Renowned conservative political satirist P.J. O'Rourke poked fun at politics and imparted wisdom to Tufts students in his lecture at Barnum Hall on Wednesday evening.
"You can't make fun of the government in times of national crisis," O'Rourke said. "But it's okay, because there are plenty of people overseas doing it for us. Globalization is wonderful."
This, as well as the bottles of gin and tonic left on the podium, set the tone for O'Rourke's speech. He poked fun of everything from Al Gore's beard and George Bush's "dyslexia" to airlines and Enron. Amidst the jokes he slipped in some historical evidence, and managed to address serious political issues without ceasing to entertain.
O'Rourke spoke on the relationship between politics and business, especially pertaining to the recent national crisis. He admitted that while college students may be in the "sex and beer business" right now, eventually they will have to enter the real world and deal with such issues.
His speech focused particularly on the role and size of the government. "Times of crisis lead to extended government policies" he said, using Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, and Roosevelt as examples. "But really we should turn to the government in bad times only as we'd turn to a gin bottle. While it's nice to have it there, we shouldn't rely on it,"
O'Rourke said that the political and economic systems send contradictory messages. The economic system encourages people to make as much money as possible, while the political system focuses on closing the unfair economic gap. He finds serious error in the political viewpoint, as he thinks an unfair gap is a necessary part of the economy.
"What if the beauty gap was eliminated and every woman looked like
Margaret Thatcher?" he said.
He cited the Tenth Commandment of the Old Testament, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house," as support of his belief that economic fairness is a sin. O'Rourke translated this as "Don't whine about what others have, go out and get your own." Wealth is not zero-sum and we need more in the economy whether it widens the economic gap or not, he said.
O'Rourke's final argument for more wealth was that in general, "rich democracies don't fight each other." He said many problems would be solved if everyone would fulfill his duty "to become fat, happy, self-indulgent and terribly overscheduled." He urged Tufts students to "go out, get a job, and make heaps and piles of money."
The Lecture Series, which has been working to host O'Rourke for the past three years, were pleased with his appearance. "He is a funny speaker, and he makes fun of everyone," says Lecture Series Co-Chair Benjamin Rouda, "I don't think I agreed with a single thing he said but it's nice to provide a different viewpoint."
O'Rourke marked the year's first fully sponsored event by the Tufts Lecture Series.
But Junior Sam Dangremond, Editor-in-Chief of The Primary Source found himself in agreement with much of O'Rourke's politics. He said O'Rourke was "a high-profile political analyst with great wit and a keen understanding of world events."
O'Rourke also seemed to enjoy himself, and said he was glad to have a break from his usual business lectures. He also said he was pleased with the questions he received in the Q&A session at the end. One student asked if, with all his insight and criticism, he would ever run for office.
"Never ever," O'Rourke replied, as he fixed himself a drink.
