Add the Great Untruth of systemic racism, sexism, gender bias, etc. That's the left's Big Lie that fuels it all and until a critical mass of commentators acquire the guts to take it on, the race mongers will wield power.
What I have learned from the strife and division in my local community over the implementation of these damaging concepts in our county schools is that the most important elections of our time are the humble and overlooked school board elections. Not just for parents with kids in school, but for neighbors, people whose kids are grown, anyone who cares about the long term resiliency of their home community. Every single person who cares about kids.
Know your school board representative, know how they vote, communicate with them. Many are under the impression that teaching this new oppressed/oppressor orthodoxy is opposed only by conservatives for political gain, and the regular media is reporting it just that way. Liberals especially need to make it clear that the majority of us are still guided by the principles of individuality and freedom of speech that are the engine of all progress and innovation that have made our country truly great. Yes, freedom of speech is messy, and frustrating, and irritating when we hear ideas we abhor, but it’s also how we get the best ideas!
We cannot stand by and allow the imagination and creativity of today’s kids to be stifled and confined in rigid categories. Kids are not group abstractions, they are unique and curious and precious. Teach them how to think, how to reason, how to be resilient - they need these gifts more than ever we did, as they inherit a world that is more complex than anything our parents ever imagined for us.
This is excellent. I especially value Lukianoff and Haidt’s blending of critical thinking, psychological, and legal concepts in their writings. If true critical thinking concepts and practices were taught and practiced regularly (without expecting particular position/partisan outcomes) we would graduate more people with skills in how to think, not what to think.
Some students are in a war against oppression, where they don’t have friends but rather “allies”—which implies a conditional, utilitarian arrangement, not a deep and personal bond"
Lukianoff and Haidt observe this at the academic level, and for myself I see this at weekend seminars, group meetups, nature hikes, concerts, ballgames, and even wedding receptions.
Transactional pleasantries as the new normal of human relationships has gained prevalence across society, and it seems to have started well before any particular session of Congress or presidential Administration in recent times. So I see it less as a deep-state agenda or an orchestration concocted by billionaire power brokers, and more a reaction to something else that's been in the air for the past couple decades.
Is it scarcity? Is it "resource anxiety"? A growing opportunity gap?
There's a concern when people see themselves as commodities first and foremost, and then devote their energy to selling themselves as such. We start to define ourselves strictly according to metrics that measure our output and scale of reach. We broadcast, advertise, and influence. Contractual agreements and value propositions replace conversation and dialogue.
Add the Great Untruth of systemic racism, sexism, gender bias, etc. That's the left's Big Lie that fuels it all and until a critical mass of commentators acquire the guts to take it on, the race mongers will wield power.
What I have learned from the strife and division in my local community over the implementation of these damaging concepts in our county schools is that the most important elections of our time are the humble and overlooked school board elections. Not just for parents with kids in school, but for neighbors, people whose kids are grown, anyone who cares about the long term resiliency of their home community. Every single person who cares about kids.
Know your school board representative, know how they vote, communicate with them. Many are under the impression that teaching this new oppressed/oppressor orthodoxy is opposed only by conservatives for political gain, and the regular media is reporting it just that way. Liberals especially need to make it clear that the majority of us are still guided by the principles of individuality and freedom of speech that are the engine of all progress and innovation that have made our country truly great. Yes, freedom of speech is messy, and frustrating, and irritating when we hear ideas we abhor, but it’s also how we get the best ideas!
We cannot stand by and allow the imagination and creativity of today’s kids to be stifled and confined in rigid categories. Kids are not group abstractions, they are unique and curious and precious. Teach them how to think, how to reason, how to be resilient - they need these gifts more than ever we did, as they inherit a world that is more complex than anything our parents ever imagined for us.
This is excellent. I especially value Lukianoff and Haidt’s blending of critical thinking, psychological, and legal concepts in their writings. If true critical thinking concepts and practices were taught and practiced regularly (without expecting particular position/partisan outcomes) we would graduate more people with skills in how to think, not what to think.
This part of Lukianoff's piece bears repeating...
Some students are in a war against oppression, where they don’t have friends but rather “allies”—which implies a conditional, utilitarian arrangement, not a deep and personal bond"
Lukianoff and Haidt observe this at the academic level, and for myself I see this at weekend seminars, group meetups, nature hikes, concerts, ballgames, and even wedding receptions.
Transactional pleasantries as the new normal of human relationships has gained prevalence across society, and it seems to have started well before any particular session of Congress or presidential Administration in recent times. So I see it less as a deep-state agenda or an orchestration concocted by billionaire power brokers, and more a reaction to something else that's been in the air for the past couple decades.
Is it scarcity? Is it "resource anxiety"? A growing opportunity gap?
There's a concern when people see themselves as commodities first and foremost, and then devote their energy to selling themselves as such. We start to define ourselves strictly according to metrics that measure our output and scale of reach. We broadcast, advertise, and influence. Contractual agreements and value propositions replace conversation and dialogue.