Galloway: All-Inclusive...With a Few Exceptions (ft. Will Pile)
One day at school, I said what could have been considered as a right-leaning comment and everyone in the room immediately exploded in uproar. The class was haranguing me with their opinions, telling me how I was wrong and telling me what was actually right. I felt this situation was very close-minded and hostile when I was just innocently discussing the topic of politics. This made me wonder what it’s like to be a Republican in a setting with an abundance of Democrats, like Galloway. I wanted to go deeper into this topic and interview an open republican in our community. I needed an interviewee that’s approachable, has reasoning behind their beliefs, is looking to inform people’s views rather than transform them, and who is not afraid to voice their opinion in this environment. The person who fits all this criteria is none other than Will Pile. So here is the interview:
Jane: What are your views and what has impacted you to have them?
Will: I am economically conservative, which includes anything finance, government, law, etc. Socially, I’m libertarian, so with other stuff like gay rights, I don't care what you do with them. I was raised in a conservative household around conservative people and I reaffirmed my beliefs by researching and found that I believed in certain things.
Jane: Do you feel like your political views have changed at all as you’ve gotten older?
Will: Yes, I became more open. In middle school, I was against gay marriage, but entering high school, I socially opened up more. However, economically I’m the same. It’s not that I have shifted from conservative to liberal, but more so all around conservative to libertarian, like “do what you want, I don't care.”
Jane: How do you feel about the Republican stereotype and do you feel like you fit it?
Will: I feel that the stereotype is associated with a lack of care for people who are lower class or minorities. A lot of people think being conservative is about keeping the rich people rich and I think that's incorrect. I think that neither party is incorrect in their beliefs, they just have a different way of doing things. They have the same goal just different ways of approaching it.
Jane: Do you feel isolated as a Republican at Galloway?
Will: I wouldn't say isolated. Though, freshman year, I did feel isolated. Now, senior year, people are mature and more open to other beliefs. While in the past, I felt like I couldn’t say things to certain people and had to watch what I said.
Jane: Do you value liberal views?
Will: Yes. As I said, I don't think any views are incorrect. People just have different standings in the world and different ways of approaching issues.
Jane: Are you ever afraid to voice your views because of the expected backlash?
Will: Yes. There are people at this school that are very much like, “I will fight you about this,” even though it’s not that big a deal. The environment becomes hostile to some extent.
The year Trump was elected, I wore a Make America Great Again hat, not to be in your face, just to carry support. An unnamed person in a lower grade tried to yank the hat out of my hand and a teacher said to take it off because it was causing too much distraction. You do have to watch what you say around certain people or just avoid topics all together.
Jane: Do you wish that you could voice your opinion more or do you feel that it’s not worth the trouble?
Will: I’m not dying to go speak about conservative beliefs, I just wish that the community was more open to healthy discussions about things. I also wish there was more representation of Republicans in teaching and just in general. You can't really grow your political beliefs, if you don’t challenge them.
Jane: Has anyone ever been antagonizing to you for being a Republican?
Will: Once I learned I should not discuss things with certain people, I tried to stay quiet. I haven't had an experience with anything in particular except for some people just yelling at me. So, no I haven’t been personally antagonized. It doesn't really happen if you keep things on the down low.
Jane: Do you feel that Republicans are properly represented and respected at Galloway?
Will: No, not represented, but respected to some extent. People are more open to discussion now than they used to be. There is a vast split for representation with a handful of Republicans and a huge group of Democrats and independents.
Jane: Have you ever said something relating to your views without thinking - in a situation where they may not have been accepted? If so, what was the reaction?
Will: I’ve had experiences with that. The reactions are mostly passive aggressive. One time I said something about climate change not being the most pressing issue. The response I got was passive aggressive, something like, “Oh, so is it not important that people are gonna be losing water?!” People try to convince me to believe their views over mine. I think it’s funny.
Jane: Have you ever said something that you didn’t mean to turn into a heated political argument (and were just casually saying something) because you thought you were able to be entitled to your opinion without being verbally attacked? If so what happened?
Will: Yeah. One time we were talking about Planned Parenthood. I said I had heard a lot of bad things about it and was like, “I don’t know if the government should support it.” Someone turned around and was like, “They don’t only do abortions!” and I wasn't trying to bad mouth it, I was just saying my thoughts.
Jane: Do you feel you have people you can safely talk to about your views? Are they only people with similar views or no?
Will: Yeah, I have people. There are people who are liberals who I can open up and talk to about these things because they’re accepting of my views. There are definitely people with the same views I can talk to. Although, some people are very sensitive, so I avoid saying certain things, but yes there are people I can talk to.
It’s a shame that Will has to be described as someone brave just for being open about his political views, when it should be implied. There’s really no way to conclude this other than to say that this reaffirmed my belief that the Galloway community should be more open to listening and valuing others opinions, even if they differ from your own.
By Jane Brown