A spectacle of sorts unfolded Monday night at Highland City Club. The occasion was the long-planned live presentation by Boulder’s esteemed council member Bob Yates on the subject of homelessness, a matter of great interest at both the local and national levels given the importance and inherent complexity of the matter -- precisely the type of subject Highland Institute was launched to address in the first place.

Bob was invited to provide his thoughts and outline City of Boulder’s position on an intransigent problem, to be further flushed out through questions, observations, and feedback by five invited “Keynote Listeners” from all levels of the community. 

But Bob’s live interaction was severely compromised. A contingent of “protestors” saw fit to disrupt his presentation through what might be deemed free-range disorderly conduct -- physical trespass with the intent to stifle meaningful communication with competing noise, from sirens to pot-banging to the shouting of obscenities. A true Stoic, Bob exhibited grace under pressure by continuing to deliver amidst this orchestrated disruption.

The spectacle provided a glimpse of the skull beneath the skin of civilization. Initial threats had been posted from the very outset and a certain contingent returned to the facility later that night to pepper it with eggs and scrawl graffiti.

Terms like “Cancel Culture” and “Political Correctness” are a social and cultural disease eroding the very foundation of our Republic. Those egg-throwing protestors had little interest in engaging in a meaningful discussion about an issue that affects us all, including, maybe even especially, the homeless themselves. There was little appetite to come to terms with the many nuances presented e.g. distinctions among legitimate financial hardships, addictions, mental illness, and outright unlawful conduct.

Start with the assumption that much of the citizenry comes from a place of compassion. Compassion fatigue, if there is such a thing, comes when a society is itself denied certain rights. The respective rights of the unhoused and the society in which they find themselves in was the very subject of Bob’s talk.

City Club members and concerned citizens would do well by reading Bob’s comments HERE, or watch the video of his talk and follow up discussion with Keynote Listeners HERE. Highland remains resolute in its mission to be the consummate forum in which to engage in these types of meaningful discussions, despite the best efforts of protestors who tried to “cancel” this event before and during the event. 

— Sina.