A great and memorable line: “institutions like Harvard will either be reformed by change agents who love them, or destroyed by change agents who hate them.”
I heartily agree--except with the suggestion that 'the punitive left-wing orthodoxy that governed campuses in the 2010s would soon find its way into the sectors (media, education, nonprofits) most likely to hire those graduates'. This is not the university, and I say this as an academic. Something like this may be going on in a few disciplines--those whose titles end in 'studies' and in education. But, even though there are a few symbolic gestures--land acknowledgements and pronoun preferences in a few, not most, people's email--this is not the way the university rolls.
It is disturbing that now that the left, in endless postmortems about the results of the last presidential election, has realized that this stuff is garbage and has contributed to sinking the Democratic party, has picked up the baseless complaint of the right that universities maintain cancel culture, suppress 'viewpoint diversity', and indoctrinate students.
Indeed most academics are 'liberals'--but my liberalism, and that of most of my colleagues, is the bog-standard liberalism of the dull center left. I am sick of ostensibly liberal pundits rehearsing the propaganda of the right, which it has sold to the general public, that Academia is a hotbed of 'woke'--reminiscent of Trump repeating Russian propaganda. This just isn't the way it is!
There is a lot of common sense in these words. But I have three objections:
1- Harvard President Garber has not followed up his mea culpa with actual actions. Like so so many in higher ed he is eager to placate and say the required words but does not follow it up with action. Please read:
2- The piling-on condemnation of Trump's actions ring a bit performative which is understandable given the audience which you hope to convince. But the actions taken against Harvard are extreme for a reason: the entire elite academic enterprise is heavily compromised across the country. Sanctions appropriate and widely for traditional civil rights abuses are also appropriate for the current situation.
3- there is a critical distinction between left wing cancellation exercises aimed at complete intellectual dominance and conservative actions taken to force a level playing field. All that Trump is asking is that intellectual diversity be on display.
I remember an exit poll in 2024 that found that a large number (maybe it was half?) of voters agreed that American democracy hung in the balance. Of those who did, a little more than half were Trump voters. Ouch.
Left wing cancelations and censorship was and is an attack against the foundational western governance design and traditions we call liberalism...classic liberalism. These are actions of the enemy of the West.
Right wing cancelations and censorship is simply the attempt to prevent and defeat the former.
For a society to flourish, wealth must be created. Progressives at elite universities are intent on preparing students to be redistributors of wealth without any thought to how wealth is created. Do they believe that creating wealth and real opportunity is for lesser mortals?
A great and memorable line: “institutions like Harvard will either be reformed by change agents who love them, or destroyed by change agents who hate them.”
While the heavy-handed focus on racism took over, social class was ignored.
I heartily agree--except with the suggestion that 'the punitive left-wing orthodoxy that governed campuses in the 2010s would soon find its way into the sectors (media, education, nonprofits) most likely to hire those graduates'. This is not the university, and I say this as an academic. Something like this may be going on in a few disciplines--those whose titles end in 'studies' and in education. But, even though there are a few symbolic gestures--land acknowledgements and pronoun preferences in a few, not most, people's email--this is not the way the university rolls.
It is disturbing that now that the left, in endless postmortems about the results of the last presidential election, has realized that this stuff is garbage and has contributed to sinking the Democratic party, has picked up the baseless complaint of the right that universities maintain cancel culture, suppress 'viewpoint diversity', and indoctrinate students.
Indeed most academics are 'liberals'--but my liberalism, and that of most of my colleagues, is the bog-standard liberalism of the dull center left. I am sick of ostensibly liberal pundits rehearsing the propaganda of the right, which it has sold to the general public, that Academia is a hotbed of 'woke'--reminiscent of Trump repeating Russian propaganda. This just isn't the way it is!
There is a lot of common sense in these words. But I have three objections:
1- Harvard President Garber has not followed up his mea culpa with actual actions. Like so so many in higher ed he is eager to placate and say the required words but does not follow it up with action. Please read:
https://x.com/billackman/status/1926871423789781233?s=46
2- The piling-on condemnation of Trump's actions ring a bit performative which is understandable given the audience which you hope to convince. But the actions taken against Harvard are extreme for a reason: the entire elite academic enterprise is heavily compromised across the country. Sanctions appropriate and widely for traditional civil rights abuses are also appropriate for the current situation.
3- there is a critical distinction between left wing cancellation exercises aimed at complete intellectual dominance and conservative actions taken to force a level playing field. All that Trump is asking is that intellectual diversity be on display.
I remember an exit poll in 2024 that found that a large number (maybe it was half?) of voters agreed that American democracy hung in the balance. Of those who did, a little more than half were Trump voters. Ouch.
Left wing cancelations and censorship was and is an attack against the foundational western governance design and traditions we call liberalism...classic liberalism. These are actions of the enemy of the West.
Right wing cancelations and censorship is simply the attempt to prevent and defeat the former.
They are not at all comparable.
For a society to flourish, wealth must be created. Progressives at elite universities are intent on preparing students to be redistributors of wealth without any thought to how wealth is created. Do they believe that creating wealth and real opportunity is for lesser mortals?