On March 14, 2011, I attended a Teach-In event regarding Tunisia, Egypt and Libya sponsored by several departments in Liberal Arts, including history and political science. It was packed, and we had to move outside and onto the lawn because of security and fire regulations. The speakers included professors Dr. Nouri Gana from UCLA and Dr. Lisa Hajjar from UCSB, and CSULB student Maryam Mohamed. Each professor was given 25 minutes to speak, and the student — who spoke mainly about Libya — was given 10 minutes, which I thought was too little because she was the one who made the most out of the three of them. She encouraged everyone to be pro-active, to remove all racial and ethnic division and to protect human rights in little ways we can practice everyday.
Hajjar mentioned repeatedly how neo-liberal economic policies facilitated the abuses by Mubarak and his family in Egypt. As an economics student, I found this interesting, so I asked her to clarify the definition of neo-liberalism and show the connection to Mubarak’s exploits. I was appalled by her response. She stated that because she is a student of economics, she assumed I was not “trained” to look at economic policies and issues critically, and she went on about corporate greed, privatization and so on. Her statement was prejudicial and unbecoming of an educator. A friend once told me, the biggest mistake you can make as a public speaker is assume your audience is ignorant. I may be an undergraduate student, but the PhD attached on her name does not give her the right to publicly insult my intellectual capacity to critically analyze things. My whole college career, I have made the conscious effort of choosing diverse classes from various departments, such as business, economics, mathematics, sociology and political science, with the hopes of understanding situations in a holistic manner.
Her remark is also an affront to the department of economics here at CSULB. I have only been here for two semesters, but I can attest to the department’s multi-perspective approach in the teachings of economic theories and principles. We are not spoon-fed robots who are programmed and conditioned to become slaves of what she claimed to be “profit-hungry” capitalist system. We analyze welfare in the points of view of both consumers and producers, and aim to balance interests of all players in the economy. Furthermore, as scholars and scientists, we are trained to examine empirical evidences and not be easily swayed by enflamed slogans and emotive remarks.
Dr. Hajjar conveniently blamed the market-driven economy for what happened in Egypt, but the truth is corruption and greed of the ruling regime were the cause of the problem. The authoritarian government had too much power and control over economic activities, and special favors were given to the leaders’ families and friends. It was the putrid government and not the market-driven economy that caused the failure of Egypt. Therefore, the solution is to usher in a democratic system, decentralize the powers of the government and protect human rights and individual liberties. Hajjar suggested that the alternative system is “Keynesian,” which she described as a more social-oriented economic system. But based on her discourse, it seems like she is advocating a more government-controlled economic set-up. This is problematic because the Egyptian menace happened due to too much government. If this is what we want again, then we categorically fit the definition of “insane.”
Maria Carmen Hinayon is a senior economics major and guest columnist for the Daily 49er.
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