I almost fell off of the treadmill at the Simon Rec center when I saw what was on CNN: the president of Iran giving a speech in none other than our beloved New York City. The person who is anti-United States was speaking in the United States. The person who denies that Israel, a strong US ally, should exist was speaking in the United States. The person who denies the Holocaust happened was speaking in the United States. How was this possible? It was as if we had allowed Osama bin Laden to speak inside the United States, an idea that is not even considered; however, could allowing the president of Iran to speak truly show the superiority of the United States to the rest of the world?

By allowing a dictator to speak in our country, the United States is showing its superiority in a new way. Usually, the United States has shown its superiority through money and military might. However, allowing Ahmadinejad to speak showed true democratic superiority. The United States fight in a war to bring democracy to Iraq seems ludicrous at times. Why should we bring democracy through war? And why does the U.S. think that its democracy should be emulated by the world? However, allowing the President to speak gives the United States a little more credibility. The United States put democracy on display as the President of Iran took the platform. Everyone has the right to free speech-that is what the U.S. showed the entire world when they allowed the President of Iran to speak. However, the more important question is: Should everyone’s voice be heard?

We, as the public, give credibility to world leaders. We give them credibility by listening to them, praising them, criticizing them and ultimately respecting or disrespecting them.
If Osama bin Laden releases a videotape, the entire world shakes. The truth is, if only the important officials analyzed the tapes and messages and then acted upon them without allowing the media to hype up the messages, there would be less credibility for Osama bin Laden. If no one listened to his message then he would become completely powerless: he would remain hidden in the caves forever, unable to make something happen.

If people did not come to listen to President Ahmadinejad at Columbia University, then he would have realized that he has no credibility in the rest of the world. If instead of having the lecture hall where he spoke packed, it was absolutely empty, what would have gone through the Ahmadinejad’s mind? The idea that maybe he really was preaching the wrong ideas could have crossed his mind, but a packed lecture hall probably gave him a misconception. Even though the audience had a plethora of people who disagreed with him, the idea that these people were still willing to show up to hear him speak may have given him an audacity that translated into arrogance.

In addition, as an educated audience we can discern how inane some of his arguments are. But when he speaks to an audience that is not as educated, problems arise. How would an uneducated person actually know what the Holocaust actually was? Because of the lack of knowledge it is easy to believe someone like Ahmadinejad because of his high level of confidence and his unwavering message. For an uneducated audience, it is easy to put trust in such a public figure. An educated audience is important in creating good leaders. An educated audience knows who to listen to and who to give credibility to.

The leaders of the world today are created by the public (people like us). We as the public need to become more cognizant of our surroundings, leaders, opinions and more. We, as U.S. citizens, have been given many freedoms that are denied in other places like Iran. Therefore, we should not abuse these privileges. We should pay more attention to who we are listening to … and we need to dedicate time to listening to public figures and making decisions about who is worth listening to . and who is not.

The United States is a special place that accepts and listens to all kinds of people-I think I have gotten used to that idea. But hopefully I won’t fall off of that treadmill.

Samiksha Tarun is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.