I always struggle with getting students to understand that not all opinions are equally valid. When they begin to moan that “But it’s just my opinion!”, I always play the following game to make them see why some “opinions” are less worthy of respect than others.
“What did you have for breakfast today, Bethany?” I ask one of them.
“Cereal!” Bethany reports cheerfully.
“No,” I say. “You had an enormous steak with fries.”
“That’s not true,” Bethany laughs. “You weren’t there, so you don’t know.”
“But it’s my opinion,” I insist. “I’m entitled to my opinion.”
Everybody giggles and I add, “So do you see now why your opinion that Miguel de Unamuno denounced Franco’s dictatorship in his novel published in 1931 is less valuable than my knowledge that he couldn’t have done that?”
That usually gets the point across and makes it stick. At least, for a while.
The same goes for the events in Ukraine and Russia.
The only people I believe are entitled to express opinions about Ukraine and Russia in my presence are those who possess all of the following characteristics:
- They are native speakers of Russian.
- They watch news from Russia every day.
- They watch news from Ukraine every day.
- They read Russian and Ukrainian blogs and newspapers every day.
- They lived in Russia or Ukraine for at least several years.
When anybody other than such people tries to express “opinions” on this subject in my presence, I feel a deep vicarious shame. It’s OK to ask questions, try to get informed, express solidarity, and offer condolences. But it’s not OK to opine in the presence of somebody who is enormously better informed of the facts.
I can opine about, say, events in Pakistan when I’m in the company of people who are as little informed as I am. But it would never occur to me to offer these opinions to the Pakistanis who are daily in touch with what is happening in their country. Neither would I be interested in hearing the opinions on the use of the subjunctive mood in Spanish with somebody who doesn’t speak a word of the language and is unfamiliar with its grammar.
I read Russian and Ukrainian blogs every day and many times a day. And you know what I never do there? I don’t leave any comments offering my opinions. I might express gratitude for the information and ask questions, but that’s as far as I go because I understand how bizarre it would be of me to do anything besides this.
Simply put, I believe you are as entitled to disagree with me on Russia and Ukraine as you are on what I had for breakfast this morning. Of course, if anybody has reasons to think differently, I’d like to hear them.
Clarissa's Blog 
I think outsiders can draw there own conclusions on occasion.
Take for instance this simple observation. In nearly every video I have seen of pro Russian demonstrators there is some member of the crowd wearing a T-shirt or undershirt with thin horizontal stripes in blue and white.
These shirts are called Telnyashka and are worn by Russian special forces like the Spetsnaz.
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Long time no see, lamestllama! It’s nice to have you back.
You have watched the videos, so that’s good already. But imagine having to argue about them with people who haven’t seen them.
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Hi lamestllama, telnyashkas are worn by navy, marines, paratroopers and by extension by some special forces. Not sure army special units wear it… but it became sort of “tough men” attribute, and thus is used by anyone who wants to look tougher… Unlike armored transporters and anti-tank missiles, telnyaskas can indeed be bought in army surplus stores… One cannot also exclude some number of ex-military among the separatists who served in respective units long ago, maybe even in Soviet time… Real special forces do not advertise being special forces…
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They are also all the rage in fashion this year. But mostly for women. 🙂
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Clarissa, I never left, I always read a post or two a day. I just have not commented for a while. Today I am staying at home because yesterday I fell over and ended up with 6 stitches in the head. So I have time to read, enjoy and reply to your blog.`
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It’s good to know you’ve been around. I like you! But I’m sad you hurt yourself. Get well soon!
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I used to play that game.
Entity: “It is my valid point of view that you are a scurrilous, no-good racist, because your skin is very white and you originally came from a colonial country called Rhodesia.”
Me: “That is very fine for you to view me as a racist? And you know, what? Perhaps I am really am a bigot why will crush dirty cockroaches like yourself into the dirt!”
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Я не носитель русского языка и в самом деле ничего не знаю о том, что сейчас происходит в Украине. Но мне бы и в голову не приходило утверждать, что человек, не знающий моего родного английского языка, не имеет права на собственное мнение о каком-нибудь событии, происходящем в США или в Англии, что бы он ни читал. Разве нельзя обойтись без вашего первого пункта?
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Are you a speaker of English, though? Because I never said people are not entitled to an opinion. I said they are not entitled to express it to me. And then I even illustrated the point with my example about Pakistan.
Of course, people who get their news firsthand are better informed than those who are incapable of accessing primary sources.
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I am a speaker of English. I understand your Pakistan example. I agree access to primary sources is helpful.
I just think it’s possible for a non-native speaker of English to grasp the basic and non-basic facts about events in an English-speaking country, and form not just an opinion, but a thoughtful opinion that I wouldn’t mind hearing. Right now I’m sure there are non-native speakers of English who know more than I do, even about topics that I read about every day, and where more of the primary sources are in my native language than theirs.
There are also people who live in the U.S., are native speakers of English, read and watch the English-language media every day, and are for one reason or another not especially well-informed about a particular U.S. story.
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I just saw your blog, it’s very good. Now I understand what you are saying better. You are a Slavist, right? And I’m a Hispanist who is not Hispanic, specializing in Contemporary Spain where I never lived and whose language I learned in adulthood. And I constantly find myself in situations where Spaniards speak of what is going on in Spain right now. And this is the topic of my current research. But I always keep quiet and just listen precisely because this is not my culture, not my country, and I’m an outsider whose perspective is valuable precisely because it’s that of an outsider.
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Your Russian is phenomenal, by the way. “Королева в восхищении! Мы в полном восхищении!!” (c)
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Thanks for the kind words! I do see where you’re coming from – I think we’ve both had opportunities to see how useful it is to learn other languages, how different an outsider’s perspective can be, and how unbelievably uninformed an uninformed outsider’s perspective can seem. I don’t want to argue against keeping quiet and listening to people who really know about things – that’s obviously good advice. I guess what I was trying to say is that, while I understand why you are reluctant to jump in and argue with Spaniards talking about Spain today, I bet someone like me could learn a lot from a frank exchange of opinions between you and someone from Spain you disagree with.
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