of America—or American policies—sim- ply amounts to “anti-Americanism.” The irony, of course, is that this is exactly the kind of “you’re either with us or against us” mentality that drove many of the criticisms of the Bush administration in the first place. In his first term, President Bush forged a path of American unilateralism in the world community. He pushed a “me-first” agenda and was willing to trample human rights, science, and the environment to do it. Just ask the 5,000 scientists, including 48 Nobel laureates, who have signed onto a statement accusing the Bush administration of “manipulation of the process through which science enters into its decisions.” Yet now, those who dare criticize the choice of the slim majority of American voters who picked Bush are being accused of being anti-American. Well, if being anti-American means being against the war in Iraq, supportive of women’s rights, supportive of progressive environmental policies, against the missile defense sys- tem, supportive of stem-cell research, and supportive of same-sex marriage, then sign me up. But I don’t believe it does. Simply disagreeing with that slim majority of voters does not make a per- son anti-American. In my youth, I received a scholarship from an American University worth more than my father made in a year and it allowed me to attend one of the finest colleges in the world. Later I earned a PhD there and I am for- ever grateful to Americans for that. When I returned to Canada, I could not compete with my peers elsewhere in the world because of the poor funding available in Canada at the time. I stayed because I received a large US grant. I will never for- get the generosity of the US, and owe a huge debt of gratitude. But it is precisely because I love America that I am so profoundly dis- turbed by what is going on there. Unquestioning acceptance of the status quo isn’t exactly an American ideal. In fact, it strikes me as decidedly un- American. So yes, when 52 percent of Americans vote for Bush, I will say that I think they made a mistake. And when 11 states vote overwhelmingly to ban gay marriage, I will speak up. Disagreeing with a ban on same-sex marriage is not a matter of being out of touch with “American val- ues.” It’s a matter of human rights. When one group in society is singled out and repressed and not given the same oppor- tunities as others, then their rights are being violated. That is wrong, It doesn’t mat- ter if the majority of people voted for it. simply You can’t vote away human rights. Pundits who insist that critics of President Bush are anti-American are real- ly saying that if 52 percent of Americans believe anything, then that’s what America stands for and everyone else has to respect that. This is a morally relativistic viewpoint that doesn’t even withstand the most basic of scrutiny and Bush adminis- tration critics should not be bullied into believing it does. Those of us who feel that 52 percent of American voters made a mistake on November 2 don’t hate Americans. On the contrary, we care enough about the people and the ideals the country is sup- posed to represent to be very, very concerned. Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at . hovember 17/2000